Highway Robbery
Well this gave a
whole new meaning
to the old
saying "Highway
Robbery". On the main Highway (heading north) almost at the
turnoff to Tom Price is a Roadhouse called 'Nanutarra'. We had been
warned by plenty of
travelers that this place is expensive but we certainly didn't expect
this. Firstly the fuel was the most expensive we have seen yet. Even on
the Nullarbor the dearest diesel was only $1.70/litre compared to this
place at $186.9 cents / litre. We worked out
exactly how much diesel we needed to get to Tom Price and that was all
we bought. As it was close to lunch time we stayed at the roadhouse and
had something to eat in the van. In that 15 minutes we saw most cars
pull up, look
at the price and drive off. The only people who paid this ludicrous
price were those who had no other choice. Even in Tom Price which is
355kms inland we only paid $153.5 cents/litre. That is 33.4 cents
/litre cheaper. While we were having
lunch a car towing a nice boat pulled in next to us. One guy went into
the roadhouse and the other guy waited near his car. The guy that
waited was
laughing so much I thought he was going to wet himself. The day prior
they had made a bet on the footy with the wager being a can of Bundy
and coke. The guy doing all the laughing had won the bet and decided he
wanted his prize right now at Nanutarra. The other guy came out of the
roadhouse shaking his head. One can of 'Bundy Rum and coke' cost him
$10-00. His mate thought it was hysterical and said he would never
drink it, but keep it as a souvenir. Nice mate. The locals told us that
according to the truckies this
is the most expensive roadhouse in Australia .
They should know.
That is extortion. My
advice, if
coming through
this way is to keep going.
Tom Price (The highest town
in WA)
On our way to the big
Tom we had an
overnighter at
a roadside stop
called 'Beasley River'. Off the road a few hundred metres and near the
Beasley River it was a great stopover. We camped near another family
from SA with a couple of young boys. I am sure we will bump into them
again.
Next stop Tom Price for an overnighter then onto Karijini Nat Park
(formerly known as Hammersley Range Nat park).
Now
the town of Tom Price was a pleasant surprise. It is one of those
places that has a good feel about it the minute you drive in. It is
only small but has a good range of shops including a big 'Coles'. The
town has nice parks and gardens and was very green due to all the
recent rains. The people were all friendly and the caravan park was
nice, complete with grass. Now here is a statement. I could happily
live here for a few years. This place has a very young population
with half the population being children. This little town of
4,000
people has two primary schools and one high school. True story.
On arrival in town (early-ish) we hit the Tourist Info centre and
booked the
mine tour for the following morning, had a good look around,
shopped, washed and drove up to Mount Nameless, which was a
spectacular backdrop to the caravan park and had great views of the
mine, town and surrounding area.
The next morning we packed up the van and headed off to town to do the
mine
tour. Well, it must have been us and 1/2 the caravan park that had the
same idea as we were van number 8 parked down the road. Following the
mine tour we will be off to Karijini National Park.
The tour was excellent and although we have done a couple of mine tours already this is our first actually down into an open cut mine. This mine is the only reason for Tom Price's existence and was originally a closed town owned and operated completely by the mine. This area has one of the largest iron ore deposits in the world.
Here are a few facts we found interesting: Hammersley Iron runs the mine and is owned by Rio Tinto. All the iron ore is sent to Dampier via rail and exported. Over 50% of all Australian iron ore is exported to China with the remainder going to Europe and Sth East Asia. The Chinese industrial boom has driven the price of the ore through the roof with the price being paid increasing by over 90% in the past two years.
Over 3,000 people are employed by this mine alone, including fly in, fly out contractors.
All staff at the mine work 3 day shifts, 3 night shifts and then 6 days off. They also receive 6 weeks annual leave which means they actually work 4 1/2 months a year. On top of being very well paid (minimum wage over $100,00 a year) they also get subsidized rent. Rent ranges from $120 to $150 a MONTH for the workers and $250 a MONTH for management which includes a pool. Electricity supplied FREE and annual airfares included in some packages.
