We set off up the coast on a very wet and windy day. Once we got out of Perth the weather settled and we only had the odd shower. We took the coast route this time as we've done the inland route several times before. We didn't do a lot of sightseeing in this first leg as we'd done it all before. We spent time adjusting the dogs to their new lifestyle (and us).
We got
stopped for a random breath test in Leeman, just north of Perth .
First time Paj has ever been checked (good start!). Our fist stop was a
free camp called North Cliff Head, on the coast south of Geraldton. We
stayed there a couple of nights Then on to Carnarvon. We spent 5 days in
Carnarvon. We explored the historic area and walked some of the Mile
Long Jetty. The food trail would have been good under normal
circumstances but the floods earlier in the year had destroyed the bulk
of the crops so there wasn't much local produce round at all. We did
manage to have a couple of good feeds of fresh cooked prawns though.
From Carnarvon the plan was to have a roadside stop before getting to Point Samson however those plans changed when we got a cracked windscreen. That made for a very long day as we had to continue on through to Karatha to get it fixed. We rang RAC and they arranged for someone to meet us in the shopping centre car park later that afternoon and they replaced the windscreen on the spot. Consequently we were a day early for our booking at Point Samson so we stayed in Roebourne overnight.
Point Samson is a lovely spot. We met up with friends Brian and Coral, from Adelaide. We met them on our trip 2 years ago and have kept in touch. Paj and Brian tried crabbing and fishing but without much success. We also had a visit from Andrew, our neighbour, who is based up there at the moment for work. It was lovely to catch up.
The next
stop for us was Barn Hill. This is a private camping area on the Thangoo
Station. The station stretches along 85 ks of coastline between Port
headland and Broome. It is a working cattle station and they run about
8,000 head of cattle. The camping area is on the cliffs above a lovely
beach. They have a communal Sunday night roast during the tourist season
with local entertainment (when they haven't gone walkabout). There must
have been 200 of us there. It was a good night. Here we managed to catch
up with Len and Eithne another Adelaide couple we met on our last trip.
They called in to see us at home as they were coming through Perth on
their way up the coast. We had drinks with them the night we arrived
then they moved on to Broome the next day. We spent a lazy week there
and were close enough to Broome to pop in for the day so the dogs had a
good run on Cable Beach.
On to Fitzroy Crossing for the night then to Parry's Creek Farm, one of our favourite spots, just north of Kununarra. Spent another week here enjoying the bird life and cleaning up after all the dust at Barn Hill. There weren't as many birds at the billabong as we'd seen previously but the dogs enjoyed their 4k walk round the farm every morning.
Lake Argyle was next. It was a lovely spot with the caravan park overlooking the lake. It is the largest body of fresh water in Australia, bigger than Sydney Harbour. It is home to thousands of freshwater crocodiles and lots of birdlife.
From there it was across the border into the Northern Territory and on to Katherine. We had a few nights at a homestead just outside the township and stocked up on supplies. We have explored this area twice before and it was starting to get hot and humid so we decided to head straight for the Queensland border.
After another random breath test and registration check in Elliot, we had a night at Renner Springs. When we got to the Threeways Intersection the fuel filter light on the cruiser came on. It meant a detour in to Tennent Creek to find a diesel mechanic. Apparently we bought dirty fuel in Katherine and the filter was all clogged up. Just as well we got it checked and changed there or we would have had problems. We had an overnight stop just before the border and ended up staying in exactly the same spot that we had last time we went through this way.
Keep an eye out for the next leg of our journey as we will be headed for uncharted territory.
On the Road again 2011
Part One - Heading for Queensland
