Point Samson and the Pilbara (& of course ‘Red Dog’)

Most of the towns up in the Pilbara are mining towns. We based our stay at Port Samson, which is a quiet coastal town (& very windy). We visited Honeymoon Cove, but I am sure there are much better places for a honeymoon (just a bit!). There is not much here apart from fishing, but a good place to explore nearby Cossack, Karratha & Dampier.

Honeymoon Cove - you be the judge

Cossack was a great place to visit filled with history. Today it is basically a ghost town with empty buildings or ruins, as the town was abandoned in the early 1950’s. Cossack was first declared a municipality in 1877 primarily as a pearling town, but after the turn of the century the pearling fleet moved to Broome and the gold rush had finished in the area. There was an attempt to save the town, but after World War II it was all lost. Everyone had moved out.

The old court house - now a museum

A view of the town of Cossack

The old school

Matt in prison again - The Cossack Gaol

Karratha is quite a sizeable mining town (it has Mackas, Target & Kmart – I guess that’s how to gauge the town size) and was an opportunity for some shopping and banking. The town itself appears to be really expanding with the mining in the area. There is so much road and housing construction going on. It is very similar to Port Hedland.

Just up from Karratha along the coast is a little town known as Dampier. It is big on iron ore mining and salt. However, most people will know Dampier for ‘Red Dog’. We got the classic photo of the Red Dog statute and had to purchase the movie to watch that night. It was very moving and had us all in tears of sadness at the end. Having been to Dampier, seen the movie and Red Dog’s statute we wanted to learn more on Red Dog. We just had to return the next day. For those who are yet to see the film, Red Dog is the incredible wandering kelpie who hitched his way to Dampier in the 70’s. He was the town’s dog, also known as the Pilbara Wanderer. He did have a special place for a master named John. It is worth watching if you haven’t. Red Dog was a lot like Tayla and really touched us.

The amazing Red Dog

As we made our way back to Point Samson, we got 2 more stone chips in the car window. It could be a good business opportunity for someone to replace windscreens up here!

It is now time to move further south towards Exmouth (Ningaloo Reef) for some amazing snorkelling.

Karijini National Park

We hadn’t even left Port Hedland when a huge road train full of iron ore flicked up a stone and cracked our windscreen.  It had the power & noise of a gunshot. We were certainly thankful for laminated windscreens as I would hate to think where the stone could have ended up. The windscreen was only replaced about 6 months ago – bugger!

4 hours later we arrived at the spectacular Karijini National Park with its banded iron formations, 100m deep chasms, dramatic waterfalls and clear fresh pools. 3 nights of bush camping with no power was a great change from the busy caravan parks.

Back to bush camping

We stayed at the well organised Dales Campground. At this gorge we were able to explore from both the top and base of the gorge with some amazing lookouts and fun trekking over rocks and small streams. Dales Gorge is famous for Circular Pool (which is cold – only 20min of sun at the base each day), Fortescue Falls and the Fern Pool. We travelled downed to Fern Pool twice to experience a refreshing swim with the small fish. The girls did not last too long, but Darren & Matt made it to the falls.

Circular Pool from the cliff

The walk down to Circular Pool was worth it

Walking the base of Dales Gorge

Three gorges meet at this lookout

Fortescue Falls

Fortescue Falls from the base

Fern Pool

Fern Pool - very refreshing!

Good tree for a perch

Away from our Campground we visited Kalimina Gorge, which was an easy walk down a rocky trail to be rewarded with a nice waterfall at the base. It was quite exotic with the palms.

Kalimna Falls - very small (if you can see it!)

One of the most spectacular gorges in the park was Joffre with its amazing falls. Although you can’t climb into the gorge we could see it from both ends to get some inspiring pictures. The kids enjoyed the climb down to the top of the falls. Matty didn’t want any help, which was typical of all our walks. Top job Matt!

Joffre Falls

Our final Gorge that we visited before returning for a swim was Knox Gorge. This one was quite spectacular too where for the fit and trained you can abseil in sections to the base. It looked great from the photos.

We also travelled to the Visitor Centre which was well blended in with the environment. It was an opportunity to learn the history of the area, local wildlife and aboriginal culture from the traditional owners (Banyjima Yinhawangka & Kurrama tribes). Karijini is also known for Death Adder snakes, but thankfully they were not on our tracks. It was also too cold for them at nights.

It was an awesome few days! We were so proud of the kids trekking abilities, as some of the walks and climbs were quite challenging.

Port Hedland

What can I say about Port Hedland. One Word – “Money”. You can certainly make a lot and you need a lot to live here. The town is going 24hrs non stop with BHP & Rio Tinto making their billions.

Everyone here appears to work or have some association with the mines or salt works. Even the caravan park (Cooke Point) we are staying at is full of workers and you are very lucky if you can get a caravan site – we got the inside word to get here early, as the park is full by mid-afternoon. It is the most we have ever paid for a site on any of our trips, but was to be expected.

