Hamlin Pool-Steep Point-Denham

                                                         Who is that back there? Not Roy Orbison!!!
Left early again to go to Hamelin Pool to stay for a few nights,we are doing day trip to Steep Point tomorrow,we thought we would save 200ks staying here by not going into Denham.Set up in van park not really a van park more like a gravel car park,tried to get dish working again (failed again).Off to office to get key to Museum (not really a museum though)$10 ea we were told. ok then lets go!Oh sorry need 4 to go to make it worthwhile she said. I said $20 is better than $0. she said Guide won't go with less than 4. Isaid It's not like he is really busy at the moment. she said (well you get the message). Never saw it! Guess she won that one.What was museum about I hear you ask well we think it held info about the overland telegraph as Hamelin Pool was an old Telegraph Station.
We decided to do a short walk to the beach to see the Stromatolites,they are apparently an organism (not to be confused with an ORGASM) that makes oxygen and that made it possible for other species of life to evolve they are squillions of years old.

Shell Quarry at Hamelin Pool

The shell was quarried in the early days to be used as building blocks for homes, sheds etc.The blocks are solid and cut with crosscut saw( you know push pull saw) mature people would remember "well maybe".still used today for maintaining some of the historical buildings around here.

Another beaut sunset.

Off to Steep Point today.Why I hear you ask?Because it is the Western Most Point on the Australian Mainland.As we have already been to Cape York (Northern Most Point),Byron Bay (Most Easterly Point on Mainland) it would not be right not to go.Would it?
The 100ks was excellent gravel road it was maintained by a company that operated a salt mine at a place called Useless Loop,takes about an hour to do this,BUT THE NEXT 50ks took us almost 2 hrs, sections of this track could be as bad as road to Cape.

Section of track into Steep Point

Love this country out here.( Pete Maaate you just have to try it )Very narrow and winding track met people towing boats a couple of times had to reverse to find a spot to let them pass,some families with kids, mostly blokes on fishing trips.
Arrived at Rangers house to register and was met by friendly staff member,a bit lay back though we thought.

Sorry can't help watching Lassie"She is my kinda girl' WOOF!

Thank you we will be off then,OK you all come back again you hear,sorry to disturb you Gail said That's OK I have it on PAWS (Oh! your so clever)Ha!Ha!Now what did we really come for?

WE MADE IT

Pristine Waters

She loves out here

Home Wayne and don't spare the 'Cruiser

When we arrived back at van we found that the generator at van park had died hence no power so we packed up and left for Denham.We met up with Kerry and Barb again they were going to Kalbarrie, promised to catch up there.We arrived at Denham too late to book in stayed on site will book in tomorrow.

Carnarvon

Off to Carnarvon today Sunday 18/9 arriving at 11 30 am great welcome from Judith and Ross set up,then quick look around town then back to van.

Quobba Blow Hole

A day trip out here with Ross & Judith great day trip from town,spectacular sceneary,and waves crashing onto rocks.

Wild seas from Indian Ocean

Up she goes!!

Tin Shacks at Quobba

These shacks are similar to Tin City on Stockton Beach,except they can bought and sold with permission of local council.

What a beauty

Back to camp wash car and van,inside & out all sparkling now all red dust gone for now anyway,next day off to One Mile Jetty that in the early days was used for loading of sheep for transportation of sheep to Perth.
Jetty lucky to be still standing some pylons at end of Jetty rotted right through.

Needs replacing soon.

Off to farm bought fresh and cheap fruit and veges,back to van to pack for trip to Denham and Monkey Mia.

Exmouth-Coral Bay

Thursday 15/9 Happy Birthday Nat yes officially getting old now 30 that makes us feel REALLY old,back in Exmouth Gail feeling better every day now,washing machine humming away,clean sheets and all.
Left early today for Coral Bay,arrived early,not able to get into van park until 11 00am so off to see town,found Bakery yummy fresh bread here,set up van etc.

Kerry & Barb and others from Mesa Camp also arrived,just like reunion,yep another Happy Hour!!!