The big mine dump trucks hold 5,000 litres of diesel and use 20 litres per km. They are refueled every 24 hours. Each tyre on these trucks cost $35,000 and are changed every 5 months on average.
Last financial year this mine grossed $2 billion with a net profit of $350 million. Multiply that by all the mines they operate and you have a lot of money. They predict the life expectancy of this mine to be 25 years or more.
Straight after the tour we set off for Karijini National Park.
Karijini National Park
(formerly
Hammersley
Range Nat. Park)
This National Park is
very spread
out with a
camping ground at
each end of the park. We stayed at 'Dales campground' as we were
planning to see Wayne and Tracey there and because it is cheaper with a
better location than Savannah campground.
Let me start by
telling you this. In
my short
lifetime I have
visited a lot of National Parks. This particular one is without a doubt
one of the best we have seen. It is in the middle of nowhere and a bit
of a detour (nearly 600kms) off the road north or south, but is a
place you must get to before you die. Words, photos and video footage
can not, and do not ,do this place justice. This is an exceptional part
of Australia.
When we stayed in Perth with Mick and Kaz we were going through our map
of WA and they were telling us places we should visit. On our map Mick
circled around Karijini NP and simply wrote "GO". Great advice
guys. We owe you one because when you are looking at the map and
planning the next leg of a journey, it would be easy to say 'we'll
give it a miss' or 'we'll do it next time' due to the distance you do
need to detour. That would have been a mistake.
When we arrived and found the camp host, there on the notice board
outside was written 'Parfitt site 18'. Wayne and Tracey had found us a
nice site and had reserved it for us. It was good to see them yet
again. A familiar face while on the road is one of those special treats.
As I said earlier this is a very large National Park and is basically
divided into two main sections with the Information Centre somewhere in
the middle. At our end of the park was Dales Gorge with Circular pool,
Fortescue Falls and Fern Pool.
At the other end which is about 50 kms away is Hancock, Weano and
Kalamina Gorge. They are all outstanding yet very different and I
would find it very difficult to choose a favourite.
So day one was spent
doing Dales
Gorge over. This
was a good introduction to what lies ahead.
Circular Pool-Dales Gorge
This was a fairly easy
walk that
took a little
over 3 hours, swims
included. The photos above are of circular pool which was the beginning
of the walk. Alex and I had a swim here and the water was refreshing
(polite for bloody cold). The water from the small waterfalls that can
be seen in the middle photo is warm/ hot artesian water. It was very
pleasant and in sharp contrast to the water in the pool below it. The
walk is only a couple of kms long but there is a bit of rock climbing
involved which slows you down a little. The walk ends at Fortescue
Falls that is only a short walk from the camp site, and a good place
for a soak after a big day of walking.
What a magical time to visit. Due to the recent high rainfall all the
rivers are flowing and all the waterfalls have water in them. This is
not always the case and in fact not something you see every year.
(Fortescue Falls below)
Fortescue Falls- Dales Gorge
The next day it was
the epic 50 km
trip across the
other side of the park to
see Weano Gorge. This gorge is a 3 km round trip that ends at 'Handrail
Pool'. Once again an extremely interesting, and in places, challenging
walk.
Handrail pool itself is tricky to get into. It entails stripping off
clothes you don't want to get wet, removing the boots and climbing down
some rocks and walking along a narrow gorge (about 5 ft wide) that has
rapidly running water about a foot deep in it. You then enter a pond
about 5 metres in diameter with very steep rock sides. Down another
even narrower gorge (just wide enough to walk down) that has a lot of
water flowing through. At the end is a metal handrail (hence the name)
that you need to hang on to tightly if you don't want to be washed away.
