Evon Anderson

Day 23 - Mon. 9th Sept. - After travelling 10km of corrugated gravel road to Eighty Mile Beach we were rewarded with an incredible vista of bright aqua ocean fringed by a sweep of white sand well populated by anglers. They were catching salmon that can weigh up to 28lb. The beach slopes steeply into the water and the sharks, stingrays and sea snakes found in the area make swimming an unappealing prospect.

On to Port Hedland where the tour of the BHP Billiton installation ($11) was recommended.

Day 24 - Tue. 10th Sept. - Peter and I set off for Karajini National Park in the heart of the Pilbara. Because we were concerned about the roads in the Park we booked a tour from Auski Roadhouse.

Day 25 - Wed. 11th Sept. - The first stop on our tour of Karajini was at the Northern arm of Dales Gorge overlooking Circular Pool. From where we stood in red dust and bathed in bright sunlight, the vertical red walls of the gorge dropped directly to a circular pool surrounded by mosses and ferns that never see the sun. A waterfall feeding the pool comes from an aquifer that originates in the Fly River area of New Guinea. I felt we were peeping into another world. In the main arm of Dales Gorge we walked down to Fortescue Falls and then to Fern Pool, a beautiful deep pool fed by twin waterfalls - a lovely spot for a refreshing swim.

Junction Pool Lookout and Oxer Lookout with views over Weano, Hancock, Joffre and Red Gorges were magnificent. The sheer red rock walls of the gorges rear dramatically above the narrow canyons while the slopes of scree are dotted with clumps of yellowish-green spinifex making them look like aboriginal dot paintings.

We walked down into Weano Gorge and followed the stream from pool to pool. The white trunks of the River Red Gums contrasted spectacularly with the towering red rock walls. The gorge narrowed until we reached a fissure that ended with a ‘rope ladder’ down into Handrail Pool. The ‘ladder’ was a rope with a series of knots that we would have to negotiate in both directions. We opted out of that one!

At Kalamina Gorge we walked to a waterfall cascading over a curving rock face made up of multi-coloured strata. Enormous paper bark trees (Melaleuca) towered over the pool and ferns festooned the rock walls. We ended the day with a visit to the very interesting Karajini National Park Visitor Centre. This National Park is absolutely magnificent.

Day 26 - Thurs. 12th Sept. - The roads in the Pilbara were dotted with wildflowers, in particular the vivid red of the Sturt’s Desert Pea, sometimes nestled in beds of Silvertails with its silver-mauve puff ball flowers. The old stone buildings of Cossack, all that remain to mark the lives of its residents in the late 1800s, made an interesting detour.

Sturt's Desert Pea etc.

Day 27 - Fri. 13th Sept. - We explored Karratha and Dampier, a Hamersley Iron town and the port for Tom Price and Paraburdoo. On the approach to town Dampier Salt has extensive evaporation ponds topped with white crusty salt looking like ice and snow. The North West Shelf Visitor Centre (open 10 - 4 weekdays in winter and 10 - 1 in summer) has info on the immense natural gas project. Well worth the visit.

Day 28 - Sat. 14th Sept. - On arrival in Exmouth after almost four weeks of totally fine days, the weather - a cool blustery wind and an overcast sky - came as a shock. We were advised there were spare campsites at Cape Range National Park so we headed out.

On arrival at our campsite, Mesa Camp, the on-site volunteer host couple, CMCA members Don and Mary Johns, told us they rarely have a site vacant. Normally visitors wait at the entrance by around 9am to obtain a site. Campgrounds vary in size from a solo campsite to 15 sites and are dotted along nearly 50km of beautiful coastline. From our campsite we had a view of the beach and ocean and we saw only a couple of other people when walking on the beach. An idyllic spot to camp.

Day 29 - Sun. 29th Sept. - We spent the day exploring the Cape Range National Park that encompasses an arid strip of land dotted with wildflowers and running parallel to the coastline. On the western side of the road white beaches edge the sea sparkling in an incredible turquoise, while only a few hundred metres offshore, waves break on the fringing reef. On the eastern side of the road the spine of the peninsula is the bare bones of an ancient coral reef, now transformed into a low range and cliffs of limestone.

We drove as far south as we could in a motorhome - Yardie Creek where the walls of limestone dropped to the creek forming a gorge.

The most popular beach, aptly named Turquoise Bay, has sand of finely ground shells fringing the bright turquoise water of the lagoon with its patches of darker turquoise where areas of coral can be seen through the crystal clear water. This is a popular snorkelling spot and swimmers simply walk out on a spur of sand, enter the water and let the current carry them over the coral. They then leave the water further along the beach, walk back and repeat the exercise.

The Cape Range Nat. Park Visitor Centre houses displays on the flora and fauna of the area as well as photos on Cyclone Vance that devastated Exmouth on 22nd March, 1999.

The abundant wildflowers in the Park include Robinsons Desert Rose (similar to Sturt’s Desert Rose); Morning Glory bushes with large mauve flowers; Cattle Bush with small blue flowers; and the local variety of Sturt’s Desert Pea with a red centre instead of the usual black.

Day 30 - Mon. 16th Sept. - On leaving the National Park we stopped at the Vlamingh Head lighthouse for a fantastic view, but the wind was so strong I was nearly "swept off my feet". The wreck of the "Mildura" that went aground in 1907 lies close to shore near the tip of North West Cape. Most of this area is occupied by the Navy communications base that was set up by the Americans in 1967 but is now totally an Australian facility.

