Author: Ann Bradshaw

Carnarvon WA

We mainly stopped off in Carnarvon to restock at Woolies but there were a few touristy things to do.

The Carnarvon Space and Technology Museum

The museum was opened in 2012 by Buzz Aldrin and is on the site of the OTC Satellite Earth Station.  The station was opened in 1966 and was part of the global satellite communications system.  It also relayed NASA communications.  The Carnarvon Tracking Station was built to support NASA’s Gemini, Apollo and Skylab programs. It was the largest manned space flight tracking station outside the US.

Here’s Buzz Bradshaw and his alien friend having a highly enjoyable time in the museum.

The Fruit Loop

Carnarvon lies on the Gascoyne River and is famous for its tropical fruit and vegetable farms.  The plantations get their water supplies from bores below the dry river bed.  The river only flows after heavy rains inland.  The ‘fruit loop’ is a self drive route around the plantations where you can stop at roadside stalls or farm shops to sample and buy fresh produce.

The best beach in Carnarvon is at Pelican Point … and it’s dog friendly.

Coral Bay, WA

Jonathan spent a day fishing with Mahi Mahi Fishing Charter.  The sea was pretty choppy and they almost cancelled the trip.  I think Jonathan wished they had as he had a terrible bout of sea sickness but managed an impressive catch anyway.  The Red Emperor sells for $80 a kilo so I think you get your money’s worth.  Any fish recipes gratefully received.

My boat trip was much calmer as I went out in a glass bottom boat for an hour’s bob over Ningaloo Reef.

Happy 20th Anniversary to us

Coral Bay, WA.  What a beautiful place to spend our anniversary.

Twenty Years is ‘China’ so we were hoping for a Chinese takeaway but it’s either pizza or fish and chips.  State of Origin decider tonight too at Suncorp!!  Go the Maroons!!

 

Exmouth WA

On the way into Exmouth we came across Learmonth Solar Observatory which is a joint operation between the Australian and US governments.  Exmouth has a dry climate, with approximately 320 days of sunshine a year, hot summers and mild winters so makes an ideal location.  The observatory isn’t open to the public however.  In April 2023 there will be a total solar eclipse visible from Exmouth so Jonathan was keen to check out some viewing sites on the path of totality.

Exmouth is at the Northern end of the World Heritage listed Ningaloo Reef.  There are lots of campsites along the Cape Range National Park but of course we couldn’t go there because of The Winst.  We stayed at the Lighthouse Caravan Park at the North West Cape which suited us very well, as a dog friendly beach is directly across from the campsite.  We walked up to the Vlamingh Head Lighthouse where there are sweeping views along the coast and we also spotted  humpback whales which are migrating.   We could see loggerhead turtles close to shore, feeding on the reef.  Emus also came wandering into the campsite.

Jonathan was surprised to find that the sandflats of the Ningaloo Reef Lagoon are famous in fly fishing circles as a place to catch bonefish, trevally, queenfish and permit and he spent a couple of afternoons out with his fly rod.

Onslow, WA

It was the start of the two week WA school holidays and we were prepared for the coastal towns being busy and the campsites bringing in their ‘super peak’ holiday prices.  We’re still in the tropics here so people are also escaping the cold of the south west winter.  Onslow is a small coastal town about 80km off the main highway.  We stopped at Ocean View Caravan Park for two nights but could have stopped longer as we were right on the beach and all the beaches were dog friendly.

There were also some good fishing spots.

Jonathan worked out that Onslow is the furthest place in Australia from Samford by road, at 5598km.  It has taken us 135 days to get here but of course we didn’t take the shortest route!

Dampier

Red Dog statue at the entrance to town.

We’d had a lovely week at Point Samson but it was time to move on, and next we spent a couple of days in Dampier.  It might not seem an obvious place for tourists with its huge oil and gas plant, salt works and 24/7 port operations but it had some hidden treasures.  The town overlooks the islands of the Dampier Archipelago and is particularly popular with boaties and fishermen.  Humpback whales can also be seen off the coast as they migrate north between June and September (haven’t seen any yet though).

Everywhere is dog friendly: the caravan park, the beachside markets, and the Mermaid Tavern even allows dogs on its courtesy bus.  All the beaches are dog friendly, including the beautiful Hearson’s Cove where the beach is made entirely of sea shells and will eventually form limestone (see I do listen to geology facts Jonathan).

Dampier’s most famous resident was Red Dog, a kelpie/cattle cross who travelled round the Pilbara region during the 1970s.  His story has been made into a film (have plenty of tissues handy if you watch it).

Just outside of Dampier, is Deep Gorge which is recognised as one of the most prolific Aboriginal rock art sites in Australia with over 10,000 images.  The images are called petroglyphs which are those made by removing the outer surface of the rock.

Deep Gorge rock art site.

 

A surprise visitor and fishing success

What are the chances of someone you know being sent over from the UK by the company they work for, to a town only half an hour away from Point Samson?  We couldn’t believe it when our good friend Andrew Smith sent us a message to say he would be in Karratha for the week with a couple of work colleagues to give a training course.

Winston was delighted to see Andy again but I think he was wondering what had happened to Andy’s girlfriend (and Jonathan’s cousin) Sophie.   Sophie was in fact back in Chester, spitting chips at not being able to come too.

The trio had a bit of time off and were keen fishermen so they drove over to Point Samson where Jonathan joined them.  They caught quite a variety of fish.

The Trevally were big enough to eat and very tasty they were too!

 

Point Samson

Point Samson is a small coastal town with a tavern, bistro, small general store, some holiday accommodation and not much else.  We booked into The Cove Caravan Park for three days and soon decided to extend for the week.   The weather is perfect, there’s a Woolies a few kms away in Wickham, the beach is only a short walk from our van and there are plenty of good fishing spots nearby.  A lovely place for a relaxing break.

It was also nice to finally have a break from the red dust of the past few weeks.  Everything in the van, including Winston has taken on a red tinge.

A few kms from Point Samson is the ‘ghost’ town of Cossack.  It was a major pearl diving centre from the 1860s when over 80 pearl luggers operated out of the town.  Once the pearl beds had been depleted towards the end of the 19th century, the pearling industry moved North to Broome. When Point Samson became the main port, Cossack gradually declined and was eventually abandoned.  Some of the main buildings have been restored and also house a museum and you can follow the Cossack heritage trail around the town.

 

Nearby Settlers Beach was a lovely place to stop for lunch and a bit of a dig.

 

 

Back on the road again

Heading South again down the WA coast.

Pardoo – no can do

We had planned to spend the next few days at the beach at Pardoo Station which is 13km off the highway down a very well graded unsealed road.  What no-one had thought to mention in the information was that the beach could only be accessed if you have a 4wd vehicle.  The campsite looked very nice but not nice enough to spend a few days with no beach.

Port Hedland

An industrial town and port and although it has some caravan parks, not really a place for tourists unless you’re interested in touring the BHP facilities or learning about the history of the town. We stopped to look at the Dampier Salt Works.  The huge salt mountains dominate the skyline as you drive into town.  The salt is produced by the evaporation of seawater and exported to customers in Asia and the Middle East.  It is mainly used by chemical companies but also as food salt.

Sandfire Roadhouse

Thank goodness Winston was in the van when a white peacock turned up.