Below is Handrail Pool. To get to the pool you need to climb down
the rock face using the rope that is tied to the rail. Let me tell you
that none of this is easy when you have thousands of litres of very
cold water rushing over, around and under you. We all, including Harry
got
down the rope and into handrail pool. Alex and I (after I had fallen in
and wet my only shirt) then swam across the pool, and then swam about
200 metres down this very narrow gorge to Jade Pool . To go any further
we
need abseiling equipment so for us that was the end of the line. The
next major challenge was to get us all back up the rope and then out
safely.
Handrail Pool- Weano Gorge
The next day it was
off to the
visitors centre
which is
very good and
gives a really good insight to the area and why it is like it is. It
was then off to Kalamina Gorge. It's strange because this is the gorge
that doesn't get talked about a lot. Maybe it's because it is out on
it's own and not clumped together like the others. The camp host even
described it as the 'Old Grannies Gorge'. Well they must be pretty
agile grannies as we found this not only stunning but also very
challenging. The boys, (or should I say the mountain goats) were in
their element. This wee walk was about 3 kms return, but once again
slow going due to the terrain. This walk would easily be equivalent to
an 8 km straight forward walk. Popped in to Joffre Falls lookout on the
way home, which was also spectacular due to the recent rains.
Will somebody please ring the 'Dept
of
Families' and report this
obvious case of abuse. Child filthy, obviously starving and placed in a
highly dangerous situation.
Surely this child would be
better off
sitting in a classroom learning to count or write his name???
The family that we
met at Beasley River turned up in our campground so we had
drinks with them and planned our next walk.This place is
so amazing that you can't get enough of it. So the next day, instead of
resting it was off again to the other side of the park to tackle
Hancock Gorge with Danny, Tina and their boys. I know you are
going to get sick of me saying this but this is another amazing gorge.
This was probably the shortest of all the walks we have done but
again took us a
number of hours due to the terrain. Lots of narrow ledges with
very little to grip onto, and deep water a few metres below. At the end
of this gorge was the
spider walk and Kermits pool that we had heard a lot about. Alex
is so keen to try everything
and is an amazing little climber with great balance and co-ordination
but is still only 8 years old (and bullet proof if you listened
to him). I
always check out the climbs first and then off he goes. Chris and Harry
sat this one out and Danny, me and the boys took off down spider walk.
This was heaps of fun, be it a little scary the first time.
Spider Walk- Hancock Gorge
After we had finished
with Hancocks
Gorge we took
the others over to
Handrail and did it all again. Alex was the real little tour guide
showing them all the tricks of the trade. As well as the gorges there
are a number of spectacular lookouts which don't require as much
exertion, but give you an overall idea of the vastness and sheer size
of the gorges. Well unfortunately that was
it for Karijini. We took hundreds of photos and miles of video, none
of which really do it justice. This really has been one of the
highlights of the trip so far and a very, very special part of this
superb country. To see it with so much water was a bonus and made it
even more memorable. Once again lady luck was on our side.
And it's badly
overdue
for a
haircut!!!!!!!
Even a brush would help.
Again we packed up and this time heading for Port Hedland. As it is a
fairly long drive we will probably break the trip by staying at Indee
Station overnight.
Indee Cattle Station
We did end up staying
at Indee
Station and what a
spot it was. This
is a working cattle station and they also cater for very budget style
camping. In a lot of ways it very much reminded us of Hutt River
Provence. The guy who owns the place has lived there for over 40 years
and is obviously a collector of everything and anything. You basically
drive around and find a space between old tractors, car bodies and
other
junk and set up camp. The camp kitchen was fairly flash, be it a little
grubby and the toilet block, well that is a story on it's own. First
you had to get out and light the donkey boiler and wait until the water
boiled. The water pressure was great and once stoked up was hot. The
two toilets in the men's block had see through curtains as doors and
when the main door to the toilet block was opened everybody walking
past
could see you. Yes, it was very basic but cleanish and fun. Chris said
the
female toilet block was more upmarket and actually had doors on the
toilet and shower cubicles (with a sea theme no less!!).