Not so feral now

Lovely Dinner to night Prawn and Chicken Salad yummy!yummy!
Walked two k's along beach today to shark nursery not real sharks but Reef Sharks,females that come in with tide and swim around in groups and leave again no one knows why weird!!!
Back to beach for fish feeding at 3 00 pm,large fish appear at your feet here as if from nowhere,special pellets supplied to feed them with,good PLATE size,no nets allowed,cameras only.

Spangled Emperor and Parrot Fish

Gail being our Photographer wanted a close up so I suggested I lure one up close with a pellet,here FISHY FISHY it worked the Bastard went right up on my second finger on right hand to the second joint and gave me shock flicked it off,and went home sore and sorry I didn't bag him.

Coral Bay

Off to Jetty today to see Merv a Queensland Groper allegedly 100 yrs old that frequents there at fish cleaning time unfortunately we missed out on seeing Merv.

That's the one that bit me.

Cape Range National Park-Mesa Camp

Up early todayTuesday 13/9 belly sore from laughing so much,wedding went off well, was supposed to be (AFD) Alcohol Free Day for James & Jade but owing to circumstances beyond their control that was cancelled,they looked the worse for wear.

Kerry on right Joel centre Barb on right

Ross,Roberta(Robbie),Gail and Wayne set off to do walk through Manu Manu Gorge 3hrs TOUGH walk this one Gail still tender and sore,Robbie has bad hip still they carried on,had we been warned we would not have gone but go we did,scrambling up and down the track that led us to end of gorge and back,very disappointed,not nice at all,spied Kangaroos along track that sparked us up a bit.
On way back called in at other camps,but decided Mesa was best situated for exploring Park
Snorkelling a bit better now still not real good at it Gail is doing better than me and really enjoying it loves water here so clear and clean.We tried snorkelling at Oyster Stack much better than Turquoise Bay,fish and coral much better here.back to camp.

Beautiful

Rest day again today Wednesday,sad today,not so Happy Hour for us as we say good bye to all at Mesa,you would have to have been here and met the crew here from all over oz we adopted James & Jade I think.We packed up early leaving behind Ross & Robbie,who wanted to stay on, but travel we must as we have important things to do in Exmouth.

Packed and ready to move on.

Cape Range National Park-Mesa Camp

On arrival at Mesa we were greeted by the Volunteer Host Joel and his wife Helen,a retired couple who looked after 13 other campers,collected fees,cleaned toilets reported to office each morning if sites were available.
Joel ran a boot camp every afternoon at 4 00pm,that consisted of running,push ups,skipping etc I declined the offer to join in because I was knackered from watching,each session consisted of 5 then 10 then 20 and finally 50 or more repetitions of each activity and finished up with run to beach about 500 metres from camp,up short sand hill and finally with swim to cool off.At completion Joel was most times the last one standing he is certainly a fit man (over 70 yrs young).
Back to town so we could replace camera,it never came good after Gails fall,she is still tender and bruised really black like Janettes,but moving a lot better now.

View from our van at Mesa Camp

Failed again to get satellite dish running today,will try again tomorrow.Off to Happy Hour 20 or so from our camp set up their chairs in a circle new campers introduced ourselves to rest of camp swapped information on travels where to shop, where to get fuel, prices at van parks etc.
We sat near a Welsh couple,about mid 20's,Jade & James nice couple,who let it slip that it was their 2nd anniversary of their engagement,they were driving an old van that had seen better days,James was getting tormented 'for not marrying the girl'he took it all in good fun.
Wind blowing again as has been for days now no matter where we are.

Beach Bum at Mesa

Rest day Sunday11/9 yep!believe it or not it's hard work out here!Satellite up and running today with help from Joel.Happy Hour again today.
Monday up early to do a gorge walk at Yardie Creek,then work our way back to TurquoiseBay to do snorkelling to look at coral and reef fish.

Yardie Creek Gorge

Water pristine at Turquoise Bay but found coral disappointing,fish were lovely to look at.
Back at Mesa,Kerry and Barb came over asked us 'Are you interested in some skullduggery', we said ' yes what do you have in mind?' Kerry said 'Oh Just thought we should marry Jade and James!' ' No problem' we said.Plans were made,invites sent out to all in camp except to happy couple,Kerry was MC,Joel was Priest (even came dressed with shirt on back to front as clergy do),Wayne as Best Man,Barb as bridesmaid.
Barb made gown from two Aussie Flags,train from mosquito net bought in town,plastic Tiara,and matching rings duly handed to Best Man for safe keeping,anyway we gathered as normal for Happy Hour,Barb asked Jade if she would help her do something in her van. James immediately was suspicious as we all took our positions,and SQUEALS came inside the van,he then became nervous(not knowing Aussie humour)and had to assured all was good.

