WA - Exmouth - Derby June/July 2024
- Ken Fredric
- Jun 18, 2024
- 34 min read
Updated: Jul 21, 2024
Day 141 - Exmouth, WA 18 June, 2024
With an improving forecast for today, we'd booked a half-day Ningaloo Reef glass-bottom boat tour for the morning. However we woke to light rain, very cloudy skies and a cooler temperature, which didn't bode well for the day out on the reef.
We walked along the road to the big prawn and were picked up in a small bus just after 9:30 A.M.
Our driver and tour guide for the day, Rhianna, informed us about the points of interest as we passed them, like the US Navy communications installation and nearby array of VLF antennas. Apparently when it was staffed by US personnel and they were homesick, they did things like build a bowling alley and burger joint, enforced the use of US currency and changed some of the roads to be left-hand drive. Weird!
The VLF antennas are quite impressive, with the highest being 387 metres tall, which is taller than the Sydney Tower, Eiffel Tower and Empire State Building. The whole communications installation is used to communicate with submarines.
On the way to the boat tour we stopped to view the wreck of the SS Mildura, which grounded several hundred metres off the coast in 1907, with a full load of cattle on board.
Getting onto the boat, we were surprised that it was so full and we were jammed in shoulder to shoulder - a good way to get to know the people sitting beside you.
The boat's skipper, Sass, and Rhianna, were both very knowledgeable about the Ningaloo Reef, fish and coral. It was a short journey out to the reef, and along the way we saw a multitude of fish and coral from the glass-bottom boat, most of which were named and described to us by our guides.
Once we knew what we were looking at, and what to look for, the majority of passengers, me included, jumped into the 26-degree water for a snorkel around the reef.
The huge Bommie Corals were very impressive, and a little imposing up close, especially as the current was always dragging me towards them. I saw a greater array of fish and coral than from the boat and was pleased I'd made the effort to do the snorkel part of the tour.
Once everyone was back on board we cruised back to the jetty, got back on the bus and were delivered back to our campground.
Tired after taking in all that knowledge, we spent the afternoon relaxing.
Day 142 - Exmouth, WA 19 June, 2024
Today was the last of our days killing time in and around Exmouth before we could go out to Yardie Homestead the next day.
While doing the morning routine we managed to strip one of the wing nuts that secure the dinette table, so our first stop for the day was at the Exmouth Caravan repair place. Unfortunately they couldn't help us, so we carried on with our original plan, which was for me to get a blood test at the hospital, then drive south about 25 km to visit Charles Knife Canyon in the Cape Range NP.
Our original plan included going into Shothole Canyon, to see the shotholes caused by explosives during oil exploration in the 1950s. However, the road was really rough, and a sign at the start of the road said there is a high probability that we would need to be rescued if we continued.
Moving along, we continued along the nice sealed road up to Rough Range Lookout for some pics and to admire the views of the canyon and coast.
Soon after that the road turned to unsealed, with really rough patches and bad washouts on narrow, hilly sections.
We stopped a few times for different views of the canyon, before deciding we didn't want to continue along the rough road any further, and decided to pull into a picnic area for morning tea. That turned out to be a bit of a challenge, with sections of waterlogged, muddy track making it close to impassable. The picnic area itself was dry though and nice enough for a rest stop. After morning tea we engaged low range 4WD to get back out to the road, not wanting to risk getting bogged.
On the way back down to the main road we bumped into fellow Explorer owners Martin and Jane Kay (#156TS) from Beachmere.
With nothing more to see around Exmouth, it was back to the campground to relax for the rest of the day.
Day 143 - Exmouth - Yardie Homestead, WA 20 June, 2024
Today we were moving from the Exmouth Overflow campground, to the Yardie Homestead campground, and exploring the North West Cape peninsula on the way.
Initially following the same road we'd taken to the Ningaloo boat cruise, we carried on past the Naval Communications Station and VLF towers to Bundegi Beach, which I'd read was a good swimming beach. There was a really strong wind blowing, the water was really rough, and there was no way I'd consider swimming there anytime soon.
Next up, past the SS Mildura wreck, and the reason for it being built, we stopped at the Vlamingh Head Lighthouse for expansive views of the Indian Ocean and to read all the information boards about the area. The views were amazing, but there was a strong, cold wind blowing so we didn't stay too long.
Driving down the west side of the NW Cape peninsula, our next stop was at the Jurabi Coastal Park where there's a Turtle Centre, with loads of information on all things turtle, specifically the five types that occur in WA.
Meg had read about a POI (Point Of Interest) a little way along the road that sounded interesting. It turned out to be quite interesting once we'd spent some time trying to figure out the instructions for where to find the object, which was a fossilised Megalodon tooth embedded in a rock.
Carrying on down the coast we passed into the Cape Range NP and turned off to the Milyering Discovery Centre, hoping for a coffee and some morning tea. Unfortunately, the only coffee was DIY, and the only food was plastic-wrapped pies and sausage rolls in a pie warmer, so we passed on that and had a look around the discovery centre instead.
A short drive to the beach from there we went out to Kori Bay for a walk along the beach to get a better view of the Ningaloo Reef. The water was surprisingly cold after the 26-degree water I'd snorkelled in two days earlier.