At 6-00pm every night, everybody is invited into the Homestead for
'Happy
Hour' with food supplied by Betty and Colin, the property owners. These
guys really open up their home and hearts to all travelers. They even
let me plug in the laptop to their phone line so I could update the web
page and check emails.
All this for the grand total of $12-00 per night per family. Bargain.
The night we stayed there were about 6 other vans all staying a few
days. You can even stay rent free if you get out and do a few jobs if
you so desire.
This place was fun and worthy of a visit if passing by. (Chris
loved all the Sturt Desert Peas in flower, growing wild all over the
property.)
Port Hedland
Well this place was
not at all what
we had
expected. It's funny how
you have a pre-conceived idea of a place. In my case it is not often
accurate. Well I expected Port Hedland to be a tropical little
paradise, green and luscious with lots of shops and plenty to see and
do. Don't ask me why I thought that.
Ok, now for the reality. Port Hedland is brown, all brown. In fact
everything is brown. The dust from BHP literally covers everything. The
locals call it Pilbara Pink. I'm not sure
where the pink thing comes from, because from where we were sitting it
looked very brown. Now for the tropical paradise. It's about as
tropical as the Antarctic and as green as a brown cow.
OK, so the shopping must be great. Wrong again. The shopping is
hopeless. There is a Coles and Woolworths but that is about it. There
is no main street to talk of, but there are 2 small shopping complexes.
One is in Port Hedland with the other in South Hedland, about 15 kms
apart. Most of the shops in the centres are closed and as for the rest,
well!!
We ended up spending 3 nights here, not because we really wanted to but because we were waiting for a replacement DVD drive to arrive from Dell (as ours died while in Karijini) and because we had a number of jobs to do. Well the DVD didn't arrive so we left anyway. Hopefully it will get forwarded to Broome. I must say that the service we have received from Dell has been outstanding. I have never had such good after sales service ever. What will our next computer be- A Dell, no question.
So what else did we get up to. We soaked and washed clothes for nearly 2 days trying to get the Karijini dirt out of everything. I changed the engine oil in the car and rotated the tyres. All fun stuff.
Now one monthly event that did coincide with our stay (no, not that one!!) was the 'Stairway to the Moon'. This is an optical illusion that occurs during a full moon between April and October. The full moon rising over the mud flats at low tide gives the illusion of stairs going up to the moon. We went to the beach along with half the town and did witness this natural phenonemon. To really see it properly one either needs a good imagination or preferably be tripping on LSD to get the full benefit. No, it was good and we are glad we saw it . We met one couple who chose not to go to Karijini so that they could see the stairway to the moon instead. That was a very bad call. Each to their own.
We did a grocery shop and during the big event I went into the Harvey Norman that was in the same shopping centre. While I was poking around I found a big box of items on the floor at give away prices. In the box I found 2 in-car kits for our digital phones and one for our CDMA phone. What was the chance of that? And for the best part, they were only $1-00 each. True story. For the total sum of $3-00 I bought 3 in-car mobile phone kits. Now that is a bargain.
I also dropped into 'Skill' employment agency that was next door to Harvey Norman to see what sort of work was available. As with most places in the west the answer was plenty. The lady told me the biggest shortage in town was for hospital staff, nurses in particular. They are currently offering packages for nurses of over $70-00 per hour with a FREE house included. All good if you like brown!!
We're out of here- next stop will be Cape Keraudren for a few well earned days of R&R. (been working our guts out!).
Cape Keraudren
Only 160 km north of
Port Hedland is
the beginning
of 80 Mile Beach.
This total length of beach has a number of places that you can stay and
enjoy this area. The first is Cape Keraudren. This is a council owned
and operated 'Nature Reserve' about 14 kms off the highway on a very
corrugated dirt road. We will be staying at 3 different places along
this beach but more about the other two later.
