Pardoo Station to De Grey Roadside Stop

Way back in Alice Springs DeGrey roadside stop had been recommended to us to stay at, so we thought why not check it out. If we didn't like it when we got there it wasn't to much further onto Port Hedland. As we drove in we were both a little disillusioned as it seemed to just be like a car park on the side of the highway with two toilet blocks. Then I noticed a car drive down this dirt track, so off we went to check it out. Oh I am so glad we did! There were quite a few vans already set up along the banks of the DeGrey river. We found ourselves a nice shady grass spot on the banks of the river. Once again it was very hot setting Myrtle up and the water looked very enticing but there were signs saying crocodile had been seen in the area, so I wasn't going to chance it even if they were only fresh water crocs. We ended up staying two nights, met some lovely people and totally enjoyed the seclusion and quietness. While we were there some of the other campers were talking about a wild pig that was ripping open all the garbage bags and generally being a nuisance. Then on the news tonight we saw the news report about a beer drinking feral pig stealing beers in DeGrey Roadside stop. You have to read the article it is hilarious.

Our DeGrey campsite - luckily the feral pig didn't visit us!

Sunset our DeGrey River

80 Mile Beach to Pardoo Station

We arrived at Pardoo Station on the hottest day we have had so far. Putting the camper up in near 40c temperatures nearly killed us both. As soon as Myrtle was up we both took ourselves off to the pool to cool off. All I can say is Thank God there was a pool there. Pardoo Station measures 500,000 acres / 199,000 hectares in size and is a cattle station, running mainly Santa Gertrudis cattle. There are approx. 6,000 cattle on the station at this present time. Pardoo has a substantial water supply with the Canning Artesian Basin situated below the lease. The properties bore is situated 90 metres deep and is consistently supplied to Pardoo Homestead and Gardens. Even though Pardoo is situated on the coastline it is a good 10 min drive to the water. You can drive to Pardoo Creek which is about 5 mins away. I suppose you could swim here but I wouldn't. To close to crocodile country for my liking. plus apparently Bull Sharks come up the river as well - no thank you very much! Our second morning there we headed out early to the so called creek (more like a river to me) to do some fishing. We caught quite a few fish - Catfish, Mullaway, all to small to keep. Shane even hooked a turtle, luckily he got off and swam away. After sitting around our camp sweltering once again in about 40c it was time to head back to the pool.
Our last day at Pardoo was once again a hot one, so again we got up early to head down to the river for a fish. I must be getting the hang of this fishing as I actually enjoyed this stint and I even sat with my feet in the lapping water as the tide came in fairly quickly. The days fishing tally was a bit more impressive with Shane catching one Cod and one Mullaway. Much to my delight and total amazement I caught four catfish and four mullaway. But unfortunately they were all undersized :(  But luckily for us a couple came back in their tinny (boat) and had caught over the quota allowed and gave us two beautiful sized Threadfin Salmon. So it was fish for dinner that night. After dinner we were sitting around the camp fire when all of a sudden this most amazing fog rolled over the camp. It was so fast you could literally see it rolling in. It was very eerie but pretty impressive.

And the fog started to roll in!

 

and in......!!

Mmmmmm Dinner

Barn Hill to 80 Mile Beach

 

WoooHoooo I am finally in a location where I not only have

Internet reception but mobile phone service as well.
We arrived in Port Hedland today to check it out and to restock our supplies,
before heading of into some remote areas again.
So thought I'd take this oportunity to do a bit of catch up.

 

Barn Hill to 80 Mile Beach

We had been told by quite a few travellers to stay at 80 Mile Beach and that the beach also had lots of shells. So me loving shells we had to go there. After once again heading south down the Great Northern Highway and onto another 10 kms of dirt road (wasn't to bad at all) we arrived at 80 Mile Beach Caravan Park. We booked in for 4 nights but knew we would probably end up staying a week, which we did. The caravan park once again had a lot of campers that have been staying there for many years and stay for quite a few months at a time. But there were also a lot of travellers like us that arrive get our fix for a week or so and then head off to our next destination. It was quite a good caravan park with nice clean amenities, a shop that had a weekly delivery of food essentials you might need. Wednesday night was Hamburger Night and then on Sunday night it was usually Roast Night but our Sunday night was a choice of either Lasagna or Quiche. Also on Wednesdays and Sunday afternoons they had a market with a band playing. Donations all went to the Royal Flying Doctors Service. I had a stall with my jewellery on both days - Wednesday was pretty profitable but Sunday was pretty slow, but it was fun and that's the main thing. Now to the beach, well it was something else. As you would think being the 80 Mile Beach it was very long with tides that went out a very long way. Then there were the shells, oh my goodness there were millions upon millions of them. From some of the ones the  long timers had around there vans you must have been able to get some really big and unusual ones in the past. But I still got some really nice ones (maybe a few more than I should have seeing I now have to cart them around Australia. When I eventually get home I think I may have to hide them from my daughter Rachel, not because she likes them, because she tells me I don't need any more stuff around the house.  But I intend to make some wind chimes for my grand children and some special people in my life. We did a bit of surf fishing but had no luck until our second last day when we caught three Blue Threadfin (Tally - Shane 2 / Davine 1). One day we went for a drive down along  the beach - yep on the sand- for about 6kms. The seclusion, blue water and white sand was just beautiful.