At the southernmost point we drove to, we stopped at Turquoise Bay, which we thought would showcase the amazing shades of green water we'd been seeing along our drive down the coast. However, the place was heaving with sun worshippers and snorkellers, and the water wasn't as beautiful as further north we thought.
Having seen enough of the coast we headed back north to the Yardie Homestead Campground, checked in for one night, had lunch at the camp cafe, got setup and relaxed some more.
Day 144 - Yardie Homestead - Yannarie RV Free Camp, WA 21 June, 2024
Leaving Yardie Homestead this morning, we drove back into Exmouth and started on our list of chores that needed doing before continuing our journey.
Because we were going to be heading back inland, with limited resources in many places, we wanted to stock up with as much food as possible, so the supermarket was the first stop, after looking around for a barber for my out-of-control hair.
With the fridge and cupboards overflowing I attempted to get my hair cut, but without success. We could've hung around for an hour in Exmouth at one hairdresser, or waited until Wednesday of the following week at the other, so I gave up on that idea.
After further stops at the caravan shop to replace a tap fitting I'd left behind when we filled up with water a few days earlier, the bottle shop and the servo, we headed out of Exmouth for the last time.
Our destination for the day was the Yannarie RV rest stop, where we'd stayed the night before driving into Exmouth earlier in the week, so about a 200 km drive away.
We stopped once, for morning tea in an area that had hundreds of termite mounds in all directions.
The drive was on good sealed roads, so quite boring apart from some of the amazing vistas of deep red-dirt dunes interspersed with flat featureless valleys containing very little flora.
Once we got away from the Exmouth road traffic thinned out considerably, and consisted of about 98% RVs.
At the Yannarie RV free camp we chose a spot well away from the road and from other campers.
Because I couldn't get a haircut in Exmouth, and there was no prospect of getting one anytime soon, Meg stepped up to the plate and did it for me, doing a great job.
That was all we achieved for the day.
We were blessed with another beautiful sunset, which was accompanied by the near-full moon rising.
Day 145 - Yannarie RV Free Camp - House Creek Free Camp, WA 22 June, 2024
The previous day and today were just about spending a couple of nights in free camps until we could get into our booked accommodation at Cheela Plains Station campground on the following Sunday.
The drive today was less than 150 km, so were in no hurry to get away from our camping spot at the RV free camp. Whilst doing the morning chores we unfortunately witnessed a young “lady”, who was camping with a young man in a sedan near us (sleeping in the car), walk into the low scrub near their car, drop her pants and take a dump, with no cover at all and hundreds of campers all around. We were disgusted to see that, particularly because there was a toilet not too far away, and because behaviour like that provides councils a reason to shut down valuable free camps.
The drive to the next free camp was reasonably unremarkable, wildlife-free apart from some roadkill and a few raptors, but quite relaxing driving along the 110 km/h road at 80 km/h. The changing terrain was quite interesting though, moving from vast expanses of not very much, to rocky, hilly vistas, some of which looked very unusual like random piles of rocks scattered around everywhere.
At the roadside rest stop free camp, we got setup not too far from the toilets, had a cuppa, then decided there was a nicer camping spot a couple of hundred metres away past the toilets, so we did a partial pack up, and drove to the better spot. That spot was much nicer, under trees and away from the toilets where RVs would be coming and going all day.
For the first time in a long while, we didn’t have any internet, so we had to revert to analogue activities for the rest of the day, including some small jobs around Mata that we’d been putting off for a while.
During the afternoon a lady who was camped nearby came over for a chat. That progressed to us sitting at a picnic table with her to continue the chat, then another couple pulled in between our two campsites.
Once that couple were organised, they joined us for drinks at the picnic table, and the husband of the lady who initiated the get-together also joined us. We had a good old chin wag about our travels and other topics for quite some time, until we disbanded back to our campsites for dinner.
It was a beautiful, warm, windless evening, so we sat outside until dinner time, which we ate inside, then went outside later on to check out the impressive night sky, which was spoilt only slightly to the east by the rising full moon.
Day 146 - House Creek Free Camp - Cheela Plains Station, WA 23 June, 2024
Today was going to be another short driving day of just over 100 km, so we took our time with the morning routine. Check-in at Cheela Station wasn’t until 11:00 A.M.
Once we got out on the road, we pottered along at 70 km/h, stretching the journey out as much as possible. The drive was similar to the previous day, with not much to see, apart from some impressive rock formations and hill ranges that we drove around and through.
Despite our slow pace, we still arrived at Cheela Plains half an hour early to check-in, so we went into the café for a coffee and some of their well-known carrot cake. Walking into the café we spotted another Explorer in the carpark, knowing it was Gavin and Nadine Fredric, who’d we’d been communicating with over the last week, and thought we might cross paths on the road.
Sitting outside having our morning tea, Gavin and Nadine joined us and we had a good catch-up, sharing information on where we’d been, as we were travelling in opposite directions.
We checked in, found our site, got set up, did a load of washing, had lunch, and enjoyed our beautiful surroundings for the rest of the day. We didn’t have much choice but to enjoy our surroundings, as there was no internet to distract us!
Sitting outside, Meg noticed a large Pilbara Sand Lizard wandering around the campground. Apparently, it/they was/were a camp regular and could be seen often around the place.