We toured around the town and as you drive you notice the workers cars (with their number identifiers and flags) are everywhere. The port was unbelievable with huge ships banked up waiting to collect the iron ore to take it back to China. What would we do without the Chinese? And the trains, well they had over 200 carriages (we tried to count them) and you could hear them going all night. Not a good place for a light sleeper!

The next ship being guided in by the pilots

Don’t think about buying a property here – you won’t get much change from a million dollars and that is for a very basic 2-3 bedroom house. I guess the worker’s wages compensate for the house prices, but many just fly up from Perth and live in make shift villages. The townships of Port & South Hedland are certainly not much to look at – lack a lot of green & colour.

If anyone wants a job, you won’t have trouble getting one here. There is money to be made; at least for another 30 years they estimate.

It is time now to escape the city and move on to Karijini National Park.

Eighty Mile Beach

If first impressions are anything to go by, the lady at reception of the Eighty Mile Beach Caravan Park did not provide a good impression of this park. She was very grumpy - must need a change! This park is 10km off the highway along a dusty track. It was full of grey nomads with their surf rods (no other kids around).

We were told that you can’t swim at this beach (with rays, sharks & stingers). This place was ideal for doing nothing, fishing (although I never saw anyone catch a fish), shell collection, driving on the beach and sunsets. There was a pool hidden away (behind some sea containers), which I soon found was private (when I tried to enter) – not real good when it’s hot & you see other people swimming (& you can’t)!

You never get tired of these sunsets

Yes, it's Amy!

The tide here was amazing! When it was low tide, the water went out by close to 1 kilometre. It was a long walk to the water’s edge – 2 stubby trip!

You can see the shells everywhere

What a walk back to the sand!

We have now noticed a drop in the overnight temperatures (still over 30 during the day). It’s the first time we have worn jumpers at night. Although, the clear skies with the millions of stars were very impressive.

We have just arrived at Port Hedland before going remote again to Karajini National Park.

Barnhill Station

On Sunday 20 May we commenced our travels down the west coast with our first stop at Barnhill Station which is approximately 130km south of Broome. It is a working cattle station / Caravan Park 10km off the highway on a dirt & sandy track. We didn’t think too many people would be staying here, but were very surprised at seeing so many grey nomads. It is a cheap park with restricted power (no ac or heating appliances) and a place many stay at for a while before heading to Broome.

Our caravan was perched on the top of a magnificent cliff top overlooking a rocky coastline. It would have to be the best view we have had from our van. It is also a fisherman’s paradise.



More sea creatures to search for!

Sunset from our caravan

Cape Leveque – A wilderness Paradise

We decided to put our caravan in storage for a few days and travel a further 220km north of Broome to stay at Kooljaman at Cape Leveque. It is on the Dampier Peninsula & owned by Djarindjin and One Arm Point Aboriginal communities.  So many people have said this is a must see & we are so glad we did.

The road in was interesting with about 90km of corrugated dirt road that apparently can be a raging river in the wet season. It was still a good drive with the rest of it is sealed. I am sure it will all be sealed one day.

90 km of this

We stayed in an ensuite cabin in the middle of the bush. It was small and basic, with no view of the beach, but plenty of character just the same. It had large shutters to capture the beach breeze and we had our own little creatures, including geckos and green tree frogs (often in the toilet). Matt was in his element.

Nets over our beds to keep the insects out

Our little friend in the ensuite

The beautiful swimming beach directly in front of our cabin was great for the kids with rocks, pools and soft white sand. From the beach you can see the lighthouse which was built in 1909 and only automated in 1986. At night we could see the light from our cabin, when Matt made the funny comment “We can go swimming at the beach now that the light is on”.

Michelle under our new umbrella (bad choice of colours - West Coast Eagles)

Sunsets were best seen at the Western Beach where you can see the famous red cliffs of Cape Leveque. It is a photographer's paradise against the turquoise waters and white sand.

We travelled to the Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm, which is the oldest Australian owned operating pearl farm since 1946. We got another great insight into the industry. I just had to prevent Michelle’s temptation from coming away with a sea pearl (if you saw the prices). The water there was just so blue.

We did visit both the aboriginal communities of Djarindjin and One Arm Point. They seem to be well set up with basic services. We missed out on getting a loaf of traditional aboriginal bread as they were all reserved (we were told they were to die for). One Arm Point offered some great photos at the further most point of this magnificent coastline.

One Arm Point

In the afternoon we deflated out tyres and drove onto western beach where we had fun kayaking, snorkelling, fishing and shell collecting. Amy caught a small fish on her new rod. This beach would have to be the best we have ever seen for shell collection. We have a bucket full of amazing shells.

Well done Amy!