We ended up having 4 nights here and basically relaxed with Chris and the boys doing journal work. Amongst other things I installed 2 in-car phone kits and am very happy with the result. Finally the dash of the car looks tidy, be it a bit high tech, but tidy. God I love lights and switches. It makes me feel so important. Can't wait for somebody to ring us now. Jon Joiner did ring the other day and was the lucky first to hear it in action. I am sure that made his day.
Now speaking of the Joiners, they are about to leave Bundy for an 8 week trip across the top of Australia and we will be meeting up with them somewhere in W.A. That will be fun and we will probably travel with them for a week or three before they start making their way back. Chris's mother Jan is also flying into Broome to spend a week or so with us which will be great. While she is with us we will go north to Cape Leveque to spend a few nights. Jan hasn't been up there before so that will be interesting for all of us. The boys are really excited as is Chris (Oh, and me of course!!) about seeing her. Six months is a long time. Seriously it will be great and we are all looking forward to seeing her again very soon.
We could easily have
vegged out for
a few more
days here but
must move on. This is the first time this trip that he have had a time
frame that we have to stick to. I don't think Jan will be very happy if
she arrives in Broome and we aren't there. The next stop will be 80
Mile Beach Caravan Park for a few days and then off to Barn Hill
Station.
Updated 07/07/06
Pardoo Roadhouse- Like Chalk and Cheese
Now the idea of this
web page is
not to critic
every roadhouse we
come across but I think this one deserves a mention. At the turn off
from the highway to Cape Keraudren is the Pardoo Roadhouse. Exactly
like Nanutarra Roadhouse (see Highway Robbery June 06) this place is on
the highway. That is where
the similarity ends. This roadhouse is absolutely worth visiting. For
starters we only paid 169.9 cents a litre compared to 186.9 at
Nanutarra. For those a little slow that is a difference of 17
cent/litre and considering this place is a few hundred km north and
more remote that makes it well priced.
For
those camping at Cape
Keraudren (and there are heaps) this roadhouse is there only source of
fresh drinking water. You would think that they would really have an
opportunity to cash
in on their precious commodity. Well they don't. In fact they allow you
to take as much water as
you wish and ask for nothing in return except for a donation to the
"Royal Flying Doctor Service". They have raised over $17,000 in
the past 18 months. Pretty good effort. They also have a small caravan
park attached and unlike most attached to roadhouses this is one really
worth staying at. It's a real oasis, with plenty of green grass,
shady trees and a pool.
So it would seem that
this is one
little place in
the middle of
nowhere that is willing to provide a great service as well as making a
living. Spread the word, they deserve it.
80 Mile Beach
Our next stop only 100
km down the
road is the 80
Mile Beach Caravan
Park. This is supposedly shell collecting mecca. We had planned just 2
nights here but ended up staying 3 nights instead. The caravan park is
a credit to the owners and is grassy, shady and well appointed. The
beach is long and beautiful, a little more like QLD beaches. A huge
stretch (80 miles in fact) of uninterrupted white sand. Compared to the
rest of the WA beaches this is in fact a little boring. Don't get me
wrong, it is beautiful, but just lacks the rugged, hostile and
raw beauty that we have become accustomed to since being in the west.
Nevertheless we are here for shells and hunt for shells we did. It
doesn't matter where you look they are everywhere. Millions of them,
big ones, little ones, white ones and coloured ones. For somebody who
wasn't going to drive their car on the beach we now seem to spend 1/2
our life on the beach. Never in the wet sand or water but up in the
soft dry sand. We drove north along the beach for about 20 kms and
started the epic search. We found plenty of lovely shells and have
added
a little more weight to our rig. Not sure what we will do with them all
when we get home. Maybe forget about the Post Office or brothel idea
and start up a shell shop!!!!!