During the afternoon, Steve (#179FS Sydney), who we'd met in Cervantes weeks earlier, stopped by for a chat. He too was heading into Karijini NP in the coming days.
Later in the afternoon we donned shoes and socks and hats, put some wine and glasses in a backpack, and climbed up Cheela Hill behind the campground to watch the sunset behind the surrounding ranges.
It was a spectacular spot, with 360 degree views of the station, campground, surrounding plains and ranges. We were first up there, but it wasn't long before a few other couples joined us, and we chatted with most of them while waiting for the sun to set.
We headed back down while there was still plenty of light, as the steep track was quite rough and loose underfoot.
Back at base we grabbed some more drinks and went over to the communal area close to our campsite, where there were a few people and a great fire blazing. Sitting at a table, we were soon joined by another couple from Victoria, and then others from all around Australia. We chatted away until well after dark, enjoying the company that we would normally shy away from.
Day 147 - Cheela Plains Station - Karijini NP, WA 24 June, 2024
While we had another short drive today, of about 150 km, we were aware a lot of that would be on unsealed roads, and hadn't been able to ascertain the condition of them, but, from previous experience, assumed the worst.
We'd had to change plans a little to incorporate a visit to Tom Price, to get a script we'd forgotten in Exmouth, and to top up with everything we'd need for our upcoming 2-week stay at Yarrie Station, near Marble Bar. Because of this change, we'd decided to visit Hamersley Gorge today, then carry on to Tom Price the next day.
Aware that it could be a long driving day, we were on the road by 8:00 A.M. As predicted, after travelling on a nice sealed road for the first part of the journey, it soon turned to unsealed road in poor condition. It wasn't all bad, and some sections allowed us to travel up to 70 km/h, but mostly it was a slog on the potholed, washed out, corrugated road.
Three and a half hours later, we arrived at Hamersley Gorge carpark, and were disappointed to see that the carpark was full, forcing us to park further up the road than we'd like.
After donning shoes and socks we walked down to the carpark, then to the start of the track down to the bottom of the gorge. The gorge's rock formations were certainly spectacular, with waves and whorls in the rock faces that would seemingly be impossible to create.
After a steep descent on a rocky, loose-surfaced goat track, we made it to the bottom of the gorge, where the views from down below looking up were just as impressive as from the top. There was water running through the gorge, but according to another couple who regularly do the walk, that was the least amount of water they'd ever seen.
Back up the top of the gorge, it was almost lunchtime, and only a short drive to our planned overnight stop at the Buddhas Overnighter free camp, just outside the National Park.
After lunch we sat outside for a while, but there was a cold breeze blowing that eventually forced us back inside for the day.
Day 148 - Karijini NP - Mt Bruce Central Bush Camp, WA 25 June, 2024
We got away from camp reasonably early this morning, mindful that the first part of the journey would be on unsealed road.
We needn't have been concerned though because the road was in mostly good condition and we made good time into Tom Price, where we had a list of chores to do.
The first stop was the caravan park to use their dump point but, because it was their busy season, we couldn't use it. We also asked about filling up our empty gas bottle, and we were told that they do that at 10:00 A.M. and also later in the day.
So we drove the short distance into town, popped into the visitor information centre for some brochures and to ask about road conditions in the places we'd be travelling to in the next few days. When we asked about filling our gas bottle, we were informed that only the caravan park do that!
After dealing with the dump point we drove back out to the caravan park to have our gas bottle refilled.
On the way back into town to do our other chores, we stopped at the servo to fill up with diesel and reinflate our tyres.
In town we parked opposite the information centre again to do our grocery shopping and to fill the script I'd forgotten to do in Exmouth. With the shopping done I went to collect my script, only to be informed that it wasn't available and if ordered wouldn't arrive until the following afternoon. I made the decision to not worry about taking the monthly pill this month.
As we were driving away from the shops the TPMS started beeping at us indicating one of our tyres had lost pressure, which initiated another trip back to the servo to check the pressure.
While we were there reinflating the tyre, two other Explorer couples pulled in, the Whitings and the Kays, who we'd been bumping into off and on in the last few weeks. We had a good old chat, then decided we should stay in town for lunch to make sure that the tyre wasn't going to go down again. When we pulled up we noticed that other tyre pressures didn't seem correct, so we got our own gear out and reinflated the tyres correctly. It's still a mystery as to what caused that.
After lunch the tyres were all good again, so we drove out of town, thinking we would check out one of the gorges in the area, then go back to a free camp for the night.
Along the way, after being stuck behind a truck with a wide load for a long time, we decided that we would just go to the free camp today. The wide load was really impressive, and was an enormous mine dump truck, 8.5 metres wide, on a low loader, being towed/pushed by three prime movers in front and one prime mover behind. When it was in the middle of the road, the load went over the white lines on both sides of the road!
Pulling off onto a side road, the wide load entourage pulled over, allowing us to continue on to the free camp, just down the road. It was very windy and a bit cool when we pulled up, so we hunkered down inside for the night, which was also supposed to bring rain.
Day 149 - Mt Bruce Central Bush Camp - Karijini NP Overflow Camp, WA 26 June, 2024
We woke to a blustery, cool morning with a few spots of rain, which didn’t bode well for our plans to spend the day exploring Karijini NP’s gorges.
