#kms is better at hiding it based on the other pic i saw

[naorende]

[lindoig]

Days 103 to 109 (7 to 13 August)

Next morning, we checked out Tom Price, stocked up on a few necessities and photographed some of the local flora and fauna then headed out to Paraburdoo where we did much the same before eventually camping at a rudimentary camping area next to the dry Beasley River.  (There was not a lot to see at either Tom Price or Paraburdoo – to all intents, not much more than dormitory accommodation for the miners and some basic shops and services that their families and the service providers’ families might need.)  There were a few other rigs there when we arrived and quite a few more turned up later, some quite late at night.  It was a bit crowded, but the noise abated early and all was fine.  Had we known, there was another area that would probably have been better about 3 clicks further on.  Sometimes it would be great to be able to see a little way into the future.

I went for a walk down to the dry river bed, a circuitous route there, but an easier and shorter route back – I was in a hurry to get back to enjoy dinner.  Next morning, Heather joined me in a walk down to the same place via the easier track and she enjoyed picking up some of the coloured stones in the river bed.  It is obviously used as a quarry and the pebbles go down at least 5 or 6 metres – we could see places where the diggers had removed many tonnes of stones 20 feet down with no end in sight.  I spent some time checking out a pair of black-shouldered kites that I hoped may have been letter-winged kites.  We have never seen the latter, but I know of no way to tell the difference until they fly so you can see the under-wing – and this pair were high up in two dead trees with no particular inclination to fly.  At least I got some pics before they decided to disappoint me by being black-shouldereds – still a remarkably beautiful bird.

One problem along the track was that the rough road caused our fridge some difficulties.  I think there were some installation issues and I had to fix some of them early in the trip when the freezer door almost fell off – but this time, when Heather opened the door, it simply broke out of the hinge and smashed down on the floor.  It is now sticky-taped on and hopefully, we can get it repaired in Perth – theoretically, it is still under warranty.

It was then on to Onslow with numerous stops along the way for pics – mainly flowers and plants because it is over a week since we saw any new bird to add to our various lists. Interestingly, we saw 4 more grey falcons (the birds that allegedly don’t exist) – hardly worth reporting any more – must have seen at least 10-12 this trip so far.

The last week or so has been delightfully slow going, with lots of stops for exploration and photographs – almost all of them flowers and trees.  This means that the distance travelled each day has been less (and we have set up camp a bit earlier most days too), but we have enjoyed it more – even if there is little to blog about.

Onslow has two caravan parks, but unfortunately there was ‘no room at the inn’ for us and we had to park in the ‘overflow area’ beside the footy oval with only a gents’ toilets available some 2-300 metres away – the ladies’ was locked.  We felt more grotty than ever that night, but showering was too much of an effort.  So was cooking so we ended up at the pub for dinner – each selecting a parma when one would have been enough for both of us – as well as the folks at the next table.  They feed people well up here!

Before dinner, however, we drove out to the site of Old Onslow – where the town used to be 100 years ago, on the side of the Ashburton River.  It was a disappointment.  40-odd km to get there and there is nothing there apart from a few scattered signs advising that a shop or a forge or whatever was there (or somewhere not too far away) when the town existed over a century ago. Interestingly, I counted well over 130 rigs set up along the side of the River over several kilometres – certainly more pleasant than our footy oval carpark, but it was already pretty crowded, so finding a quiet spot may have been challenging.

First order of the next day was ‘let’s get out of here’ and off we toddled to Exmouth.  All of these places were Shangri-Las to me as a kid – just so far away and so exotic. So I have enjoyed visiting them, even if they have shattered some of my misconceptions.  In the main, they have been dry and dusty, perhaps smaller, but more modern (or exhibiting attempts at modernity) than I imagined – but that is progress and I certainly had a very distorted view of what they were like as a kid anyway.

As we approached Exmouth, there was quite a formidable display on a hill overlooking the sea on the northern side of the peninsula – and another page of untaught history unfolded. Operation Potshot was a US initiative in WWII and they established a submarine base there to counteract a threatened Japanese invasion.  Who ever heard of Exmouth being bombed during the war? – but it was, fortunately with no loss of life – but why weren’t we told at school or otherwise?  Where else, other than Darwin, was attacked during the War?  The display commemorates Potshot as well as the Krait expedition (of which I had some very murky recollection).  Increasingly, I am aware that history is His Story and there may be any number of other interpretations of events that other stories might establish.  Like our formal education, we only ever get to know the things the ‘authorities’ want us to know.

Of course, we all know about the secret Communications base at Exmouth, once the tallest radio towers in the world.  Another of the wonders of the engineering world – how in the world did they get built and what keeps them from falling down.  Another mystery that will probably confound me for the rest of my days!

After our inability to get a park in Onslow, we had made some phone calls and secured a slot for a couple of nights at Yardie Homestead Tourist Park some 30-odd clicks the other side of Onslow.  There was limited power (no electric jugs, microwaves, hairdryers, toasters, etc.) and very poor water pressure, but enough for our purposes.  We recharged our devices in the car and just topped them up in the Park – and when the water pressure was too low, we supplemented it by using the pump on our own water tanks.

