Hello dear blogsters…. We have been out of range for a couple of days - so no blog from me! Let me start today by posting some of our whale-shark photos from Ningaloo Reef. Nic and I bought cheap and nasty underwater disposable cameras to take photos – but had to wait to get the shots developed before I could post them. The photo quality is about what you’d expect from cheap and nasty cameras – but they still show the beautiful whale shark we swam with. Note that the cameras didn’t have zoom – so the close shots were actually taken that close to the shark. Absolutely magnificent creature!
And here are some shots we took whilst snorkling on the reef. How cool is that!
Ok, so back to our little adventure. On our last morning in Karratha, we packed up and then went to Dampier to have a look at the North West Shelf Project Visitor Centre. The North West Shelf Project provides almost half of Australia’s oil and gas supplies from drill platforms located about 130 kilometres off-shore from Dampier. The gas is piped through huge under-sea pipes to the processing plant, where it is cooled to -160 degrees and then piped into huge storage tanks on ships to be transported to Japan (a multi million dollar boost to our economy). This huge project employs 80,000 people either directly or indirectly.
Karratha is an interesting town as it services the North West Shelf project as well as the many enormous mines out in the Pilbara. Accommodation is scarce here and many miners live in villages filled with cabins made of little more than a shipping container with air conditioning. There are new homes being built everywhere (all with steel frames and made to stringent cyclone standards). Almost every 2nd vehicle is a mine vehicle (obvious by the orange lights and long fluorescent orange flag on top).
We left Karratha and travelled on our way – heading for 80 mile beach. Our calculations were a bit out and what we thought was going to be a 250 km drive turned into well over 400 km. As a result, we arrived at the Wallal Station Caravan Park at the bottom of the 80 mile beach well after dark. We were quite relieved to set up camp after a very long day.
We were up early the next morning to go for a walk on the beach as the sun rose. We collected a heap of truly beautiful shells and enjoyed a blissful walk.
After breakfast we packed up and headed off on a relatively short (250 km) drive to Barn Hill Station camp at the top end of the 80 mile beach. We turned in and drove up the 10 km dirt drive at about lunch time.
We checked in at the rather airy and interesting park reception (it was certainly well ventilated – if a bit basic) and then set up our camp under some lovely shady trees.
When we were checking in, I asked the lady at reception if we needed to be careful of snakes. She quickly retorted “Has someone been talking to you?” When I reassured her, she said that they had had a bit of a problem with some snakes – there was one in the toilet the other night. She couldn’t tell me what kind. Some people camping next to us helpfully informed us that we should be a bit careful as there had been a king brown snake in the toilet and shower block. Hmmmmmmm. Anyway, we set up camp and relaxed in the shade for a while (god it’s hot here!). Then we headed down the beach for a spot of fishing – no luck apart from a couple of bites – but it was worth it stand in the warm water and watch the sun go down over the ocean. We had a relaxed dinner of cold silverside and crunchy coleslaw before all turning in to bed early. Nic and Bron packed their gear ready for an early departure the next day to the Broome airport.
And here are some shots we took whilst snorkling on the reef. How cool is that!
Ok, so back to our little adventure. On our last morning in Karratha, we packed up and then went to Dampier to have a look at the North West Shelf Project Visitor Centre. The North West Shelf Project provides almost half of Australia’s oil and gas supplies from drill platforms located about 130 kilometres off-shore from Dampier. The gas is piped through huge under-sea pipes to the processing plant, where it is cooled to -160 degrees and then piped into huge storage tanks on ships to be transported to Japan (a multi million dollar boost to our economy). This huge project employs 80,000 people either directly or indirectly.
Karratha is an interesting town as it services the North West Shelf project as well as the many enormous mines out in the Pilbara. Accommodation is scarce here and many miners live in villages filled with cabins made of little more than a shipping container with air conditioning. There are new homes being built everywhere (all with steel frames and made to stringent cyclone standards). Almost every 2nd vehicle is a mine vehicle (obvious by the orange lights and long fluorescent orange flag on top).
We left Karratha and travelled on our way – heading for 80 mile beach. Our calculations were a bit out and what we thought was going to be a 250 km drive turned into well over 400 km. As a result, we arrived at the Wallal Station Caravan Park at the bottom of the 80 mile beach well after dark. We were quite relieved to set up camp after a very long day.
We were up early the next morning to go for a walk on the beach as the sun rose. We collected a heap of truly beautiful shells and enjoyed a blissful walk.
After breakfast we packed up and headed off on a relatively short (250 km) drive to Barn Hill Station camp at the top end of the 80 mile beach. We turned in and drove up the 10 km dirt drive at about lunch time.We checked in at the rather airy and interesting park reception (it was certainly well ventilated – if a bit basic) and then set up our camp under some lovely shady trees.
When we were checking in, I asked the lady at reception if we needed to be careful of snakes. She quickly retorted “Has someone been talking to you?” When I reassured her, she said that they had had a bit of a problem with some snakes – there was one in the toilet the other night. She couldn’t tell me what kind. Some people camping next to us helpfully informed us that we should be a bit careful as there had been a king brown snake in the toilet and shower block. Hmmmmmmm. Anyway, we set up camp and relaxed in the shade for a while (god it’s hot here!). Then we headed down the beach for a spot of fishing – no luck apart from a couple of bites – but it was worth it stand in the warm water and watch the sun go down over the ocean. We had a relaxed dinner of cold silverside and crunchy coleslaw before all turning in to bed early. Nic and Bron packed their gear ready for an early departure the next day to the Broome airport.The amenities were somewhat rustic - beautiful to have a shower in the open air with a breeze around the ankles!
For our final night at Barn Hill Station, we joined the other campers for a beautiful feed under the stars. The Station owners came down and served us home-made soup, roast beef and vegies and fruit salad and ice-cream. We knocked back the odd wine or two (gin and tonic for mum).... making it a lovely evening.
Note that I got frocked up for the occasion -and even had some lippy on!!!!
We are a bit worried about Paddy - he enjoyed his meal.... but then seemed to get into the plonk a bit.... we might have to dry him out over the next few days.
Tomorrow it's on to Broome. Gday to Merve and Edna Angove who are following our travels from down in Victoria. Gday too, to Sheree, Bethanie and Lachlan who ALL remembered to ring me for mother's day.... onya guys!
1 comment:
Hi Nerrida and co. You sound like you're having the best time. Your photos are stunning particularly those of the plants and fish. The four mermaids seem to be very relaxed sitting there on the rocks. I agree Padddy does seem to be having a bit too much of a good time but after been buried in the sand and being seasick I think he probably deserves it. Everyone here says hi. Toss is particularly jealous of your fishing success.
Love Margaret
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