We set out anyway towards our first destination, Weano Gorge. When we arrived there our plans went into disarray because the access road was closed due to forecast rain in the next day or so.
The Karijini Eco Retreat was close to the Weano Gorge road, so we popped in there for a look around, and to do the next gorge walk to Joffre Gorge. At the first lookout we had a great view of the gorge in both directions, then we decided to do the 1.3 km return Joffre Waterfall Walk, which goes right down to the bottom of the gorge.
That may have been a little ambitious, as the walk started out as a Class 4, but down near the bottom of the gorge it turned into a Class 5 walk, testing our abilities to clamber over huge rocks and narrow path sections. The last few sections were mostly very steep ladders that required going down backwards to navigate them safely.
We’d met people going back up who recommended going into the water at the bottom of the gorge, initially at knee-height, then at waist-level to access a large amphitheatre. I didn’t really fancy getting into cold gorge water, but really wanted to see the amphitheatre. I carried on by myself, and discovered that I could access the amphitheatre by climbing around the rocks without getting even my shoes wet. The extra effort was well worth it to see the towering rock walls that formed the natural amphitheatre, with water tumbling down the rock faces into the beautiful pool below. Then it was a hard slog back up to the carpark, and onto the next lookout, which was on the other side of Joffre Gorge.
After parking up at Knox Gorge, we walked the short distance to the start of the walk, and decided we didn’t want to do the Class 5, 2 km walk after just having done Joffre Gorge.
Our next stop was the Karijini NP Visitor Centre, however the shortest road there, about 30 km, was closed, meaning we had to go the long way around, which was about a 75 km drive. On the way there we passed our camping spot for the night at the Visitor Centre Overflow Parking area.
We were tossing up whether to do another gorge walk for the day or just park up for the rest of the day, as it was about lunchtime by this time. A volunteer at the Visitor Centre recommended we do the walk today, as rain was forecast for later in the day, and most of the following day.
We had lunch at the Overflow Parking area, then drove 10 km to Dales Gorge, parked up and set out on one of the gorge walks to Fortescue Falls and Fern Pool. Turns out the walk was pretty much straight down, although it was all on well-constructed steel stairs. Not too far down we came to Fortescue Falls, where the water cascaded down a small waterfall into a picturesque pool below.
Carrying on down the stairs we stopped after a while and we were walking on a sometimes-water-logged dirt track, beside some impressive rock formations. After clambering over rocks for a while we eventually came to Fern Pool, another very picturesque pool fed by a low, wide waterfall. There was a load of people there, many swimming in the pool, in what must have been frigid water.
After another very steep climb back up to the carpark we drove back to the Overflow Camping area and got setup for the night, but not setting up outside because it was quite cold with a cool northerly breeze.
Later in the afternoon we were surprised to see a Dingo wandering through the campground, most likely scrounging for food.
Day 150 - Karijini NP Overflow Camp - Port Hedland, WA 27 June, 2024
We had planned on spending a couple of days in free camps on the way to Marble Bar, but made a late call to head to Port Hedland instead, so that I could get the medication I'd been unable to get in Tom Price, and to do the last of the stocking up of things we would need to keep us going for our two week station sit at Yarrie Station.
It was about a 340 km drive to Port Hedland, mostly on highways, so not a very exciting day in front of us.
Apart from a brief rest stop later in the trip, our only stop was at the Albert Tognolini Lookout, which provides views and information on the Port Hedland to Newman road that goes through the Munjina East Gorge.
Arriving in Port Hedland around lunchtime, we visited the pharmacy first to pick up my medication, had a pie for lunch, then stocked up on dry and wet supplies.
Our camp for the night was the Port Hedland RV Free Camp, which was a large dusty area, close to a main road and not far from the train line that carries iron ore trains day and night. Well, the price was right, if nothing else.
The temperature had risen during the morning to a pleasant 29 degrees by the time we arrived in Port Hedland, so it was nice to set up outside for a change and sit outside for the afternoon.
During the afternoon the park kept filling up to the point where we estimated there were about 200 RVs in the large area.
Day 151 - Port Hedland - Marble Bar, WA 28 June, 2024
There was a small amount of rain during the night, but by the time we woke up the light rain had turned to more steady rain, transforming the RV park from a dustbowl into a mud bowl.
Considering our options, we decided we might as well continue on towards Marble Bar, as there wasn’t much to see around Port Hedland.
Leaving the RV park, we did a short tour around Port Hedland to see the major sights, without getting out in the rain.
The drive to Marble Bar wasn’t very interesting, with no wildlife around apart from cows, and vast open spaces for most of the journey. We only stopped for morning tea in a rest stop, then carried on to our destination.
The flat open spaces transformed into more hilly country the closer we got to Marble Bar, hills that must contain iron ore judging by number of mine sites and road trains in the area.
In Marble Bar we visited the information centre first to see what the town had to offer. Armed with a map and brochure we set out to see some of the sights.
Unfortunately, the rain persisted, sometimes light and sometimes heavier, which limited some of the things we wanted to see.
Our first stop was the Water Tank Lookout to give us the big picture of where Marble Bar sat in the area. The rain spoilt the views somewhat.
