Trip around Australia
We passed the Tropic of Capricorn!!!
You read that right, on 27th February 2019 we passed the Tropic of Capricorn. Yes, a milestone for us.
We were on the way to catch up with some mates in Carnorvan. We actually caught up with Nev and Annie in Broome, but were lucky enough to see them again here.
What a great couple of days we had. Didn’t manage to catch any fish, but we did manage to drink a bit and have a wee bit of fun 4wd along the coast.
Exmouth, we were there from 25th to 26th Feb.
What a beauty Exmouth is. We would have loved to have stayed longer, but Tim was given an opportunity to help out in Townsville, so we are now on the clock and had to be in Perth in 10 days time.
So we got our explorer on and checked out the region. It really is beautiful. There are ship wrecks, the sensational Ningaloo Reef, Yardie Creek, more flies, a communications area, history and not to mention emus everywhere. Such a cool little spot.
What’s funny is that we ran into a couple of young lads who happen to know a mate of ours we met in Darwin. Every time we stop, there is always a connection with someone.
Now the waterproof camera is a little touchy at the moment, so the only photos we have are all above ground.
Oh, more updates…brings back some great memories!
We left Port Hedland bound for Karijini and we were astounded at the number of road trains. Really we shouldn’t have been, as most of the rail there is privately owned by the big boys such as Rio with the smaller mines relying on the road trains. There are many, many mines in the region.
We arrived at Auski mid afternoon, just in time to set-up, see a storm in the distance and within minutes, get trashed by said storm. I’m sure you all remember the photo.
It was a quiet night, followed by an early morning. We took all our hiking gear, and Tim took his new toy – with the appropriate permissions – and took some pics from the sky.
Personally, I loved Karijini but Tim wasn’t too blown away with it. I also enjoyed the hikes because at times I’d needed to cling to rocks and get into awkward positions to cross – it wasn’t simply walking and the views were amazing.
We hiked a gorge, maybe more and ended the day chatting with a few rangers who warned us of an approaching storm. We end up chatting to the rangers for a while. Top blokes! Would have invited them for a knockoff beer but they were called to an emergency – so we gave them some oranges and sweets and went home to have beers on our own. We did toast them.
But enough of the words, here’s a few pics from the day! Simply stunning!
Not much to say other than top spot for the night, plus I really wanted a post with that title! 😎
Having said that, today was all about the journey. Have we mentioned that not only is it hot (Nanutarra got to 48 that day) but the flies are in plague proportions. So much so, everyone, but us, had on face nets. What we wouldn’t have done to get some of those!
You see, we pulled up for lunch and thought this looks good and not many flies. By the time we unlocked the van to make lunch, we’d both had enough of the flies. So we had one of two options. We could sit inside the van (with a reading of 46 on the thermostat) or sit outside and contend with the flies… we opted for inside.
We arrived in Nanutarra after 5pm. It was hot, so very hot, but being an awesome roadhouse they sold icy cold beer. So we set up the van, turned on the air-con (after burning our feet on the floor) and then headed indoors with a few locals from neighboring properties. While the washing was on, we stayed in the air-con and watched the news, which we hadn’t done in a while and then opted to stay for a bite to eat. Dinner was awesome.
But we were tired and needed to wash, so off we head. Sadly, even though we were gone for a few hours, the van only only dropped to 38 degrees. We were in for a long night…but we got a decent night sleep after the days drive – which we needed before hitting Exmouth.
After Broome we made our way to 80 Mile Beach and then onto Port Hedland.
I hope you will read this ok. We need to update the site. But I’ll get to that once I have finished writing about our trip.
So it may look a little weird for a bit… I’ll find something I like and can manage soon. 🙂
After Broome we decided to have a few days off the grid, and stayed at 80 Mile Beach. We had two relaxing nights here. First time in a long time we didn’t have air-con. The breeze was awesome.
While we tried some fishing, we didn’t get any catching done, but we had fun.
So after our restful couple of days, our batteries were fully depleted so we thought we would call into Port Hedland for the night and recharge.