While here we met a
lovely couple
from Holland,
Liz and Curt with
their daughter Jackie. Jackie is the same age as Harry and they played
for hours. Harry was a little confused as to why she couldn't
understand a single word he said but as with any boy/ girl they managed
to overcome the language barrier and have a ball.
These guys were lots of fun and we are sure we will catch up with them
along the way. We thought we had a lot to organise before embarking on
this trip but after talking to them ours was a walk in the park. They
had all the domestic issues like renting the house, as well as visa
problems and then coming to another country and buying a motorhome and
all the necessary day to day gear before setting off. In comparison we
had it easy. Anybody in the market for a Winnebago with a queen size
bed and double bunks in really good condition can give us a call. They
will be away from home for 18 months and are having a ball.
Our next stop is a
place we have
heard so much
about and one that we are a little excited about seeing- Barn Hill.
Barn Hill
It was a fairly boring
250 km drive
and we arrived
just after
lunch. It is funny how you have a mental image of what you think
something is going to look like, based on the bits of information you
have heard or read. We expected a few gum trees with a couple of vans
parked under them with a bowling green overlooking the ocean. We
had the bowling green component right but the rest took us by surprise.
This is a big call but we all agree that this is a special place. What
makes it more interesting is that we can't really put our finger on the
reason.
It is rustic, even
basic, but we
have stayed at
many places that
fit that description. If anything you would have to say it's the
atmosphere. We can see why people come and stay here for months. It has
a real sense of community and after a few days you even have a sense of
belonging. There is Dot's craft corner, where all the ladies gather
each
morning and do craft, there is the bowling green, where everybody,
young
and old, male and female get together and have a bowl, a laugh or a
lesson.
Barn Hill is a work in progress with new toilet blocks being
constructed, grass laid and maintenance done. Most of this work is
carried out by the grey nomads who give their time for free with no
strings attached. For some it gives a sense of worth, while for others
it helps fill in the day and they get to enjoy the companionship that
goes with the territory. Some were laying tiles, others hanging doors
or finishing off the plumbing. Nearly every day a milestone was
reached. It might have been as small as another couple of showers being
commissioned, but you could feel the excitement, the sense of
achievement
and you could almost smell the camaraderie.
These people were having the time of their life, paying to stay here,
working for nothing and loving it. What a place.
We could have easily
have stayed
here a month. The
coastline is
some of the most spectacular we have seen yet. We again caught up with
the 'Dutchies' and again had lots of fun with them. Harry is starting
to not even notice that Jackie still doesn't understand a word he says.
We all played bowls at least 4 times a day and hate to admit it but
Alex beat us nearly every time. There was always somebody willing to
give advice to help improve your game. One old lady in particular
seemed very knowledgeable and always willing to help out. Turns out she
is a very well respected professional bowling coach who helps to get
the Australian team ready for the Commonwealth Games. In keeping with
the everybody getting in and helping out, the park is even managed by 2
ladies who do an incredible job and get nothing but free rent in
return.
There is a number of arranged get togethers. Wednesday night is
barbecue night. You bring your own tables and food over to the communal
grassed area near the bowling green, cook your own food and chat. Then
Sunday night is roast night. For the sum total of $12.50 pp you get a 3
course meal. This time you provide everything except for the food. They
usually cater for 150 hungry mouths.To see all these people (us
included) sitting at their tables, next to total strangers having the
time of their life was inspiring. What an experience, what a meal, what
a place.
This is a place you
must visit. Give
yourself at
least 4 days or
even a month. Get involved and enjoy the great sense of this vibrant
transient community. We guarantee you will love it and be so much
richer for the experience.