A short drive away was the Marble Bar pool, where we climbed over rocks containing Jasper in an amazing array of colours. We had to rush our visit because the rain started falling heavier, forcing us back inside, and driving to Chinaman’s Pool, where we parked up for lunch.
On the way to the campground, we stopped at the Iron Clad Hotel to stock up on wine before heading to our station sit but, weirdly, the pub was just closing at 1:00 P.M. and not reopening until 4:30 P.M.
At the campground we signed up for two nights and pulled into an unpowered site, setting up only the basics, so we could drive back to the pub when it reopened.
Later in the afternoon the rain still hadn't stopped, and we didn't feel like moving again, so we gave up on the pub idea.
Day 152 - Marble Bar, WA 29 June, 2024
After the previous day's rain, today dawned bright and sunny.
We had the whole day in Marble Bar, before going out to Yarrie Station the next day, so we decided we should do some more exploring around the area.
We hung around camp for a while, waiting for the Toyota dealer in Broome to return our call to book in a 60,000 km service, when we would be there in about three weeks, but when they didn't call we carried on with our plans.
Our first stop was the Comet Mine Museum, a few kilometres outside town. Approaching the museum we got a good look at the tallest smoke stack in the southern hemisphere, at 75 metres high. The top of the stack was actually concealed by low cloud.
We arrived just as the museum was opening at 9:00 A.M., and paid the $5 per person entry fee. The man who was volunteering there was very knowledgeable about the area, was also a keen prospector, and he showed us some rocks containing gold that he hadn't processed yet, and some gold he had processed, one piece that was fairly weighty and was worth quite a lot of money.
The museum kept us interested for an hour or so, with many displays on local history, gold mining, farming and in particular the local rocks, the most impressive being Jasper and Pilbara Jade.
Heading back towards town we went up to the Flying Fox Lookout for views across the dry Coongan River. The flying fox was used to gauge the depth of the river when it was running.
Our next stop was a déjà vu moment, back at Marble Bar Pool where we'd been the day before, to see the Jasper rocks in the sunshine, and not in the rain like the previous day. Peppé enjoyed his first outing for days, and was really impressed with the brilliant colours running through the rocks.
Back in town we parked up in the main drag, popped into the general store for a few supplies, then set out to do some of the heritage trail walk. The first POI was the government building completed in the late 1890s, a beautiful old stone building that is now used as the visitor information centre and police station.
The Memorial Park was quite interesting, providing information on the First and Second World Wars, and the Vietnam War, as well as some examples of large polished Jasper rocks.
After wandering around a couple of other sites we parked up in the shade waiting for the pub to open at midday. Once stocked up with as much alcohol as we were allowed to buy, it was back to the campground to chill for the rest of the day.
Day 153 - Marble Bar - Yarrie Station Muster Camp, WA 30 June, 2024
Today was the first day of our two-week station sit at Yarrie Station, about 60 km away.
We were awake early this morning in anticipation of a phone call from the mother (Anne) of the Yarrie Station owner (Annabelle), who would guide us out to the muster camp where we’d be staying for an indeterminate period.
Anne called us early and came to meet us at the campground as we were preparing to leave, to meet and explain the route we would take, if we weren’t together.
Once that was sorted, we headed out of the campground, stopping first at the Memorial Park dump point, before continuing back towards Port Hedland.
Not far along the road Anne passed us and we followed her until we turned off onto the Warralong Community Road, where the seal turned to unsealed in fairly rough condition. Anne took off and we pottered along trying as best we could to dodge the corrugations for about 30 km, until we arrived at the muster camp.
We checked in with Anne, then found a reasonable spot to setup a little way from the communal camp area. With that done we wandered over to the cattle yards where Anne was helping two young ladies, Grace and Lily, to feed a poddy calf that didn’t want to drink from a bottle.
As Anne had to deal with a truckload of horses, Grace showed us around the communal area, which consisted of a temporary gazebo covering a camp fire, some primitive cooking equipment and a few camp chairs. As well, there was a large container on a trailer, apparently called a ‘super camper’, which is the mobile nerve centre of the muster camp, with communications, fridge/freezers, food and various other items needed for the muster.
We had morning tea then had another wander around to familiarise ourselves more with the area, also checking out the very rustic ‘shower’, a rough corrugated iron enclosure with no door, a gas heater and an array of random pipes. We also established that there is no toilet in the muster camp, so we were thankful that we have our own onboard.
After lunch we went back to the communal area to steal some of their Starlink interwebs, and keep an eye on the fire that needed to be kept burning most of the time, as it was the only means of cooking and boiling water.
Days 154 - 167 - Yarrie Station Muster Camp, WA 01 - 13 July, 2024
We quickly settled into camp life, meeting new employees most days for the first few days.
Apart from some cleaning and tidying in the big nerve centre container, our main remit was to keep the camp fires going so that the staff could quickly prepare their lunch, dinner or cuppa, and to do whatever odd jobs anyone needed doing.
Annabelle turned up on our second day in camp and stayed during the day for a couple of days while the team did some work with the cattle in the yards, before loading them onto a truck to be relocated to another part of the station.
We offered to cook dinner on our second night in camp and made Beef Massaman using the open fire and camp oven iron cookware. Everybody seemed to enjoy it and it all disappeared.