We booked ourselves a cruise on a glass-bottomed boat over Ningaloo Reef for the following day and that was interesting.  They picked us up from the Park and drove us to the jetty a few clicks down the road.  We only went out about a kilometre, but we drifted over some wonderful coral and saw quite a variety of fish, some turtles and other marine flora and fauna.  It was a bit cold and windy and the water was not as clear as it might have been, but it was very interesting for all that – with a good commentary from the skipper (even if I had trouble hearing it all with his accent).  Heather was one of about 5 who braved the conditions and went snorkelling over the reef with her underwater camera, but the current was a bit strong and I was concerned that she could have trouble swimming back to the boat – but fortunately, no problems.  I think the swimmers were pretty cold back on board, but we moved to another area and saw a couple more turtles before heading back to shore.  We have certainly had our share of little (and big) excursions like this and the tourism industry must love us grey nomads.

We needed to go to the Visitors’ Centre back in Exmouth and then went out to the Communication area where it seemed they were adding some big cables to two of the ginormous towers – another staggering feat, but we weren’t allowed to stop to watch.  We called in at a couple of beaches and then went up to the Lighthouse, where there was quite a bit more information about the wartime (and later) history of the area.  While up there, we saw a couple of humpback whales not far offshore – a mother and calf – and at least another seven further out to sea.  We saw them a lot closer on out Russian expedition last year, but this was the first time we had seen them from land.

Next stop was a turtle display near a beach where they lay their eggs.  Quite a good description about turtles, but really not much more than things to read – so we went further south into the National Park to visit a bird hide in the mangroves. It was a bit disappointing – I saw a few birds, but nothing new and all a fair way away – and the other people there kept up a constant chatter that got on my nerves.

Next morning, we packed up and went in to Exmouth for more fuel a bigger shop at the supermarket.  I told Heather to go ahead while I parked the car and van and I would meet her in IGA.  I was parked in an open area near the Police Station, but was told I had to move so found a spot at the back of a nearby carpark and went to find Heather. Nowhere to be seen and my phone was flat so I couldn’t call her.  I went back to the car and charged it enough to text and call her – no response!  I walked up and down every aisle in IGA several times and back to the car several times in case she was looking for me where I parked originally.  Eventually, we made contact by phone and had this weird conversation – we were both near the checkout in IGA, but couldn’t see each other.  Would you believe, there are TWO IGAs in Exmouth, directly across the arcade from each other?  Heather was in one and I was in the other.  It was almost spooky – who would have believed it in little Exmouth?

Eventually on the road to Coral Bay and Carnarvon, just in time to stop for lunch! Coral Bay was NOT our thing!  It seemed almost entirely composed of caravan parks with vans crammed cheek by jowl, one against the other, absurdly neat, but with hardly space to walk between them.  Horrendous for people like us that prefer open spaces and as little to do with our neighbours as possible.  There was a massive parking area at the boat ramp so we ate our lunch there, but there was nothing else at all to attract us.

On the other hand, Carnarvon was great.  Good facilities and our Caravan Park had plenty of space and nobody next to us on two of our 3 nights there.  As a kid, Carnarvon was another of those very remote places, but that is where Western Australia’s bananas came from.  Dad hated bananas (always called them pigs’ food) but Mum loved them and even when newer varieties became available from imports, her taste-buds still craved the curvier, skinnier, blacker Carnarvon variety.  I wonder if they still grow them?

We drove all around Carnarvon whilst there, covering several of the roads multiple times.  We went to the port area, the marina, through the CBD (such as it is) several times, out through the agricultural and orchard areas (they provide 70% of Western Australia’s vegetables from this one small area) – we seemed to be back and forth so many times.  We had a fish and chips lunch at a restaurant on Sunday and visited the One Mile Jetty and associated museum – and I went looking (unsuccessfully) for birds along the boardwalk through the mangroves.

Saturday was extremely windy – gales blowing all day so we hid out in the van, catching up on business issues and planning our future travel options – then it rained ALL night (sounded wonderful on the van roof, but inhibited sleep a little) and we woke up to very soggy – water-logged – environment next day.  Rain was forecast all day, but despite threatening signs, it held off and never impacted us at all.  We copped quite a lot more rain a day or two later, but only while we were driving so we feel lucky that our travel adventures have remained virtually unaffected by weather all along the track so far.

I did a bit of birding while we were there, but saw nothing new.  I went chasing waders across the mud-flats when the tide was out on Sunday and got very wet shoes to take into the restaurant at lunchtime.  I also walked along the side of the Gascoyne River near Chinaman Pool (Carnarvon’s water supply) during the afternoon and saw over 20 different species within about 45 minutes.  Hundreds of them were white-plumed honeyeaters that set off their alarm calls all around me throughout my walk, scaring everything away before I could get close enough for photos.

Carnarvon was an important part of the 1969 moon mission and they have a wonderful museum there to let people get a glimpse of what it was like at the time.  They have a mock-up of a space module where they can lock you in and you have actual sound and video from the original launch as if you are really astronauts so Heather and I climbed in and experienced it – very realistic and a big buzz for me.  I was a little closer to the event than most people (when I was working in Canberra, I was one of about a dozen who saw it all a few seconds ahead of the rest of the world!) so it was a bit special to me. The museum also contains a display of OTC equipment and a lot of information about that.  The Overseas Telecommunication Commission had a major presence in Carnarvon and Australia’s first overseas TV broadcast was made from there.  It was a really big deal for Australia and the display is excellent.  We spent a couple of hours there, but to do justice to both displays, including the several videos playing continuously, you would really need most of a day!  A really excellent attraction, recommended to anyone – but especially significant for those of us old enough to recall the actual events they commemorate.  (VERY educational for anyone younger who was unlucky enough to miss these momentous events.)

I am bird-deprived – it is 11 days since we saw a new species for this trip and 13 days since we ticked anything new for us.  Current count is 262 for the trip and 59 new ones for us.