Next stop was scenic Coral Bay where we stayed at the Peoples Caravan Park that was expensive but it had thick grass underfoot - a novelty after all the dust. I was keen to go on a trip to Ningaloo Reef which involved snorkelling over coral, cruising through turtle grounds and swimming with Manta Rays. Unfortunately it was booked out for the next 5 days and we didn’t want to wait that long.

Day 31 - Tues. 17th Sept. - The only interesting sight we could find in Carnarvon was the mile long jetty that cost $2 to walk on.

Day 32 - Wed. 18th Sept. - Travelling south we came across a few wedgetail eagles and also a dingo feasting on the numerous carcasses of animals killed on the road. Near the road there were hundreds of feral goats that had come from the drier areas further east. The pastoralists truck the goats to either Carnarvon or Geraldton where they are butchered in accordance with Muslim practices and sold to the Middle East or Asia. At $35 per goat the sheep farmers are making more money from goats than from their sheep.

As we neared the turn-off to Kalbarri we saw the first green fields we had seen for a long time and the road was lined with wildflowers. In Kalbarri the lovely Coastal Gorges are readily accessible from town and we watched numerous whales and a pod of dolphins.

Day 33 - Thurs. 19th Sept. - Peter and I went on a bus tour of the Murchison River gorges. Too many kilometres of unsealed roads for our motorhome to tackle. At Z Bend we looked straight down on the river that trickled from waterhole to waterhole. The dramatic red sandstone walls of the gorge stand with the strata in the rockfaces adding to the beauty. We were shown the tracks of an ancient creature, an euripterid, preserved for all time in the rock.

At Nature’s Window we walked out onto a rock promontory where the forces of nature have carved a large window in the rock framing the Murchison River far below in the gorge. The trip was great and the Park was a veritable carpet of wildflowers.

At Nature's Window

Day 34 - Fri. 20th Sept. - The only way to see Hawks Head and Ross Graham Lookout was in our own vehicle, but it did not involve much driving on unsealed roads. Hawks Head is a spectacular rock feature standing guard over the Murchison River far below in the gorge and was well worth the trip. In spring the most striking feature of the Kalbarri Park is the incredible show of wildflowers including the amazing Kangaroo Paw.

Hawk's Head

Day 35 - Sat. 21st Sept. - The group split again as Peter and I set off on the newly sealed coast road to Northampton, then detoured to visit Hutt River Province. The road was fairly good gravel lined with spectacular wildflowers, but we would not have gone if we had known how far it was. Hutt River Province looked rather run down and we were greeted by H.R.H. Prince Leonard and H.R.H. Princess Shirley. He explained the history of his ‘secession’ from Australia in 1970 over a low wheat quota allocated to his farm, and the legal wrangling that has followed. It is now a wheat and sheep farm.

We stopped in Northampton to admire the beautiful stone Church of St. Mary in Ara Coeli designed by the famed architect-priest John Hawes. In Geraldton we visited the HMAS Sydney Memorial which was very impressive with its stainless steel canopy depicting a flock of seagulls, one for each man lost in the disaster.

Memorial to the HMAS Sydney

We met up all the others including Sandy & Neil at the campground for CMCA in Geraldton.

Day 36 - Sun 22nd Sept. - The Church of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel and St. Peter and Paul and the adjoining Priest House at Mullawa, west of Geraldton, are architectural gems designed and built by John Hawes. Interesting tours of the Priest House are available on weekdays between 10 and 11.45 a.m.

Mullawa is synonymous with wildflowers, but the display was rather sparse this year because of the drought, and a recent hot day finished off a lot of flowers. I sensed that Peter’s interest in wildflowers had flagged somewhat until we came across a sea of waving pink everlasting daisies. This area is famous for the unusual wreath flowers, and eventually we found an area where the bare earth on both sides of the road was dotted with them.

We drove south, flanked by endless fields of wheat, to Coalseam Conservation Park. As we entered a valley in the Park an expanse of gold everlasting flowers greeted us.

Day 37 - Mon. 23rd Sept. - We toured the St. Francis Xavier Cathedral and the guide explained architectural details, exterior as well as interior, and took us to areas of the building normally closed to visitors. Enquire for times for this interesting tour.

Day 38 - Tue. 24th Sept. - Peter and I set off, firstly to the historic Greenough Hamlet. The coast road through the Leseuer National Park travels through sandy heath plains dotted with an incredible variety of wildflowers. There were kangaroo paws in the usual red and green variety, as well as golden, coral and black. Among the myriad of species we found the unusual cats paw. We decided not to visit the Pinnacles again this time.

Day 39 - Wed. 25th Sept. - Today we drove through lush farming land with sheep grazing on fields of luminous green, and other fields ablaze with yellow dandelions. There were patches of pink everlastings. We saw numerous brilliant green Australian Ring-necked parrots swooping through the branches of the trees in their peculiar undulating flight pattern.

Wildflowers everywhere!

The Monastic town of New Norcia, a Benedictine Mission founded in 1846, was fascinating. We took the walking tour - the only way to tour the buildings which were originally boarding schools and a convent as well as the Church and Monastery (still in use today). The Church and the school chapels contain beautiful frescoes and the museum displays priceless works of art and fascinating memorabilia. We were welcome to camp on the oval and a group of us attended evening prayers with the monks.

Abbey Church, New Norcia

Day 40 - Thurs. 26th Sept. - We had a lovely peaceful day in New Norcia, exploring the areas open to visitors. The bread baked in their wood-fired oven was the best we have had for a long time. We enjoyed these restful couple of days before going to the Rally at Northam.