While it was nice being able to sit outside around the campfire during the day, to make use of the internet, the first few days were very windy and unpleasant enough to force us inside for most of the day.
A few days after arriving everybody else left to go back to the actual Yarrie Station, so we moved from our camping spot to be closer to the central camp area, to have access to the internet from Mata and to be able to better keep an eye on things.
Most of the staff would be attending the Marble Bar Races on the coming weekend, leaving us to look after the muster camp by ourselves.
On the Friday before the races Anne came back, with friends from Tasmania, to check on a couple of things and to take one of the work vehicles back to the homestead. However, the work vehicle was low on diesel, and the portable diesel pump had broken battery connection wires, so she decided to leave the vehicle where it was. That left me with a job to fix the wiring and refuel the vehicle, which kept me amused for a while. It was good to have something to do!
On the Saturday the winds that had been battering us for days finally abated enough to allow us to go outside comfortably, so we went for a walk around a large paddock, that took us about half an hour.
Later that day Meg thought we should break out the e-bikes to see how they'd been faring, and to check them over. Once uncovered, we remembered that I'd backed into a post weeks earlier, which had bent up the bike carrier somewhat, and also broken the stand on my bike irreparably. We attempted to straighten the bent bit with little success, dusted off the bikes, fitted the new bells we'd bought in Perth, fitted the batteries and gave them a test run. Amazingly they still worked!
After the crew had spent the weekend attending the Marble Bar races, and we'd been enjoying having the place all to ourselves for a few day, they started drifting back into camp on the Tuesday, to prepare for another muster the following day.
Everybody was very busy, so we took it upon ourselves to take over the camp cooking role, something the staff usually did between themselves at the end of their long days, so they really appreciated it.
On the day of the muster, I woke to a text on my phone from Annabelle, asking if we could become the helicopter support team, and drive a refuel vehicle with a 44-gallon drum of AVGAS on the back, to meet her at 9:15 A.M. out at the mustering point, a 16 km drive into the station.
We had some basic instructions in the text message, and a rough mud map of where to go, so we set out nice and early to make sure we got there in time. The drive wasn't too bad on a well-formed dirt track most of the way, and we arrived in plenty of time.
With the help of one of the young female station hands, who was familiar with the process, we filled up both of the chopper's fuel tanks, then hung around for a while to watch some of the drafting of the hundreds-strong herd that was taking place.
Back at camp we had to keep a UHF radio with us all day in case further refuelling was required later in the day, but that didn't eventuate. Apart from preparing the evening meal, we chilled and were entertained by two of Annabelle's daughters, 4-year old Daisy and 6-year old Tanami, who had plenty to say for themselves!
In the afternoon one of the station hands, who had driven the truck back with a spare horse on board, needed a ride back to where the cattle were being driven along the track we'd taken earlier in the day, so she could get back on her motorbike, which was being ridden by Annabelle, and then I had to drive Annabelle back to the chopper so she could supervise the rest of the drive from above.
On the way back to camp I had to do some bush-bashing to make my way around the herd, otherwise I would've been another couple of hours getting back if I had to sit behind the herd all the way.
Quite late in the day the large herd arrived at camp and were put into the yards for the night, not far from where we were camped, so it was a very noisy night for us.
Apart from a run into Marble Bar on the Saturday, with a side trip into Dooleena Gorge, it was pretty much rinse and repeat for the rest of the week.
Day 168 - Yarrie Station Muster Camp - Yarrie Homestead, WA 14 July, 2024
On our last day at the Muster Camp, it was all hands on deck, preparing for the move to the next muster camp, which was about a 90-minute drive back towards Marble Bar.
Some vehicles and equipment had been taken away the previous day, and everything else that was left had to be packed up and prepared for the drive.
We helped with some of the donkey work so the girls could get on with stuff we couldn't do, like preparing the horses to be loaded into a stock truck for the drive.
Once most of the work was done, we had planned on driving directly to Yarrie Station homestead for a night's stay, however, I was asked if I could drive the other empty stock truck to the next muster camp. So that changed our plans to me driving the truck, following one of the crew, and Meg driving Mata following me.
The first part of the drive was familiar to us now, having done the run into Marble Bar three times previously, before we turned off onto a rough side road, that morphed into even rougher tracks before we arrived at the muster camp.
We hung around for a while, waiting to hear from Annabelle whether she needed us to do any more driving to the muster camp, but we didn't get any communications.
After having lunch and reducing the tyre pressures, we set out on a route to Yarrie homestead suggested by one of the crew, that took us over very rough tracks with corrugations and washouts in places, through Kitty's Gap in the surrounding hills, then out to wide open expanses that continued to Yarrie homestead. While checking out how we were going to navigate one of the washouts, we noticed some Sturt Desert Peas in full flower on the roadside. That was our first ever sighting of the colourful plants in the wild.
Arriving at the homestead, we couldn't find anybody around, so I contacted Annabelle to ask advice on where we could park for the night.
After setting up and showering, we chilled for what was left of the afternoon.
Day 169 - Yarrie Homestead - Eighty Mile Beach, WA 15 July, 2024
After our two-week stint helping out at Yarrie Station, it was time to move on with our travels.
