Weeks 12, 13 & 14 Eighty Mile Beach-Cape Keraudren-Marble Bar-Newman-Tom Price

Hi again to all our family and friends.
This blog takes in the last part of week 12, week 13 and into start of
week 14 and so now we continue on from Broome to

Eighty Mile Beach......

On this long stretch of beautiful Eighty Mile Beach we drove 15kms
to collect a good selection of shells, some of which are pictured below...
with a few also collected from Cable Beach and Cape Keraudren.

Cape Keraudren

Here's our camp spot at Cape Keraudren, a National Park and a very

peaceful place to stay. Across the water is the southern tip of Eighty Mile Beach.
Another piece of Paradise!

The colours of the white sand and blue ocean are very easy on the eye

and the small black bottom boat just finishes off the picture. A very
pleasant scene to take in whilst enjoying afternoon tea under the
 shade of our caravan awning on another very warm day.

While walking at low tide we discovered this wall which is the northern
end of the Rabbit Proof Fence (visible here only during low tide).
This is the Longest Fence in the World at 1837km, from Starvation
Harbour on the South Coast to Cape Keraudren in the Northwest.
It was surveyed by AW Canning from 1901 - 1905 and constructed
from 1904-1907 by RJ Ankatell. There is a sign to alert visitors to the
presence of the fence which is handy when it's not visible at low tide as
there are no longer any remains of the fence on the ground in the area.

    

       

Here are just some of the sea creatures we discovered just below
our campsite on our walk at the extremely low tide at the Cape. 
You can walk out a very long way but need to make sure that you
can get back before high tide commences as the water rushes in 
quite quickly. It was so interesting that we soon lost track of time. 

These two Jabirus (Black Necked Storks) we spotted while relaxing at camp.

Cootenbrand Creek at the Cape is the best spot for a beach walk or a

swim if you keep watch for the salt-water crocodiles which may also be enjoying

a swim. We had a brief dip but stayed in the shallows and kept a lookout.

Sunrise over the Cape (looks a bit like a sunset) at our camp site
before continuing on our journey south.

As we head inland towards Marble Bar, we encountered many Road Trains,

some as long as 55.5 metres with four trailers, which carry iron-ore from

the mines to Port Hedland.

At first the road was long, straight, flat and somewhat monotonous

 but we were pleasantly surprised when the scenery 

eventually changed to these beautiful mountain ranges.

Marble Bar

We arrived at Marble Bar, which has the reputation of being Australia's hottest

town because of consistently high temperatures experienced during the summer

months when the temperature climbs above 38 degrees for days on end.

The record is 160 consecutive days over 38 degrees in the summer of 1923-24.

The Marble Bar Pool is a popular swimming hole with its clear water and this

is where the Jasper bar crosses the Coongan River west of town. Pioneers 

mistook this Jasper for bars of marble giving rise to the name Marble Bar.

Throwing water on the Jasper certainly enhances the colours.

Before we left Marble Bar we enjoyed a picnic lunch surrounded

 by cows at Chinaman's Pool.

Doolena Gorge

We settled at this fantastic camp spot at Doolena Gorge CAW606, 34km north

of Marble Bar. We almost missed this spot as the signpost was quite small but

we were thrilled when we got there. Just look at our dining room view.....

overlooking the Coongan River and gorge.

Above - views from our Loungeroom.....

...our Pantry stock....drinking from the river

Our balcony view over the Coongan River....we can just spot 

our caravan on the right under the trees....

....our bedroom under the trees with views of the river.....and below........

 

......our outdoor bathroom in the billabong!

When we were still living on our acres with a great backyard, open space

and a pleasant view of the garden and trees, Gerry had said that when we

sell up we can travel in the caravan and if we don't like the view we get, we

can always move to another spot. Well this is certainly a great example.

After two days it was difficult to leave our beautiful campsite but when we

did head off, in the middle of the sandy track out, there's a Stand-Off!!

This cow wasn't moving in a hurry....so who won....? Gerry or the cow....?

She just stood there, so Gerry eventually tooted the horn and after a short

time she  gave in and slowly moved after giving us a glare.

On the road again!

On the road to Newman, we came upon this caravan with a picture

of a tractor painted on the back...... and why that picture....???

Yes the van is being towed by a tractor. We got a wave and we're

sure this couple get plenty of interest. Apparently they are on their

way to a tractor rally in Perth and taking the long way around.

It must be a long slow journey!

Newman

We met up with our travelling companions again at Munjina (Auski Roadhouse) 

along the Newman Road on Aug 4th in time to have a few drinks for Gerry's

birthday. After an overnight stay we travelled on to Newman and this photo 

(can you spot Gerry standing behind the front wheel) was taken in front

of the Visitor Information Centre. This truck weighs about 180Ton, carried

a load of just over 200Ton and was donated to the centre by the

Whaleback Mine in Newman. To buy a new one of these now will cost $5M.

These are some of the trucks working in the Whaleback open-cut mine

at Newman, the largest single open-cut mine in the world.

Here's me in this huge wheel at the mine. Those glasses, helmet and hi-vis

vest do nothing for the fashion stakes. Just as well it doesn't bother me!

At the mine, entry is only permitted by an organized tour and it's

obligatory to wear this gear due to BHP's stringent safety policy.

This bucket we're standing in can carry 75Tons.

Record Train - In June 2001, BHP Iron Ore set a world record for

having the longest and heaviest haul over 275km. The train was 7.353km

long and weighed 99,732.1 tonnes, had eight engines and only one driver

on the journey from Newman to Port Hedland! This is not the usual

practice but it was carried out just for a publicity stunt.

 From Newman we made our way to Tom Price and on the way what

did we see....

.........that tractor again towing the caravan and this was four days later.

That's the thing about this journey, you often meet the same people

along the way as there aren't many roads to choose from.

Tom Price

This is the view of the Tom Price Mine from Mt Nameless lookout.

 A view to the south from Mt Nameless Lookout reached by 4x4 track

and below a view to the west with Gerry, Maria (me) and Richard.

                           

                                                                                         

          Here are some of the wildflowers we spotted in the Pilbara.
The pink/purple flower above is a Mulla Mulla,
which is widespread in the Pilbara.

Now we are in the 14th week of our journey but haven't had a lot of internet possibilities so am a little behind with the blog. We'll catch up in the next week

as we had a wonderful experience in the magnificent gorges of the Karijini National Park. Enjoy this blog for now and we'll be in touch again soon.