Goldwire Rest area (nearly Broome)

10/5/13

We had an early morning snorkel and then left Coral Bay.  After a bit of driving, fighting a head wind all the way, we arrived in Exmouth.  Stupid road layout makes you drive all the way to the top to come back around to the reef.  Anyway, after an extra 40km we arrived at the Cape Range National Park to find out there is no camping places left.  We went in anyway as day visitors, and found that the camping areas were tiny, and at least one only has place for 7 caravans.  This is a vast area, and was very disappointing that we were not allowed to stay there.  Deserted car parks would have been ideal. Grrrrr.

So, we went to the fist snorkeling area and just went in from the beach. Was really pretty crappy compared to what we had at point Queeba and a big drift current made it had for some of us to see what we wanted. We went to the next place, Oyster Bay, which had some amazing clam shells just washed up on the beach. I went in there but because the tide was low there was not enough room to swim over the coral, so had to be happy with the edges. Even the edges had all the good stuff, so it was shame that we couldn't be there at high tide. The water clarity wasn't the best anyway.

 So we headed out of Exmouth and drove into the night, and stayed at a free road side camp 45mins drive south of exmouth. Leaving Exmouth early probably didn't matter, cause the next days were windy, which would have kept the water clarity poor anyway.

We don't have any photos of this, because Lidia's camera really is broken now, and we don't want to risk the cannon.

 

 

11/5/13

Next day was a driving day, headwind again, and I'm starting to think that this is the reason that people go the other way..? Just drove until we had enough, then stopped at a free roadside stop.

 

12/5/13

Arrived at  Parabadoo. Surprisingly, fuel here was cheaper than Exmouth.. On to Tom Price, and found the first real supermarket we have seen for a while, so filled up the cupboard and fridge again then drove into Karijini National Park. We went straight to "Dales Camp" because it was all sealed roads to get there and dropped off the caravan. We walked into Dales George and did all of the walking tracks there. The water was not the icy rock water we were expecting, and was not unpleasant to swim. We swam in the two pools below the water falls and it was great. Water was very clear, and the water in the water fall coming out of the ground, was warm.. Must be a some type of hot spring..?  It was too nice there not swim.

 

The walking track through the George was fun, because you pretty much made your own tracks, with lots of slippery rocks and stepping stones.

 

The rocks on the walk had some amazing colours, and even found some containing bands of blue asbestos..  The layer looked and felt hard like a rock, but you could pick out the fibres.. This band was around 10mm thick.

13/5/13.
After the awesome gorges yesterday, we went to see the rest of them at the Weno Gorge.  These ones were even better, but caught us off guard, as you have to wade/swim the walking track...
We changed into our improvised clothing, and continued anyway.  It was really worth the effort, as the water had smoothed out the rock gorges, making them a natural waterslide.

Handrail Pool
Named because you have to climb down the rocks using a hand rail, as demonstrated by my beautiful assistant)

Walking track to Kermit Pools

Kermit Pool
 

After the walk/swim/slide, we made it to the Kermit pools.  Luckily Graham had packed the swimming goggles because Lidia dropped the lens cap into the waterslide which took it into the pool, and those things don't float.  Graham put on the goggles and swam to the bottom, (estimated 3m deep at the water fall) and found 2 pairs of sunglasses, and 1 pair of eye glasses before finding the lens cap. All good. Note fore later - I think its worth looking for treasures at waterfalls and places people can drop stuff in..

14/5/13.

Somehow, we missed the Fern Pool.  We nearly decided not to go, because it was raining and 13 degrees C, but, because Graham had the car keys, we went :)

Lucky we did too, because this was the nicest swimming pool of all the gorges - very clear, large and deep.  The water was warm compared to the air temperature, and the waterfall warmer again.  Strangely, we had the place to ourselves.

We started the drive to Port Hedland in the rain, and were planning to stop just South of the town so Graham didn't have to stay there another night.. But, when we arrived at the rest area, it was right on the highway, and not nice. So we continued into town.






First stop was the HBI plant, which was missing.  This is all that was left (should be a massive building right next to this)

From there we went straight into South Hedland, and got little bit lost.  I just remember the only road in led to the shopping centre.  Not there are roundabouts, aquatic centres and stuff everywhere.  We eventually found the chopping mall, which has had some upgrades, and topped up of fridge and cupboard up again with the good stuff.

 

I took Lidia for a tour of port hedland, before heading to Cooke Point. Needing the navigator a couple of times not to get lost.  I can recall jogging these streets almost every night, but didn't recognise most of the area.

 

Beach at Cooke Point:



 Cooke Point Caravan Park

 














We filled the Pathy, and headed out of town.  The Port Hedland tour took about 1 hour, which was dragged out a bit longer than Graham wanted.

We drove for around 80kms to a free camping area at De Grey River, and set up camp..  It was definitely beer o'clock.

Today (15/5/13) - Grahams Birthday Eve

 We drove  of to 80mile beach caravan park to have a look.  Graham thought he might do some fishing, but with the wind and rain, the conditions were no good.  There were some amazing shells though on the beach.  We collected a bucket full of pretty ones, even Graham was enjoying the change of pace collecting shells.. Though, not as much as Lidia

After then, we drove and drove. The temperature topped out at 21 degrees C before getting cold again, and raining on and off most of the way..  Not really the Port Hedland weather I remembered.

We had enough driving, and decided to stop at the Goldwire Rest area, which was the last free stop outside of Broome.