With the goodbyes out of the way, we set out on the drive to Eighty Mile Beach, about 150 km away, with about 110 km of unsealed roads to navigate along the way.
As has so often been the case on our travels, the unsealed road started out in quite good condition, but it didn't take long to deteriorate with really bad corrugations in many places. We were thankful that we had the whole day to get to our destination, as speeds were reduced to 20 km/h in the really bad sections. Mid-morning we had morning tea in a large, open area off the road, as much for the enjoyment of a good cup of tea as having a break from the corrugations.
Just before hitting the highway, we pulled over to reinflate our tyres to their normal levels, then it was an easy drive to the turnoff to Eighty Mile Beach. We thought the unsealed roads we'd just travelled on were bad enough, but the road into the beach camp took the cake. It was in shocking condition with huge corrugations that slowed us down to walking pace for long stretches.
At our designated camp site, we setup, had lunch, donned swimmers and wandered over to the beach for a potential swim, depending on water temperature. The colours of the water were spectacular, changing from lighter greens to darker greens further out, then to a beautiful deep blue out to the horizon.
The tide was quite a long way out, and the water temperature was a bit cold for my liking, but I walked out into the water to about waist height before giving up on that idea.
On the way back to our site we stopped off to chat with Jane and Martin Kay, another Explorer couple we'd been crossing paths with several times since leaving Perth.
Back at camp we caught up with socials and showers for round out our first day back on the road.
Day 170 - Eighty Mile Beach - Barn Hill Station, WA 16 July, 2024
We had a fairly easy driving day today, about 270 km to Barn Hill Station, mostly on the highway.
We hung around at the campground until 8:30 A.M., waiting for the shop to open so we could hopefully buy some fresh bread rolls, but as they weren't going to be ready for another hour we carried on with our journey.
Apart from the unsealed road out to the highway from Eighty Mile Beach, and another 9 km of unsealed road from the highway into Barn Hill Station campground, the drive was quite boring with mostly long, straight, flat stretches of road with very little to break the boredom.
There was a reasonable amount of traffic on the road going in the other direction to us, almost exclusively RVs, and with a few road trains to break the monotony, but very little going north in the same direction as us.
We arrived at Barn Hill campground at lunchtime, setup and went to their small cafe for lunch.
After lunch we walked a couple of hundred metres down to the beach, and walked along the beach for a while collecting interesting looking shells and rocks. While the water at Eighty Mile Beach was completely flat and very shallow, Barn Hill Beach had some low surf, and was a little deeper.
The afternoon was spent relaxing outside, enjoying the breeze and the views of the Indian Ocean from our campsite.
It was quite a hot afternoon, and I was feeling that it would be bad to not have a swim at one of these beautiful beaches, so that was exactly what I did. The water was a lot colder than I liked, but once in it was really nice.
Day 171 - Barn Hill Station - Broome, WA 17 July, 2024
Today was another of our short driving days, about 120 km into Broome.
While it wasn't a great distance, we had the motorhome booked into a caravan repair place at 11:00 A.M. for a water pump replacement, so we had to leave Barn Hill at a reasonable time.
The drive was another boring one, with more of those long, straight stretches of road with nothing to break the monotony. The only stop we made was at the Roebuck roadhouse to refuel, as it had the cheapest diesel in the area at about 20c/litre cheaper than in Broome.
We arrived at the caravan repair place a little before the appointed time, and were surprised that the owner got straight into the replacement, and we were out of there about thirty minutes later.
From there we needed to go to a shopping centre and restock everything we'd used while at Yarrie Station. After a quick lunch at a cafe in the shopping centre, we hit the supermarket, pharmacy and bottle shop, where we had to navigate recently introduced alcohol restrictions, which were an attempt to control alcohol consumption amongst the local indigenous peoples.
After setting up at the campground we dusted off the e-bikes so we could use them later on in the day.
Late afternoon, we set off on the bikes to do the iconic watching the sun go down. We grabbed a table at the sunset bar of a resort across from the beach, got some drinks and enjoyed the experience of an amazing sunset, despite the hordes of people there.
Day 172 - Broome, WA 18 July, 2024
We had to be up early this morning to get the motorhome into the local Toyota dealer for its 60,000 km service by 8:10 A.M.
Once booked in we set off walking to see some of Broome's sights.
Our first stop was at the Roebuck Bay lookout for a nice view over the bay, but there was quite a cool breeze blowing, so we didn't linger too long.
Not far from there we entered Chinatown, which has a long history of providing goods and services to Japanese pearlers, Chinese traders and local inhabitants.
There was a lot of information scattered around the whole area, in many forms, primarily concerning the local pearling industry and the Japanese divers who harvested them.
To kill some time we had a coffee in one of the many cafes, then continued on exploring the area and doing some shopping, before walking back to the Toyota dealer.
We didn't have to wait too long before Mata was ready, but it was still too early for the bottle shops to be open at midday, so we drove out to the port for a look around.
The port itself wasn't too inspiring, but there was a nice beach area just past the port that had some really interesting rock formations. We had a leisurely wander on the beach and around the rocks before driving over to the other side of the peninsula to see what it had to offer.
We took the tougher option of a really rough dirt track to get there, so it took a little longer than expected to reach the Gantheaume Point lighthouse and lookout area.