Shells upon Shells upon Shells !!

 

 



Early Morning on 80 mile Beach




Birds take flight on beach

Goodbye Barn Hill

Today is our last day at Barn Hill Outstation. It has really been a wonderfully relaxing place to stay. I have seen some beautiful sunrises and sunsets. Let my inner child play in the sand. Fished often, but didn't catch anything. Although I did get a small stingray on my line and he almost took me for a jog along the beach as he swam from side to side, before breaking the line and swimming free. Today there was a Sunday Market so I set up a stall with my jewellery I have designed and made.  There ended only bring three stalls but it turned out to be a pretty profitable day for me. Every Sunday night the have a Sunday Night Roast. For $15 we got soup, roast beef & veggies and finished of with fruit salad and ice cream. It was very tasty and turned out to be a very entertaining night.

So until I next have Internet reception keep safe and enjoy life. 

Barn Hill Art ........

Yesterday I was so excited about sharing my day with you, and then the internet connection was no longer. So here it is now. I woke at 4.30am unable to sleep any longer, so I just lay there listening to all the birds start their day. A couple of days prior I rececived a facebook post about a guy called Tony Plant in the UK that does beach art with a rake. Check out this link on his amaing creations. I remember saying to myself as I watched the video "Gee wish I had a rake with me". Well the universe answered me and low and behold the next day there was a rake at the back of the van. The campers who had left that morning left it behind as it was a little broken. So seeing I was awake so early I decided to head off down to the beach and have a play. Walking down to the beach I was lucky enough to welcome the day in with a beautiful sunrise.

Playing around with the rake on the secluded beach was extremely theraputic. A few people walked past with comments about having fun and strange looks on their faces, wondering what the heck this woman was doing. I had a bit of an aiudience from the hilltop. But my inner child was definately just having fun. I was down there about 2 hours creating my masterpice and loving every minute of it. I could really relate to the comment by Tony Plant when he said he didn't mind when the tide came in and his work would be washed away. I was down there doing it just for me, but if others enjoyed it that was fine. Then I was happy for Mother Nature to come and clean the slate.

The rest of day we had to drive back into Broome (130km) to stock up for our next week or so in the wilderness. There was quite a haze across the sky as there is a fire out of control up at Cape Leveque, where we were a few weeks ago. We arrived back at Barn Hill just in time to wander down to the beach for the sunset. Theres nothing like smoke in the sky to make a great sunset.

As I sat there bidding the day goodbye, I thought what a great day I have had.

Tummy Bug!!!!

That's right "Tummy Bug". I have had a couple of days where I'm a bit off colour. Lets just say I would really like my own bathroom and pillow top bed at the moment. Although I do feel a little better today I'm still not 100% so I'm having a lazy day in and around the camper people watching and playing on my laptop. It's really interesting of a morning watching campers pack up and head off along the dusty dirt road and within minutes in comes another van ready to set up in their new location. Most campers are full of excitement to be at a new location, some are just plain and simply tired after their drive. Once set up most jump into a pretty relaxed state of mind, some find they have to be doing something. Its funny watching the men that have to be doing something, they potter around their van doing any little job they can invent. Some campers become very precious and protective of their little plot of land they have book for X amount of days, but most just want to enjoy the surroundings and relax. This camp - Barn Hill - is one such location where you can totally relax.

This guy got hooked by a shark and off it took with his line.
He was really struggling to try and wind it in -
but all of a sudden the line went ZAP and broke and the shark was free.

No luck for Shane - NO Sharks, NO Fish not even a little crab liked his bait.
Oh well lucky he just likes the joy of fishing.

Someone has found a snack!

Tried a bit of arty stuff with this shot

Last night was a Blue Moon, but I thought I would much prefer it PURPLE