Port Hedland was a pleasant surprise. There is no way this town is anything but a mining and port town. Everywhere you look, you are reminded by the industry and why this town exists.
Having said that, dig a little and you will find a town with interesting history and some lovely people. So, we decided to stay an extra night to explore.
We started off at Tourist Information and the ladies there were a wealth of knowledge. We realised that travelling off season a lot of places would be closed, and it is no different here – but we still found enough to do. The buildings in town were amazing to see and we even stopped off at a coffee shop where you can watch the boats come in-and-out of port as well as read some interesting history. This coffee shop was the old hospital, as well as the accommodation for the original medical officer I believe. We were blown away by the beauty of this place.
We then wandered through town and wound up having a drink at the Pier Hotel. This place is known as the roughest and toughest pub in the country. Back in the 50’s or 60’s, apparently there was a fight and over 50 folk were stabbed – word is, the pub still hold’s the record for the most stabbings in one night.
So after our drink, we continued the tour of town. Came across an old train that was converted into a cafe and then had a drink at a more up market pub. Again, more stories told to us from the young publican. People in this town are happy to chat, just costs a smile.
We finished off the day with a reef walk with Doris – yet another amazing character from our Port Hedland adventure. We saw so many creatures while the tide was out including octopus and some great shells including Australian Conch Shells with the conch still living inside. It was remarkable to see so many creatures living on the reef.
Grab a cuppa – this one is longer than the last. It’s just a run down on our time in Broome. Enjoy!
We arrived in Broome on Saturday. Nev and Annie helped us tick so many items off the ‘must do in Broome’ list:
Sunday was going to be just as busy. I felt like my grandma was with us most of the day. We started the day having breakfast with Nev, Annie and their mates at the Roebuck Roadhouse. Holy moly, do they know how to do a truckers breakfast – Tim did well! After which we went to Willie Creek Pearl Farm.
Oh my. I was in the presence of my grandma and could hear her get excited over seeing these pearls! You see, she always said that pearls were elegant and lady like. As such, all the women in our family received a string of pearls for our 21st (little mermaid style I guess). I can’t say I lived up to her lady like training, but she loved me no matter what (really, who could blame her 😁). I’m sure she was elated when the salesman offered to let me try on a 30k stand of pearls. It was beautiful and I swear, if I had a spare 30k, chances are, I would have purchased that strand then and there!
After this, we went and explored the northern coastline and unique beauty doesn’t start to cover what we saw. It was spectacular. Loads of pictures on our cameras, so we’ll get to those one day.
Our pearl education wasn’t over yet. You see, Annie is mates with the couple who were the previous owners of Wille Creek Pearl Farm. So we went over to their home and talked shop. The knowledge they shared was amazing!
We both looked forward to having a quiet day Monday and spent the next few days catching up with folk and seeing the town.
It is the off season in Broome, so loads of places are closed, but we still managed to walk around town and read up on the history. Tip, if travelling to Broome – check the tide times which usually indicate the cycle of the moon. Loads of folk come here for the Staircase to the Moon – in fairness, the photos do look great. We would be more interested in the dinosaur prints, which can only be seen at certain low tides. So do your homework.
The museum was a good find and is run by volunteers – we find volunteers share a little more info and usually are full of passion. This place was no different. It opens from 10am – 1pm. Tim and I got around the site just in time – so much information and the care and dedication of this place is amazing!
We also caught up with Pete and Cheryl (from Kunners), and had a lovely meal at Zookeapers – yes insert your joke here 😁. Oh and I tried pearl meat – ceviche style. I was surprised how much I liked it. I couldn’t taste the meat itself as it was cured in lime and chilli, but the texture was good. I guess there was kinda a sweet taste to it – so maybe that was the pearl meat?
Saturday we spent some time fishing and that night we went to Nev’s birthday shindig – a big night. We knew it would be. Nev now thinks the new alcohol restrictions are because Tim and I visited Broome… maybe. But we have left Broome now, so maybe not. 😊
