On Friday 5/8/11 we drove to the Goldwire Rest Area which is about 120km SW of Roebuck Plains Roadhouse. It is a good size area set back from the road. There are quite a few trees but not much shade, although we managed to score a reasonably level patch of dirt with a small scrub area on both sides. On Saturday when we ventured outside about mid morning we noticed some very strange looking ants swarming all over one side of the caravan. They were a gold/yellow colour and the tail end curled up a bit like a scorpion.
We used the small broom to brush them off and put talcum powder down around the caravan legs, tires and awning rope but the powder didn’t seem to deter them too much. We would brush them off and they would climb right back on again. We didn’t want to use the insect spray unless we really had to so Royce became the ‘ant monitor’ for the rest of the afternoon and they eventually disappeared. We couldn’t see a trail to or from the caravan and they didn’t show up again for the rest of our stay!
The WA Variety Club Bash cars called into the rest area on Sunday and managed to disturb the peace for an hour or so!
They had started from Port Hedland and were driving to Kunnunurra via the Gibb River Road. None of their vehicles were to be younger than 1980 and none were 4WD so the Gibb experience would be very interesting!
One patch of scrub by our caravan was home to quite a few birds and we spent a lot of time watching little honey eater type birds flitting around and there was another group of very hyperactive birds (about the size of a small magpie) busy nest building. There seemed to be about 8 of them in this group and they all seemed to share in the work. They were fascinating. We were also visited by a beautiful green parrot
And we saw several parrots which were mainly green but had black and red/orange on their wings. They were just beautiful. Unfortunately it was hard to get a good photo and it doesn’t do them justice.
A chap in a ute called in on Monday and started chatting. He is managing a nearby station (Munro?) and was heading out to check a couple of bores. After talking for a while he asked Royce if he wanted to go with him and Royce didn’t hesitate. He had shoes and socks and a hat on faster than I have ever seen him move! As soon as they drove off I started having some uneasy feelings – what if this chap was a bit of a psycho! I decided to give them 3 hours but if they weren’t back by then I was going to call the police. I had written down the registration number. As it turned out I had just worked myself up into a frenzy over nothing – they were back about 2.5 hours later after checking two bores. Paul was a nice guy and just seemed to want some company. He stayed and chatted again for about another half hour and then headed off (it seemed quite reluctantly). When they were out and about they saw two very large flocks (50-60 each) of brolgas! Unfortunately Royce didn’t have the camera with him. The toilet at the rest area is starting to fill up too much (it relies on a rake system to enable it all to compost and the rake is broken) and the rubbish bins are all overflowing and people are leaving bags of rubbish on the ground around the bins. I managed to get a very small signal on my phone so rang Main Roads who promised to get their contractor out.
On Tuesday 9/8/11 we drove to the Stanley Rest Area (about 80km further on) and set up for the night. This is a very large rest area, set back from the road, with quite a few smallish trees (not a lot of shade) and two very gross toilets. We had been told the area was very dusty (no more so than any other places we have been, and in fact better than some) and other people had said the flies were really bad (again no more so than any other places we have been, and better than some of them). On the way here we noticed the burnt out shell of a 5th wheeler in one of the parking bays on the side of the road. There wasn’t much left of it and I doubt whether anything would have been salvageable! We hope the people were insured. Some other South Australians pulled in near us just after lunch and ended up staying and chatting the whole afternoon. We had our Census forms delivered to us that night.
On Wednesday 10/8/11 we left Stanley. Between Stanley and Sandfire Roadhouse we saw a wallaby on the side of the road, one blue tongue lizard trying to cross the road, several small lizards sunning themselves on the side of the road, a very large flock of some sort of birds (200-300) and 4 camels! This was all in a 80-85km stretch! We stopped at the Sandfire Roadhouse and dropped off our census forms, bought a 20L fuel container then headed on to Eighty Mile Beach Caravan Park. You have to travel on 10km of dirt road but most of the time it wasn’t too bad. There were a few patches of small corrugations and a couple of more heavily corrugated spots but we arrived all in one piece. At the end of the road you crest a hill and the view of the ocean and the beach is just magnificent! We booked in to for two nights and as soon as we set up we walked over the sand dune and down to the beach. What a truly breathtaking beach. The tide was on the way out so we just went for a bit of a walk and collected a few shells. This beach is renowned for its fishing and shells and apparently many shells are deposited on the beach after high tide and you can just go and collect them to your hearts content. We saw hundreds of tiny hermit crabs and a few sea snails. I managed to find a few good shells on that walk. That night Royce tried his hand at fishing and managed to lose his new lure. A beautiful sunset as well!
We did some more shell collecting on Thursday, cleaned the awning (underside and top) and otherwise had a bit of a lazy day. It is quite amazing – there is a dune between the caravan park and the beach so the sea isn’t visible but at night, when the tide is coming in, the noise of the sea is very loud. It sounds like there are massive waves but when we went for a walk about 11pm on Wednesday night there are only very small waves. We assume, though, that there must be a lot of water coming in on high tide but because it is a shallow area the waves are quite small.
We left Eighty Mile Beach on Friday morning. We were going to head to Cape Keraudren but we had been told the sand flies were really bad there at the moment so we decided to go to De Grey River. We stopped at Pardoo Roadhouse and bought a milkshake (one between us – at $6.50 we couldn’t afford two!). We arrived at De Grey Rest Area shortly before 12 noon. There are new toilets and a black water dump point which is also new. These are on the flat, cleared area just off the road. There is a track that leads down to the river and we had been told by a large number of people that we should head down there and that it is beautiful – so off we went. The track is a bit rough in patches and we had to go slowly, but it isn’t too bad. What a disappointment! The river is pretty much dried up – other than a few water holes and if there are good spots here, they are all taken! We ended up finding a spot back from the river, in among the bush and normally that wouldn’t bother us but this has shoulder high grass and weeds and prickles everywhere so it wasn’t even comfortable to sit outside at all. There was a nice breeze for most of the afternoon.
Perhaps we are here at the wrong time and in the wrong place and it might have been a lot better if there was more water and less people! All along the river bank the place is pretty packed out.
We decided to stay at De Grey one night only and are now in Port Hedland for a few hours, where we will replenish food stocks then head out to Marble Bar for a while.
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