16 July 2002 We packed up our Gladstone camp somewhat reluctantly and drove back along the dirt road to the highway. The landscape was sparsely vegetated: at Gladstone, the vast expanses of the desert end abruptly at the sea. Our next stop was Hamelin Pool, which I have wanted to visit for years. It was…
Author: wundercliffe
Carnarvon to Shark Bay
12—15 July 2002 We spent two nights at Carnarvon. Unfortunately we didn’t see much of the town and surrounds. The second day was spent completing schoolwork. I drove into town to get a haircut, but all the hairdressers and barbers were closed. I got the gas bottle filled and brought some glue for minor repairs,…
Coral Bay to Carnarvon
10—11 July 2002 The next morning we took leave of our neighbours and drove to Coral Bay, which was absolutely bursting at the seams with holiday-makers. It was all we could do to find a parking space. Once we secured one, we made our way down to the main snorkelling spot. Luckily we arrived at…
Cape Range NP day 3
9 July 2002 On our final day in Cape Range National Park we attended to some business in Exmouth, drove back to Turquoise Bay and walked to the beach immediately south of the bay. There was a strong current moving from the south to the north. I went in first to check to see if…
Cape Range (Ningaloo Reef)
7—8 July 2002 On the first morning at the caravan park the weather was overcast. I got up and did a load of washing, which seemed like a good idea at 6.30 a.m., but it rained for the second day in a row so I had to get ingenious with the clothesline. The kids did…
Tom Price to Exmouth
6 July 2002 Tom Price is a mining town in the Pilbara. It was not as cold Karajini, but it was not much warmer either. When we rose at 6.00 a.m. to break camp, there was a lot of birdlife in the caravan park, including noisy mynahs, spinifex pigeons and corellas. After dropping the trailer…
Karajini to Tom Price
4 July—5 July 2002 Our last day at Karajini National Park involved a day trip to Kalamina Gorge, which was the easiest gorge to walk down. We went as far as the arch, and lay around sun baking within view of it. The rock patterns were endlessly fascinating. Every three metres one of us would…
Karajini day 2
3 July 2002 On our second day at Karajini National Park day we headed out to Weano Gorge, some 43 km away along well-graded but very dusty, gravelly, and somewhat corrugated roads. We followed the path to Handrail Pool, which was as impossibly beautiful as it was slippery. We managed to avoid falling into the…
Karajini day 1
2 July 2002 On our first day at Karajini National Park, we visited Dales Gorge. It was a wonderful experience coming across one of the gorges in the park for the first time. They have been cut into a plateau that was fashioned from sediments deposited in an ancient seabed some 2,500 million year ago. …
Cape Keraudren to Karajini
28 June–1 July 2002 We chose Cape Keraudren as our next stop rather than Eighty Mile Beach Caravan Park, because it seemed likely to be a more interesting camping proposition. Our guidebook had forewarned us that there was no wood to be found on the Cape, but fires were permitted, so after a few hours…
Cape Leveque to Broome
26 June 2002 On our last morning in Cape Leveque we broke camp, packed everything back into the Toyota and drove to Lombadina to refuel. This looked like an interesting stop so we paid the entry fee and went to the local arts and craft shop where Susie bought some beads made from tamarind seeds. …
Cape Leveque day 2
25 June 2002 Due to the vast differences in sea level between low and high tides in the West Kimberley region, there is simply no water to swim in at low tide on Cape Leveque. As it happened, however, the tides were timed perfectly during our visit. So on our second day there, we went…
Wundercliffe 