Red Mud and Beachfront Camping

After leaving Port Hedland we headed down the blacktop making our way south. Not so sure it’s a good idea as the further south we go the cooler it gets. Still sitting around 25 degrees through the day so I don’t suppose I can complain too much. The next two days are just a matter of getting from point a to point b. We stopped in at the historic town of Cossack. This was quite a surprising little town. It was thriving in the 1870 and was once the areas first gold rush, pastoral and pearling port. Today it’s a living ghost town. After the move of the pearling industry to Broome, the end of the gold rush and the opening of the Point Sampson Jetty the town dissolved in 1910 and was abandoned by 1950. The bluestone buildings that remain have been restored and now welcome tourists to imagine what life would have been like in their heyday.

Tonight’s stop is 40 Mile Beach. Think white beach, 40 mile long, blue seas, boats and bronzed bodies. Nope that’s not quite what we found. It’s a lovely spot 40 mile from Karratha. Rocky foreshore, rock ledge dropping into the sea. Yes there are quite a few boats but not many bronzed bodies. People are fishing off the rocks but not catching much except for one lady who we spoke to. She admitted she didn’t know what she was doing. She was using what looked like a Kmart rod, bread and bacon for bait and had a bucket full of fish. No one else had any fish.

What amazes us about all these out of the way camp sites is that they all/or most have dump stations on site. Tasmania could learn a very good lesson from this.

Friday 4th June

Today we are headed for Giralia Station about 350 k away. There are quite a few caravans on the road today heading into a long weekend here in WA. I have decided that driving the blacktop is nowhere near as interesting as driving the gravel backroads. Set the cruise control at 100 and roll down the Highway until we meet a grey nomad (we aren’t considering ourselves that yet as we are not grey) travelling at 80 k and holding up all the traffic. The most exciting part of the day was when we pulled into Nanutarra Roadhouse to fill up with fuel. There is a line up for the diesel bowsers (2) about 8 vehicles in front of us and numerous behind us. Road trains parked in the lot and vehicles going everywhere. A bit disorganised. Vehicles must stay at bowsers until fuel is paid for. So the man in front of us fills his vehicle, saunters around his vehicle, grabs a couple of wipes and wipes down all around the filling cap, washes his windows hops in and out of his vehicle and then decides to wander over and pay for his fuel. 5 minutes later he emerges and moves his vehicle. No idea of how much he is holding up the stream of traffic now behind us.

We were much more efficient. While Philip refuelled I waited at the door to the shop for his thumbs up and paid promptly. Then Philip moved away and parked so we could use the facilities and buy an ice cream.

We turned onto Burkett Road, heading to Exmouth and then turned into Giralia Station stopping at the homestead to register. We are booked for the next two nights. Now for the drive out to the creek side/beachfront sites. It’s 35 kilometres on a bush track. The guy checking us in said they had had some rain so there were a few wet spots on the track. (He wasn’t kidding, lots of water and red mud). 35 k, 2 hours, mud, sand, creek crossings, washouts and dips. All made for a most exciting (nerve wracking) drive out to our campsite. We are now carrying quite a few extra kilos of red, thick mud coating every flat surface.

But after two hours we reach our site on the banks of the Creek at Sandalwood Landing on the edge of Gales Bay. 5 others camped at this spot but well spaced away from each other. We set up and wandered down to the creek to chat with the fishermen that have just returned empty handed. Apparently fishing is not very good here at the moment.

As night falls we have a wonderful sunset with the sky around us glowing red to orange and the milky way coming to life above us (P)as we enjoy a succulent Scotch Fillet steak and veggies all cooked over the hot coals – can’t beat a top camp spot on a beautiful evening with beautiful company and camp fire cooking) – the old abandoned gas bottle I found in the Goldfields that I cut down has been used many times- A great find! – cheaper than Gumtree!!!

Today we woke to a gorgeous sunrise with the promise of a great day ahead. Starting off the day with a cooked breakfast and a leisurely cuppa. We walked down to the mangroves to try to get out to the point but the tide is still too high so we picked up a few shells and wandered between the mangroves until we found a clearing where we could walk up to the road then back to the van.

Later we packed our lunch and drove to the beach campsite area to check it out. There are some lovely spots here today but it wouldn’t be quite so nice if it was windy. We strolled along the beach and paddled our way back to the truck where we enjoyed another tailgate lunch. Very nice watching and listening to the water as we enjoy our meal. (P) Sandwiches !!!! Well to be honest I had a fresh built “on the beach” Scotch Fillet steak sandwich and Judith had curried Tasmania Scallops with South Australian Prawns on fresh toast! I looked hard in the fridge but must have missed finding the salad today!

Once back at the van and when the tide is fully out we can walk out onto the sandbank at the mouth of the creek. Lots of hermit crabs, an octopus, crabs and shells. Its pretty nice being able to walk through the mangroves out into the water here. The mangroves are on sand / seashell base not mud as we normally find. (As the sun is about to reposition to give another part of our wonderful world a brand new day, I had best light the camp fire, put the Dutch oven full of vegetables on and grill some of our own home grown Tasmanian Lamb chops over the coals. (Pleased we have a good deep freeze with us- so far preventing us resorting to the emergency cans of Spam!)