Today I'm doing a special blog for my grandkids – Luca & Bella.

Some photos for them of wildlife, flowers & other special things! I hope they enjoy them.

                                                      Spinifex Pigeons

                                                          Blue Dragonfly

                                         Uncle Mike & Bibi having a cuppa.

                                                        Nanna & Grandpa Fishing?

                                                                      Water Lily

                                    Nanna & Grandpa sending lots of love to Luca & Bella.

Tues. 24/7

Leave Port Hedland & off to Point Samson. Ist. part of trip pretty boring but then improves with the scenery changing to small hills & a prettier landscape. Call in to Whim Creek Pub – but pub no more as it has been taken over by the copper mine next to it. Cockies & parrots in cages still there & they enjoyed the attention we gave them. Arrive at the cove caravan park in Point Samson before lunch. Very nice caravan park with great facilities. After lunch go to Cossack –have a look at the art exhibition in the old post office/telegraph building. A few of the buildings have been restored very well. Out to the lookout with good views over Pt. Samson, Roebourne & out to sea.

                         Restored buildings in Cossack - Sturt's Desert Pea in foreground.

Wed. 25/7

Go for early walk along the beach – tide out so lots of rock pools & mud flats to look at. Lots of little blue crabs scurrying over the flats. Also see 2 octopi in the rocks. In the arvo go into Karratha for a bit of a shop & for Sue & Mike to organise their Telstra account – how unusual to have trouble with Telstra!!!!!

                                            Octopus in rock pool at Point Samson.

Thur. 26/7

Trip to Millstream today. Set out early with packed lunch etc. Interesting, scenic drive in to the park. First 90kms bitumen & then gravel some of which was very corrugated so pleased we decided not to take caravans in. Our first stop in the park at Deep Reach Pool – good picnic spot on the banks of the Fortescue River which is quite deep & wide here. Next stop at the homestead now turned into a visitors centre with lots of info. Go for walk down to the pool – beautiful clear water with lily pads. Have lunch in the homestead grounds & then take the other part of the walk thru palm trees & more of the homestead grounds to the other side of the pool. All very pretty & tranquil. Stop at the road river crossing & dip the feet in the river. Carry onto the Crossing Pool campsite where the river is wide & deeper again – Graeme goes for a very quick swim as the water is very cold! Take the road out to Python Pool stopping at the Mt.Herbert lookout – very scenic! Python Pool very dramatic but the water not clean enough for swimming. Along our way back to camp overtake an iron ore train (over 2kms long) – the train driver gave us a wave & a big blow of his horn - great way to finish a memorable trip!

                                             Fortescue River at Deep Reach Pool

                                                        Lily Pool at Millstream

                                                       View from Mt.Herbert

 

                                                                Python Pool

Sat 21/7.

Pack up & leave eco retreat in Karijini. Take same road out as we knew most of it was graded – good decision as it was a lot easier with only the last couple of kms being rough. Road out to Great Northern Highway very scenic. After Auski road house scenery completely changed & a bit boring. Huge piece of machinery pulled up in parking bay for night hauling when they close the road – needed 3 semis to pull. Managed to get into Blackrock caravan park in South Hedland. Oh what joy to have a hot & long shower!!!

                                                 Huge haul on Great Northern Highway

Sun 22/7.

Easy day. Shop at South Hedland in morning. Go for drive around Port Hedland & the port in the arvo. So many industry vehicles on the road everywhere!

                                         Kite flying over the caravan park.

Mon 23/7.

Another easy day – go to tourist bureau in the town. Then watch an iron ore carrier come into the port. Bit of shopping & relaxing in the arvo!!

                                  Iron ore carrier coming into Port Hedland Harbour

A few more photos of the Pilbara:

                            View from Mt.Nameless overlooking Tom Price mine site.

                                           Our camp site at eco retreat in Karijini.

                                                                Dales Gorge

                                                             Pilbara Range

Wed 18/7.