It was a short walk from the carpark, past the lighthouse, to the lookout area, that also had some interesting rock formations overlooking the impossibly blue Indian Ocean. We climbed around the rocks for a while, taking photos of the impressive formations and back along the peninsula towards Cable Bay.
By the time we drove back towards our campground, the bottle shop was open, and that was our last stop for the day before going back to camp.
All tuckered out after our morning walks, we mostly relaxed for the remainder of the day.
Day 173 - Broome - Cygnet Bay, WA 19 July, 2024
Our mission for the day was to drive north up the Dampier Peninsula to Cygnet Bay, where we were booked in for a Kimberley Day Cruise the following day.
The drive was all on very good sealed roads for 200 km, apart from the last 3 km, which was on a rough unsealed track into the Cygnet Bay resort.
The roads were once again quite boring, with those long, straight, flat sections stretching for many kilometres at a time. However, this drive wasn’t quite as boring as our most recent ones, as the road was lined with thousands of Wattle trees in full bloom, loaded down with dense bright yellow flowers. We also spotted some Black Cockatoos along the way, after having a severe drought of any local wildlife for a very long time.
At the Cygnet Bay Resort, we checked in for two nights, found our campsite, got set up and had lunch.
Refreshed again, we went for a walk back past reception to the bay, where there was a not very high lookout that gave us a good view of Cygnet Bay and surrounds. Deciding we didn’t want to walk any further for the day in the heat, we checked out the swimming pool on the way back to our camp, but the water was too cold for our liking.
The internet was almost non-existent, so we did the best we could with the available resources for the afternoon.
Day 174 - Cygnet Bay, WA 20 July, 2024
We'd come to Cygnet Bay to the full-day Kimberley Day Cruise to Horizontal Falls, and today was the day for the cruise.
It was an early start as we had to front up at the Cygnet Bay Resort reception area at 6:45 A.M., which was a bit of a shock for us.
When everybody was present and correct our tour guide for the day, Willie, led us down to the water's edge, where a couple of bespoke amphibious vehicles were waiting to take us out to the tour boat, the Ohana, which was anchored a few hundred metres offshore in the shallow bay.
The Ohana was a well-appointed boat, that had been converted from a lobster boat, and was very comfortable with thick padded seats, rather than the bone-breaking hard plastic seating you would normally get on that type of boat. There were around 35 paying passengers, and about a dozen staff to look after us.
Willie was a local indigenous person, who still lived locally with his family, and who was a wonderful tour guide, with many experiences and anecdotes to share with us about his life on country, which he did throughout the day.
Something we weren't really expecting was the 4-hour trip to get out to the Horizontal Falls area. Thankfully the water was fairly calm and we didn't suffer from any seasickness at all during the day.
About three hours into the outward trip we were disappointed to learn about and see the presence of iron ore mines on some of the otherwise untouched islands we were passing, and also the presence of a large bulk iron ore carrier being loaded at one of these islands.
We'd read that the food on board was great, a 4-course breakfast menu and a 7-course lunch menu, and we weren't disappointed.
Although the meals were quite small, the quality was excellent for all the dishes we were served. Also, once the bar opened at 11:00 A.M., there was endless alcohol to wash down the yummy food.
It was nearly midday when we arrived at Horizontal Falls, and we had to wait while the crew unloaded two tenders from the top of the boat. We were then split into four groups, with us being in the third group. While the first two groups were out in the tenders we had more food and drinks while waiting our turn.
In the tender, we were taken first into another inlet called Cyclone Creek, where we learned about the geology of the area, then had a lesson from Willie in how the local indigenous people use a few of the trees and plants we could see growing on the rocks. It's easy to understand from the information we were given how the Aborigine people have survived successfully in the country for tens of thousands of years.
We then motored into Horizontal Falls and learnt about how the phenomenon is created by forces from the Moon, Sun and tides. One impressive fact is that the tides in the area are some of the biggest in the world, at 10-12 metres.
Back on the Ohana we began the journey back to Cygnet Bay, with loads more wonderful food and a few drinks consumed, while admiring the scenery and chatting with fellow passengers.
After arriving back to base about 5:00 P.M. we were exhausted and didn't last much longer before retiring early for the night.
Day 175 - Cygnet Bay - Waterbank Free Camp, WA 21 July, 2024
Our only mission for today was to drive closer to our next big adventure, the Gibb River Road.
Leaving Cygnet Bay, we had to retrace our steps for 200 km back to the Broome Highway, on the very boring road we'd driven a couple of days before.
Apart from a brief comfort stop halfway back, we continued on driving until we got to the Broome Highway, then drove back along that road to the Roebuck Roadhouse, where we'd stopped to fuel up on the way into Broome. Wanting to make sure we had plenty of diesel for the next part of our adventure, we filled up again before continuing on to our planned stop for the night at the Nillibubbica 24-hour rest stop.
Arriving there about lunchtime, there were plenty of spots to choose from, but as the day wore on, more and more RVs piled into the rest stop until the point where it was chokkers by dark.
While the campsite was beside a busy road, the traffic quietened down after dark, and the temperatures were still in the high 20s, so it was pleasant sitting outside for the afternoon, with the added bonus of good internet to keep us amused.
Comments