Monday 9 September 2013 - leaving Karratha region
We’ve had a really nice couple of days. Cleaverville looked nice but we didn’t camp there because it was blowing a fair bit, plus there was a bit of a heatwave on and there wasn’t much shade available. We had a nice lunch stop in there though, then went to have a look at Point Samson. It’s another beautiful spot. We pulled up at a playground and let the girls loose for a while, had a look at the water and then went for a drive around Cossack, which is now just a historic town. The whole area is pretty magical to look at – full of dramatic contrasts where the rugged natural landscape meets the incredible man-made feats of industry and mining because the land is so mineral-rich.
We then drove through Karratha to a great little caravan park in Dampier. It was down the end of the town, faced the water (and the ships getting loaded up, pretty cool to watch) and had basic but great amenities, sufficient shade and friendly inhabitants. We stayed the maximum time allowed (three days) and would have loved to extend our visit if we could. We used the time to catch up on washing, get some new feet for the Cruiser (just two – nothing’s cheap in Karratha!) and generally pottered around enjoying the area. There’s a nice little playground right on the water, so we took the girls there one morning and we visited the library twice. It had some really interesting local books on the area, including Sam’s Island and Red Dog.
On Sunday we packed up, said goodbye to our friends (another family with two boys the same age as the girls) that we’d met at De Grey and went to catch up with my cousin Ricky. He’s working at a gas plant near Karratha, flying in for a month at a time from his home on the Central Coast in NSW. We picked him up, grabbed a hot chook and some fresh rolls and went for a drive around the Burrup Peninsula (where his worksite is). Hearson’s Cove was our first stop, a beautiful little beach, very popular with the locals. The photos say it all. Sienna adopted another family because they had a cute little dog and Yasmin made friends with a little girl, playing on a rock in the water with her. It was pretty surreal looking at the pristine clear water and then up at the red rock on one side and gas plant flame burning on the other, reminding you of how much money this whole area is worth. Next stop was Withnell Bay, which had a much rougher track in and consequently fewer visitors. It was a little more rugged looking but still stunning and the whole area looks fantastic for fishing.
After returning Ricky to his digs and saying goodbye, we filled up with water and set off for a roadside bushcamp. About half an hour out of town is Miaree’s Pool, another popular local swimming spot beside the Maitland River. We drove around a while before finding a suitable spot (it didn’t have that many sites and a lot were already taken by the earlybirds), but eventually we found a great little area and set up. After a very early dinner, we all went to bed.
This morning, we ate brekkie, packed up and then went and found a good swimming spot along the river. The girls stripped off and we trotted down to a fairly clear, sandy-bottomed waterhole, complete with rope swing. What more could you want? After splashing around for half an hour (which doubled as our bath), we jumped in the car and went to check out 40 Mile Beach. This spot is about the same distance from Karratha as Cleaverville, but on the southern side and seemed to be a very similar type of landscape. We checked out the campsites but nothing really took our fancy. Following a northern track behind the dunes, we found a decent little spot to pull up for a few hours, with a great sandy beach in front. We pulled the shade out and went down for a swim and a fish (no luck, but we scored in the bait department when Glenn netted a whole school of hardy-heads). After lunch and a cuppa, we rolled up the tarp, packed away the chairs and kitchen and hit the road again.
We quite like the Pilbara region. On first sight it isn’t much, but after a while the area kind-of grows on you. The coastal region is particularly appealing to us, I think partly because it’s not chock-a-block full of grey nomads who come every year and look at you like you’re the scum at the bottom of their bait bucket because you dare to broach their fishing territory. But that’s another story. The wildflowers here are pretty amazing, which of course I can’t do justice because I don’t know the names of all the varieties, but the Sturt’s Desert Pea can be seen everywhere. The colour contrasts are absolutely stunning – red flowers against the green scrub; red dirt against the blue sky; grey steel structures against the aqua water. It’s hot, but at this time of year the max temp is only 30-35 degrees and while we’ve been here there’s been a beautiful sea breeze blowing. I’d love to see it in the wet (albeit from the comfort of a house with air con!). Although we’ve said goodbye to the Dampier/Karratha region, our business there is definitely unfinished!
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