Day sightseeing in the gorges. Start at the Karijini Visitors’ Centre – interesting & impressive building built out of iron. On to Dales Gorge & descend to the bottom & make our way to Circular Pool. Beautiful spot! We then made our way along the gorge floor back to Fortescue Falls – took about 1 ¹/₂ hrs. Wonderful scenery & good walk. Have lunch sitting at the falls & then go to fern pool – only a few minutes easy walk away. Mark goes for a dip. Very pretty spot. Back to campsite in time for a quick walk to check out Joffre Falls that is only a short walk from the caravan. We try out the restaurant for tea. Pretty good considering the remoteness of the place. Mark & I share a tasting plate of kangaroo fillet & emu & crocodile sausages. Mike has kangaroo while the other 3 are not very adventurous only having a burger,scotch fillet & pasta.

                                                                     Circular Pool

                                                    Mark under the waterfall at Fern Pool

Thur 19/7.

Mark & Leonie leave for home this morning. We walk down to Joffre Falls. Graeme & Mike decide to go to the bottom of the gorge while Sue & I take the easy way & just walk over the falls to the viewing platform. Very picturesque & good watching the guys at the bottom who both decide to go for a quick dip. Great walk especially as it is so close to the campsite! Have lunch & a siesta before going to Knox Lookout. The walk looked a bit trickier so decided to just enjoy the view from the lookout.

                                             Graeme & Mike at the bottom of Joffre Falls

Fri 20/7.

Decide to go down Kalamina Gorge this morning. Not as deep or steep as the other gorges but just as pretty & a great couple of hours walk along the bottom. Back to see the falls at the start – another pretty spot! After lunch & siesta decide to brave the cold water & give Weano Gorge another go & try to get to Handrail Pool. Better prepared in bathers we wade thru waist deep water & make it to the pool. Sue & I just stop at the handrail while the boys go past the handrail into the pool area. What a stunning way to finish our visit to Karijini!

                                                                Kalamina Gorge

Sun 15/7.

 Another day in Cape Range National Park. First stop Mandu Mandu Gorge. Walked along the floor of gorge & then back along the top. See a couple of rock wallabies & red kangaroo. Lunched at Turquoise Bay & then we all did our own thing. Graeme not feeling the best with his cold so we only did a small bit of exploring on way back – Neds Camp, Mangrove Bay & Tantabiddi boat ramp.

                                                     Rock Wallaby in Mandu Mandu Gorge


Mon 16/7.

Off to Tom Price today. Cuppa at Barrahdale & Nanutarra. Into the Pilbarra & the scenery is stunning. Stop at House Creek Bridge – lovely overnight camp site. Road into Tom Price very interesting with rolling & majestic hills all around. Tom Price well set into the hills.

                                                                Nanutarra Bridge



Tues 17/7.

Graeme, Mark, Mike & Sue get up early & go to the top of Mt.Nameless overlooking Tom Price. Quite spectacular!

                                            Mike & Sue on the top of Mt.Nameless



Pack & off to Karijini. Still more great scenery. Gravel road in pretty rough until we catch up with the grader then much smoother! After lunch go out to Oxer Lookout & Weano Gorge which is only 10kms. from the camp. Oxer Lookout is pretty specy! 4 gorges meet & the views into them are stunning. We then go down onto Weano Gorge & walk along the floor & out where the gorge flattens out. Great walk & lovely scenery. Do a quick trip down into Hancock Gorge – down a couple of ladders – can’t go too far as there is too much water in the gorge. Another specy walk though!!

                                                         View from Oxer Lookout

                                                               Weano Gorge

Thur 12/7.

Up early for drive to Exmouth – easy drive but lots of sheep close to road. Able to get the battery/solar panel fixed before entering park. Off after lunch for drive around town & out past the antennas & the northern beaches. Go up to the lighthouse lookout & to the Mildura wreck site & have a good wander along the beach.

                                               Lighthouse at Vlamingh Head

Fri 13/7.