We had planned to only stay for 3 nights but all the talk about the
Sunday
roast kept us for another night. We were so glad we did and not
only had a huge, beautifully cooked meal but also a great night. At our
table there was us, a young couple from the cabin behind
us who live in Port Hedland and an old guy (Alan) from a few vans down
from us. Alan was an ex Commander of an Australian Naval
Destroyer, the Vendetta. He had us all entertained with stories of the
high seas, of meeting Royalty, and of the highs and lows of life as a
mariner. A number of years ago the ABC did a story on him and his ship
on 'Australian Story'. He had a copy of it and after dinner we watched
it with him. It was fascinating having him add his commentary to the
story. Alex was in awe of meeting a real life Captain of a Destroyer. A
lovely guy who I am sure we will keep in touch with. Yet another story
and memory from our time on the road.
Our next stop is that
famous holiday
destination
for anyone over
55 yrs old, the Cairns of the West, the Pearling Capital of the world,
Broome.
Will we love it, will we hate it. Only time will tell.
Broome
There are few places
that people on
the road talk
about as much as
Broome. The number one question we are asked is 'Have you booked??' and
the look you get when you say 'no' is of total disbelief, of shock and
horror. 'You will never get in dear' is the response that will rattle
around in my uncluttered mind for the rest of my life. It would seem
that 1/2 of WA's retirees and plenty from other states flock here for
the winter months. The number of Qld'ers that also make the yearly
pilgrimage is staggering. Haven't they heard of Mission Beach, Port
Douglas or Cairns?? Same climate and much closer to home. Well
apparently not.
We arrived at Cable Beach Caravan Park by 8-30am after a very early
get away from Barn Hill (120km). I had rung the night before and
was told they still had sites and if we arrived early it shouldn't be a
problem. Well lady luck was again on our side. We booked straight into
a great site close to the toilets under nice shady trees and can stay
as long as we wish. Apparently that is unheard of as most people have
to change sites 2 or 3 times over a 2 week period if they haven't
booked months or even years prior. There is no doubt that it is much
quieter this year, I assume due to fuel costs. In previous years we
would have never got in.
Chris's mum, Jan is flying in on Tuesday for an 8 night stay so we had
a few jobs we had to do prior to her arrival. One was to buy a tent and
air bed for Chris and I to sleep in while Jan visits, and to be used
for
those places we can't get the van into. We also had to do shopping and
get packed up because on Wednesday morning we are leaving the van and
going off to Cape Leveque for 2 days. An esky was also needed, firstly
to get all the food up to Cape Leveque and then to use for those times
when we will need to leave the van and head bush with the tent. We must
have looked at a hundred cheap plastic things that really shouldn't be
called eskies. I think the ice would last longer if you laid it out in
the sun. We bit the bullet and bought a QLD made 'Tropical Esky'. It's
a bright
orange thing that we now have to find a place for in the van. More
bloody weight.
Cape Leveque- Kooljaman
Resort.
There is no doubt I am
the master of
organizing. I
rang and booked
the accommodation for Kooljaman while in Cape Range about a month ago.
Cape Leveque is
220km from Broome on a very rough 4x4 only track. It takes at least 3
hours and you feel every inch of the trip. We arrived there just after
lunch and went to book in. Yes Mr Parfitt, the receptionist said, you
do have a booking but not until the 28th July. Oops. Right date, wrong
month.
So what do you have available I asked. Nothing sorry, was the reply we
really didn't want to hear. They rang around a few places and got us in
for one night at 'Middle Lagoon' only 100 kms back the way we had just
come. Kooljaman could then accommodate us for the 2 nights after that
but not in
the ensuite cabin as planned, but in a permanent dome tent. The upside
of going a little more basic was that we could stay for 3 nights all up
instead of the 2 we had planned.
Our next minor problem
was that
Middle Lagoon has
no linen and
guess what, neither did we. Kooljaman Resort were kind enough to lend
us all the linen and blankets to take with us.