And then she appeared

James turned to see his Bride approaching,she weak at the knees still GIGGLING away on her way to the alter.

Bridesmaids holding Train

Groom waiting wondering what on earth was happening all he could ask 'Was what do I do with my hands?'he was really quite nervous you would have thought it was the real thing.

Bride and Groom at Alter

Train by Exmouth op shop

Ceremony conducted with due reverence & propriety deserving of such an auspicious occasion.Vows taken,gifts from well wishers handed over.

Father Joel in full flight

Members of Grooms Party

Nervous Groom and hysterical Bride

All in all a job well done by all in attendance. A warm up for the real thing.

Matching plastic shark rings of course

And finally after signing register we have the happy but terribly confused couple pledging undying love til death do we part.

'What has just happened?' he said.'Not sure' said she.

So another Happy Hour came to an end,BEST one yet so much laughter.

Full moon at Mesa Camp.

We all retired for the night,as we were doing another Gorge walk tomorrow.

Tom Price -Exmouth

Our friends Judith and Ross have decided to leave early and make their own way to Exmouth I think they are all Gorged out and need to see the beaches.We think they may be right but there is no rush.We call into House Creek Rest Area,very windy & dusty here but circle wagons and decide to stay the night,could be dangerous after dark here.

Some one has a sense of humour,we hope noboby removes Teddy,as out here at times you need a giggle. Off to Barradale Rest Area,where sometime ago a Roadhouse once stood but no longer operates,still windy and dusty stayed one night again free camp,looking forward to getting out of it.Gails back is still very sore.Arrived Exmouth Friday 9/9.into Tourist Info. had to fill water tanks here as only bore water available at Cape Range National Park.Met up with Judith & Ross again we joined them at Lighthouse Caravan Park for one night.
Left early about 5 30am to head into Cape Range we have to be early to line up,we arrived at about 6 20 to find four others already there,office opens at 8 00am then first in line gets first site,and so on down the line,our turn comes and we are in luck allocated a spot as was Robbie and Ross as they were ahead of us,at Mesa Camp.

Tom Price

Gail woke this morning not to bad,people we are travelling with,very concerned about her,checking to make sure she is comfortable, she tells us she is ok, but I am not so sure.Off to Tom Price this time a Rio Tinto town,arrived at van park to find green stuff on ground but don't worry 'THEY' said it's only grass we remember now been so long since we have seen any.
We booked tour of mine site dressed up for the occasion.Bruising coming out now,suggested Gail goes to see Doctor but wont go for check up.Lucky no walking on tour bus trip around mine.

Monster Truck.

On tour we watched as huge trucks carried ore from mine to crusher,to stacks, to conveyors,to loaders & onto trains to be taken to Port Hedland & onto ships then to overseas clients.
There is a bloody big hole here now where once a mountain was,in the background you can see the peak of it & at bottom of mine you may be able to make out some water,well that's the watertable now pumps are running 24/7 keeping the mine dry and supplyiny water for dust suppression on roads etc.

There goes 260 tonnes truck and load.

Male and Female drivers employed here,apparently Females are preferred as they are gentler on vehicles(Cheers from girls on bus)but wait girls 'Did you notice how wide the roads are?'says coach driver,(Now groans from girls/Cheers from fellas).

Gail and friend Larry the Loader.

Tour very informative a must do not much else I suppose any back to town shopping for pantry and bar and on way back we drove to top of Mount Nameless very slow going up and even slower coming down 4wd both ways but worth the time you can see for miles (sorry kilometres) up here.

Looking towards minesite from lookout.

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View to North of town.

In for service not much clearance here.

Arrived back at van to find Allen and Rhonda had arrived they been out to Marble Bar.We cooked roast on Baby Q others did vegetables Great feast!!!! 2nd time this trip.Gail having bad time walking but still going good proud of her effort in going on.Moving on tomorrow.