'Wherarwee' in Oz: Log 24-07 Port Hedland

Well, we made it to Quondong, it was only 25K’s of dirt which took us 1 hr 15 mins to traverse. Photo shows our campspot, there were 2 other groups at the site & they weren’t at all happy when we stopped & let us know their feelings(they apologized for their rudeness later on & invited us to join their campfire). It was certainly worth the shaking we endured to get there, magnificent outlook over the ocean, rocky beach below us. Going for a walk along the track, I could see we couldn’t have gone any further as it was very soft & sandy, a pity as the next section of beach was all sand with a large, level camp area. We have been on walks along the beach & relaxed near the van. Today we saw a pod of 4 whales heading North about 500mts offshore. There are thousands of hermit crabs on the beach with every shade of shell you could imagine, from 5mm to 35mm, great to watch. As I write this we are being treated to another magic sunset & dolphins are cavorting just off shore, so beautiful that I am lost for words to describe.

We awoke this morning to a very overcast sky, not wanting to be a prisoner, even in Eden, we decided to pack up & return to Broome. We purchased some supplies & proceeded to continue South. We had chosen a stop for the night at a little coastal place called Bidyadangya, only 12K’s of dirt. Imagine our surprise when it turned out to be an aboriginal community. Liz suggested we could stay, but I wanted to still own a scooter next morning.

Stopping for the night further down the highway at Stanley Rest Area where we were told that it’s still cold once you get to Carnarvon, roughly 1100K’s South, so we will have to slow down.

Having now left the Kimberlys far behind, we are now in the Pilbara region of WA & our next stop was at Cape Keraudren Reserve, $10.00 entry & $6.50 p/night p/p, $4.50 pensioners, we both got in as pensioners. Oh my God! We thought Quondong was beautiful, well, this is equal but different. Our campsite is on the edge of a tidal creek & we have arrived just on high tide. The water is just below the edge of the rocky bank & there is a sandy track alongside this which looks firm enough for us to use. It’s not very wide & we can’t turn around so we will just have to back along it 70mts & pull over to our chosen spot. We have booked in for 3 nights & there are 3 other camping areas in this reserve. We were going to check them all out but this would be a case of the grass is greener, & frankly, we don’t see how it can be. Every day here we have fished on the incoming tide, haven’t caught anything worthwhile but a couple of people have had some luck. We have walked to the other camp areas (around 6K’s return) & have decided that ours is the most delightful so we’re happy now. We have walked along the beach & the sand is so fine that you sink down to your ankles with each step, good for the calf mussels I can tell you. There are a million varieties of shell, soft & hard coral & sponges along the beach. It is ‘verboten’ to take anything so I guess we all benefit from this, otherwise the beach would be bare. On our 3^rd day here the ranger has put up a sign on the beach stopping 4WD vehicles from leaving the track as the turtle egg laying season is about to commence. Well, after 4 days we’ve done all the walks, fished, talked to people & just sat & did some reading so it’s time to move on.

Arriving back at the highway we pulled in to Pardoo Roadhouse & bought ourselves a long hot shower, so nice after licks & promises, then proceeded 150K’s South to Port Headland. It’s a busy, bustling town with BHP right there, road trains with 4 trailers rushing past. On the way in we had to stop at a railway crossing, a train, loaded with ore went past, 4 locomotives & 230 box cars later we crossed the line. At the wharves were 3 monstrous cargo ships exporting the ore. There were many little houses in town (rented out at circa, $1,500 a week), & the overall impression was that it was a bustling little metropolis.