So 100 kms back we go. More bone shaking. Our cabin was actually quite
cute sitting up on top of a hill overlooking the lagoon. Cabin might be
a slight exaggeration. Our cabin was more like a big bird cage with a
tin roof and shade cloth walls. It did have 4 beds and we made up a
make shift one on the floor for Alex. We had a small gas burner, a
kettle and an open fire outside with a barby plate. That was great as
Chris had planned all barbies for our evening meals. Next minor set
back
was there was no plates, no cups, no cutlery. In fact nothing, and
guess what,. we had nothing either. All my hard work and planning going
beautifully.
I
sent Chris off to the office (if you could call it that) to try and
sweet talk the old guy. Ah, she hasn't lost her charm and came back
shortly after with an old foam box full of all sorts of bits and
pieces. All coming together beautifully. I am not sure if I was in the
good books with this little effort and the lack of conversation on the
subject was deafening.
We had a fire, had a
great dinner
and off to bed.
The wind started
to blow and continued all night. It was a tad chilly but we all managed
to sleep and survive to tell the story. The next morning we had a look
around and then set off yet again over the 100 km and 986,253 pot holes
back to our original destination.
On the way back to
Kooljaman we
dropped into a
couple of
indigenous communities. They were all slightly different and the
nationality of the missionaries that influenced that community was
obvious in the architecture and general surrounds. The next few days
were spent doing a bit of exploring and resting. The beaches here are
lovely and the sunsets magnificent - another few hundred photos coming
up!! The Kooljaman Resort
is fairly basic but unspoilt. The coastline is spectacular and reminded
us very much of Barn Hill.
On Friday we went for
a drive to One
Arm Point.
This is another
indigenous community at the very top of Cape Leveque. Three days a
week the public are invited into the local high school to watch the
kids grinding and polishing trochus shells. The shells and jewelery are
then sold to
raise money for school camps. It was very interesting and we spent well
over an hour talking to the staff about the community, and life in such
a remote area. Most of the teaching staff are white fellas and on the
whole love the people, the lifestyle and the remoteness. They all have
big boats and live and breathe fishing.
The other industry of interest is the One Arm Point Fish Hatchery.
Initially this was set up to breed fish and release them back into the
ocean. From what we could gather this still happens. The have also
recently branched out into breeding and selling to aquarium shops,
'clown fish' or 'Nemos' as Harry calls them. Since the movie came out
the demand for these fish has been very high. In an attempt to stop the
ocean stocks of these beautiful fish being depleted they now breed them
as well. A number of the large tanks also had barramundi ranging from
small to close to a metre long. They were amazing and would have been
really yummy. Who needs a fishing rod, we could just stick in our hands
and grab one.
So that was pretty
much it for Cape
Leveque. We
had an early getaway and headed back to Broome, shake, rattling and
rolling over
everyone of those corrugations. we made it back in time to go to the
much talked about 'Broome Markets'. More on that next month.
Stayed tuned for July which will begin with Broome.
June in Summary
So that is it for
June.
Unfortunately that is half
way through our trip, but we still have plenty ahead of us.
Everything continues to go really well and we can only urge each and
everyone of you to consider a trip like this. This is an experience
that you cannot put a price on, an experience that this family will
never forget, and something that we will talk about and reflect on for
many, many years.
Don't think for one minute that this will have a negative impact on
your kids education. This really is living, it really is learning, the
sort of learning they will never get from being in a classroom.
A few stats for those
interested.
We have just completed week 30 on the road.
We have now traveled
just on
20,000kms and have
had 2 flat
tyres, both on the caravan (which I plugged and had internally patched
later).
We
have used 3,375 litres of diesel costing $5,100.00. The average diesel
cost has been $1.51 per/litre. We remain well under budget on
fuel.
Our average fuel economy is 17.8 litres/100 km. Our average weekly
distance traveled is 667 kms, with our smallest week being 189 kms and
our biggest week at 1695 kms.
We have spent just over $4,000.00 on accommodation, which is just over
half of what we budgeted. We expect to continue to be well ahead
on accommodation as we continue to 'free' camp when possible or stay in
National Parks. Being self sufficient is crucial doing a trip like this.
Until next month