THE BIG TRIP - 2008
AROUND AUSTRALIA 2008
Saturday 20 September – Friday 3 October
Broome to Roebourne
Blog 9
We were finally heading south down the west coast of Australia and actually looking forward to some cooler nights.
We arrived at Barn Hill and enjoyed a long walk along the beach and a swim to cool off. It was a magnificent beach with spectacular rock erosion. There was a thick fog covering the area in the morning but it cleared to a beautiful hot day. On our way to 80 Mile Beach we took the 25km detour to Port Smith where we drove down to the Lagoon and then onto the Bird Sanctuary. The Lagoon was beautiful with water colour similar to that at Pago. The tide was out and there were lots of mangroves. The lagoon water was calm and the sand near it was very soft and wet so I just sank into the mud. It was a lovely stop. We next went to the Bird Sanctuary and there were lots of parrots, Gouldian finches, pheasants, cockatoos and many others. It was a very well kept place and the birds looked very healthy.
80 mile beach was beautiful and seemed to go on forever with the same beautiful sand as on Cable Beach.
In the morning we drove south and then at least 5km north on 80 mile beach. It was high tide and the colours were magnificent. The water and the sky looked as if they were being seen through Polaroid glasses. The colour of the water went from a dark blue line on the horizon to a turquoise near the sand.
We went back to the beach in the late afternoon to see it with the tide completely out. The mud flats seemed to go out almost to the horizon.
We continued our journey south and stopped at Cape Keraudren, 10 km to the coast on dirt road from Pardoo Roadhouse. As we came over the last hill we were greeted with the most magnificent view. The colours were the same as Roebuck Bay but a more compact bay with beautiful rugged cliffs leading up to it. We walked down to the beach where the water was crystal clear and then drove our van to the top of the cliff where we unhitched to camp for the night.
We decided to explore the cape along the 4WD tracks with the tide going out as the afternoon progressed the bay looked so different. A few small islands in the bay were completely exposed and people were fishing by walking out in the mud flats. We were lucky to see how beautiful it was at high tide.
We came across a sign that showed the position of one end of the rabbit proof fence. What a great thing to see as we have seen parts of the rabbit fence in various places.
The next morning the air was thick with sand flies so we packed up as quickly as we could and managed to leave them behind but not before we had been bitten to pieces!!!
We were on our way to Marble Bar and as we drove west the scenery changed quite a lot and there were certainly more road trains travelling in both directions. We could feel that we were heading into mining country. By the time we got to Marble Bar it was already nearly 400C and the caravan park was shut. We managed to find accommodation for our van but there was not enough power to run the air conditioners so after we explored Chinaman’s Pool, Marble Bar Pool and then the beautiful old buildings in town we stopped at the Ironclad Hotel for a cold beer.
Marble Bar derives its name from the nearby jasper bar which runs across the bed of the Coongan River, 5km from town. When it was first discovered, settlers mistook the jasper for marble, hence the name Marble Bar. Marble Bar has a reputation for being the hottest town in Australia due to it once recording 160 consecutive days above the old Fahrenheit Century in the summer of 1923 – 1924. Marble Bar is in the Shire of East Pilbara which is claimed to be the largest shire in the world with an area of 371,696 square metres.
We were happy to leave the heat of Marble Bar and headed toward Port Hedland back on the coast. We stopped at Doolena Gorge about 30-40km out of town. It was a small but lovely gorge with the dry Coongan River bed cutting through the gorge. That is the same river that runs through the Chinaman’s Pool and Marble Bar Pool. It must be a mighty river when it is flowing as the river bed is certainly wide.
Port Hedland has a mining town feel about it even though there is no mine there. It is a BHP-Billiton port town where the iron ore which comes in on huge trains from the mines is shipped out. The prevalent colour of everything in town is the red dust from the iron ore.
We drove to Crooke Point and explored the beach and the sand dunes.
The Dampier salt is collected from huge evaporation areas and is placed on huge stacks again to be shipped out in cargo ships.
We stopped at the SS Koombana Lookout which is a park at the base of a water tower. The SS Kombana was a passenger and cargo ship that sank in a cyclone and all was lost in 1912.
Our next stop was the old Tamarin Tree that was planted more than 100 years ago and used to be in the playground of the Port Hedland Primary School. The school has since moved but the tree still remains.
We took the morning BHP Billiton bus tour. The tour was fantastic. The size of the facility, the quantities of iron ore that are transported, the number and size of the trains are all huge. The plant employs over 2000 people which include all the maintenance people however most of the running of the plant is automated and the whole plant can be run by 60 people!!
We stopped at Whim Creek which is really just a beautiful little pub that was established in 1866 and a copper mine that has been re-opened in 2002. Our stop for the night was Roebourne on the Harding River.
The countryside that we drove through was mainly flat plains of grasslands with “hills” surrounding us. It seemed to be mainly cattle country apart from all the mining that is going on further inland.
I was up early enough to do the washing and have a shower before waking Mike to have a shower and breakfast.
From Roebourne we took the bus tour of the area. We were now in Rio Tinto country. The tour took us around Roebourne and showed us the historic buildings, the old gaol, the police station, the court house and the church all in the same stone.
The town has suffered many hurricanes since it started in the 1860s and has a population of about 1500. We were driven out to Cape Lambert which is the loading facility for Rio Tinto. Then on to Cossack, which is a ghost town and now only has the historic buildings left made out of the same local stone.
Saturday 20 September – Friday 3 October
Broome to Roebourne
Blog 9
We were finally heading south down the west coast of Australia and actually looking forward to some cooler nights.