Out to the national park for the day. First stop at the visitors centre for a good look around. Too cold & blowy for a snorkel so go onto Yardie Creek. Go for walk along the gorge - very picturesque. See a small brown & green snake – Sue & Mike’s 1^st for this trip. While on the top of the gorge able to see rock wallabies on the rock wall on the opposite side of the gorge. Interesting walk with great views. Have lunch at picnic spot by the creek. Call into different beaches on the way back. All picturesque but quite different. Finished at Turquoise Bay for a snorkel. All but Sue gave it a go. Number of different fish species & a few coral. Easy snorkelling so close to the beach.

                                                       Snake at Yardie Creek

                                                             Yardie Creek

Sat 14/7.

Managed to get the washing done today! Visited the national park south of Exmouth in the morning. Went in to Shothole Canyon. Interesting drive through – crossing many small dry creek beds finishing at the end of the canyon. Picturesque rock formations along the way & great views at the end. Stopped a couple of times & did little walks along the track & creek bed. Went back towards town & stopped at Pebble beach for lunch. Had a good walk along the beach where there were fossilised coral & shells set in the rocks. Toured back through the new marina on our way home. Went to the lighthouse lookout & had tea – wine, biscuits & cheese, pizza & salad – while watching the sun go down. Saw a number of kangaroos on trip back to town – 1 jumping right in front of us. All got home safely. Unfortunately Graeme now has the rotten cold that Mark, Leonie & I have all been suffering with over the last few days!

                                               

                                                          Shothole Canyon

                                                                                       

                                                    Creek bed in Shothole Canyon

                                                 Fossilised coral at Pebble Beach

Mon 9/7.

Move onto Coral Bay. Easy trip in but a lot of road kill.

Set up camp by lunch & then off for a snorkel in the bay. Boys are able to go out far enough to see lots of coral & fish – I’m not that good so only snorkel in close but still able to see a number of fish & great to be swimming in winter!

Go over & watch the fish feeding at 3.30. Many large northwest snapper swimming around your legs. Pity it’s a fish sanctuary!

              Graeme,Mark,Mike,Leonie & Sue going for a snorkel at Coral Bay.

 Tue 10/7.

Walk before breakfast & watch the sunrise over the bay. After breakfast drive out to Pt.Maud to check out as a fishing site and then to the fishing boat harbour & can see whales breaching out past the breakers. Snorkel before lunch & then try fishing in the arvo but no luck!

                                                  Sunrise over Coral Bay.

Wed 11/7.

Another early morning walk & see small stingrays basking in the shallows of the bay. Boys go 4 wheel driving out to Oyster Bridge where they have a great snorkel & see lots of marine life. Us girls go out in a glass bottomed boat in the bay. Great viewing over the coral with so much to see. Many different species of fish & coral. Also a couple of turtles & stingrays. Very enjoyable trip! Go for another snorkel after lunch in the bay.

                                               Stingray in the shallows at Coral Bay.

                                     Turtle seen through the glass bottomed boat.

Terri’s Blog.

Trouble with internet, power etc has meant I have been unable to access my blog. I’m hoping to be able to send this but I’m not very hopeful!!

Sat.7/7

Away quite early thru the fog but everything went ok. Had morning tea at Jurien & then Port Denison for lunch. Traffic seemed quite light & it was easy driving. Met up with Mark & Leonie in Geraldton & spent a little time having a look around the shops. Drove straight thru to Neren Neren & set up camp for the night. Pretty good overnight stop with drop toilet but quite clean.

Neren Neren camp sight.

Sun. 8/7

Good drive into Carnarvon. Stopped at the lookout over Shark Bay which gives sweeping views. Set up in park before lunch. Do a quick look around Carnarvon including  a shop at a plantation – chocolate covered strawberry ice cream, bananas & beans. Then a trip on the little train out to the end of the jetty & a quick tour of the old machinery. Drove around the fishing harbour & rest of town & a trip & walk on the dry Gascoyne river bed.

Dry Gascoyne River Bed