We arrived at Barn Hill and enjoyed a long walk along the beach and a swim to cool off. It was a magnificent beach with spectacular rock erosion. There was a thick fog covering the area in the morning but it cleared to a beautiful hot day. On our way to 80 Mile Beach we took the 25km detour to Port Smith where we drove down to the Lagoon and then onto the Bird Sanctuary. The Lagoon was beautiful with water colour similar to that at Pago. The tide was out and there were lots of mangroves. The lagoon water was calm and the sand near it was very soft and wet so I just sank into the mud. It was a lovely stop. We next went to the Bird Sanctuary and there were lots of parrots, Gouldian finches, pheasants, cockatoos and many others. It was a very well kept place and the birds looked very healthy.
80 mile beach was beautiful and seemed to go on forever with the same beautiful sand as on Cable Beach.
In the morning we drove south and then at least 5km north on 80 mile beach. It was high tide and the colours were magnificent. The water and the sky looked as if they were being seen through Polaroid glasses. The colour of the water went from a dark blue line on the horizon to a turquoise near the sand.
We went back to the beach in the late afternoon to see it with the tide completely out. The mud flats seemed to go out almost to the horizon.
We continued our journey south and stopped at Cape Keraudren, 10 km to the coast on dirt road from Pardoo Roadhouse. As we came over the last hill we were greeted with the most magnificent view. The colours were the same as Roebuck Bay but a more compact bay with beautiful rugged cliffs leading up to it. We walked down to the beach where the water was crystal clear and then drove our van to the top of the cliff where we unhitched to camp for the night.
We decided to explore the cape along the 4WD tracks with the tide going out as the afternoon progressed the bay looked so different. A few small islands in the bay were completely exposed and people were fishing by walking out in the mud flats. We were lucky to see how beautiful it was at high tide.
We came across a sign that showed the position of one end of the rabbit proof fence. What a great thing to see as we have seen parts of the rabbit fence in various places.
The next morning the air was thick with sand flies so we packed up as quickly as we could and managed to leave them behind but not before we had been bitten to pieces!!!
We were on our way to Marble Bar and as we drove west the scenery changed quite a lot and there were certainly more road trains travelling in both directions. We could feel that we were heading into mining country. By the time we got to Marble Bar it was already nearly 400C and the caravan park was shut. We managed to find accommodation for our van but there was not enough power to run the air conditioners so after we explored Chinaman’s Pool, Marble Bar Pool and then the beautiful old buildings in town we stopped at the Ironclad Hotel for a cold beer.
Marble Bar derives its name from the nearby jasper bar which runs across the bed of the Coongan River, 5km from town. When it was first discovered, settlers mistook the jasper for marble, hence the name Marble Bar. Marble Bar has a reputation for being the hottest town in Australia due to it once recording 160 consecutive days above the old Fahrenheit Century in the summer of 1923 – 1924. Marble Bar is in the Shire of East Pilbara which is claimed to be the largest shire in the world with an area of 371,696 square metres.
We were happy to leave the heat of Marble Bar and headed toward Port Hedland back on the coast. We stopped at Doolena Gorge about 30-40km out of town. It was a small but lovely gorge with the dry Coongan River bed cutting through the gorge. That is the same river that runs through the Chinaman’s Pool and Marble Bar Pool. It must be a mighty river when it is flowing as the river bed is certainly wide.
Port Hedland has a mining town feel about it even though there is no mine there. It is a BHP-Billiton port town where the iron ore which comes in on huge trains from the mines is shipped out. The prevalent colour of everything in town is the red dust from the iron ore.
We drove to Crooke Point and explored the beach and the sand dunes.
The Dampier salt is collected from huge evaporation areas and is placed on huge stacks again to be shipped out in cargo ships.
We stopped at the SS Koombana Lookout which is a park at the base of a water tower. The SS Kombana was a passenger and cargo ship that sank in a cyclone and all was lost in 1912.
Our next stop was the old Tamarin Tree that was planted more than 100 years ago and used to be in the playground of the Port Hedland Primary School. The school has since moved but the tree still remains.
We took the morning BHP Billiton bus tour. The tour was fantastic. The size of the facility, the quantities of iron ore that are transported, the number and size of the trains are all huge. The plant employs over 2000 people which include all the maintenance people however most of the running of the plant is automated and the whole plant can be run by 60 people!!
We stopped at Whim Creek which is really just a beautiful little pub that was established in 1866 and a copper mine that has been re-opened in 2002. Our stop for the night was Roebourne on the Harding River.
The countryside that we drove through was mainly flat plains of grasslands with “hills” surrounding us. It seemed to be mainly cattle country apart from all the mining that is going on further inland.
I was up early enough to do the washing and have a shower before waking Mike to have a shower and breakfast.
From Roebourne we took the bus tour of the area. We were now in Rio Tinto country. The tour took us around Roebourne and showed us the historic buildings, the old gaol, the police station, the court house and the church all in the same stone.
The town has suffered many hurricanes since it started in the 1860s and has a population of about 1500. We were driven out to Cape Lambert which is the loading facility for Rio Tinto. Then on to Cossack, which is a ghost town and now only has the historic buildings left made out of the same local stone.
It was first settled in 1863 and then renamed in 1871 by Governor Weld who named it after his ship. Cossack was an important Port for Roebourne and the surrounding area for the pastoral industry and the pearling fields and the gold rush in the 1880s.
The town was hit by many cyclones and buildings flattened many times. Eventually the harbour silted up and was unable to take the every increasing size of the ships and the town went into decline by 1910.
After the tour we drove to Port Samson for a wander. It is a lovely little coastal town of about 300 people and the old jetty that used to cater for the ships is long gone being destroyed by hurricanes.
posted by Mike and Carol at
12:18 PM
