Forgot to show you this photo last time. This was taken on the long, long journey from Katherine to Broome. This is a boab (boabab) tree, and you can see how it dwarfs our car and van. It was huge, and in flower, just so amazing to see in this wilderness. The landscape between Katherine and Broome was so much like we imagined the landscape in Africa to be (it's called the Savannah Way for good reasons). There were times we would not have been surprised if a giraffe had appeared, or a pride of lions! This is the only place the boab trees grow.
And Broome - well, we loved it. The above picture is of part of the Japanese cemetery, where hundreds of Japanese pearl divers are buried. The main industry of Broome is pearls, and there are lots of shops where you could spend a fortune. We really liked the feel of Broome, very laid back, no-one moves too fast! We got used to "Broome time", very quickly. Don't expect things too fast and you won't be disappointed. And Cable Beach, just stunning. We saw all these 4WDs on the beach, and someone looked longingly at them, so you can imagine the smile on his face when a bloke driving up from the beach said "no problems mate, you can drive down there in the Falcon". So that was that! Guess what we did every day.
In the photo below you can just see the camels getting ready to take people on camel rides along the beach at sunset.
And the Cable Beach sunsets - yes they are as good as you've heard.
We went to the outdoor picture theatre. So different to sit in deck chairs and watch the movie,. particularly when the planes flew overhead! The theatre sits right under the flight path.
After ten days (and the fridge breaking down, lucky it works on gas as well!), we dragged ourselves away from Broome and headed for Port Hedland, Rio Tinto country. Port Hedland, Dampier and Karratha were all purpose built by the mines. Port Hedland we found very ordinary, you would only be here for the work! But interesting to see how people live and what they do.
Pinch of salt on your dinner sir? Massive salt works, just outside Port Hedland.
And this is where the money is - iron ore, heading to the docks at Dampier. About twenty years ago Woodside Petroleum went searching for oil off the coast of Dampier (the North-west Shelf), didn't find oil, but did find natural gas. It is pumped ashore to the refinery below, where it is turned into liquified natural gas, stored in massive tanks, then shipped to Japan. The monument below was built to honour the men killed during the building of the refinery. It is huge, and set to get bigger. We spent a fascinating hour at the information centre, talking to a girl from Melbourne who works there, there are heaps and heaps of Victorians on this side of Australia!
This is just one part of the refinery. The domes are where the liquified natural gas is stored.
And so we drive on......and on......and on.......the distances between towns are HUGE! We get up nice and early in the morning, try to be on the road by 4.30am (watch out for kangaroos and cattle!) Now you know you're in the wilds of Australia when the sign on the roadside says "emergency airstrip for Royal Flying Doctor Service"!
Yep, we just drove over the airstrip!
At Exmouth this mother emu and her chick were just wandering around the town. We had never seen so many emus, lizards, feral cats - this is a wildlife paradise!
And then to Coral Bay; just glorious! And there she is snorkelling again. So much fun. Warren managed to talk me into going out on quad bikes to snorkel at Oyster Cove, yes I nearly needed clean undies! I hadn't been on a motorbike since I was 18 (a very, very long time ago!). But once I got over my apprehension it was great fun, even though I was very relieved once we got back to the van in one piece.
Just one part of Coral Bay, it's absolutely beautiful. The water is the most stunning torquoise colour., and you can just walk out into the water, and where you can see the darker colour, that's coral. Whack on the snorkel and flippers and go snorkelling! We had a lovely few days here.
And so we headed on down the coast to Carnarvon (next blog), Monkey Mia, and Geraldton where we are now. The sign below says it all (and it's lucky you can still read it, considering the amount of graffiti and stickers covering it.)
At this point I'll say happy holidays to all my CRC Sydenham pals - have a great Christmas and New Year people! Enjoy the Christmas break. To everyone else, we'll ge another blog in before Christmas. See you then ...........................
Forgot to show you this photo last time. This was taken on the long, long journey from Katherine to Broome. This is a boab (boabab) tree, and you can see how it dwarfs our car and van. It was huge, and in flower, just so amazing to see in this wilderness. The landscape between Katherine and Broome was so much like we imagined the landscape in Africa to be (it's called the Savannah Way for good reasons). There were times we would not have been surprised if a giraffe had appeared, or a pride of lions! This is the only place the boab trees grow.
And Broome - well, we loved it. The above picture is of part of the Japanese cemetery, where hundreds of Japanese pearl divers are buried. The main industry of Broome is pearls, and there are lots of shops where you could spend a fortune. We really liked the feel of Broome, very laid back, no-one moves too fast! We got used to "Broome time", very quickly. Don't expect things too fast and you won't be disappointed. And Cable Beach, just stunning. We saw all these 4WDs on the beach, and someone looked longingly at them, so you can imagine the smile on his face when a bloke driving up from the beach said "no problems mate, you can drive down there in the Falcon". So that was that! Guess what we did every day.
In the photo below you can just see the camels getting ready to take people on camel rides along the beach at sunset.
And the Cable Beach sunsets - yes they are as good as you've heard.
We went to the outdoor picture theatre. So different to sit in deck chairs and watch the movie,. particularly when the planes flew overhead! The theatre sits right under the flight path.
After ten days (and the fridge breaking down, lucky it works on gas as well!), we dragged ourselves away from Broome and headed for Port Hedland, Rio Tinto country. Port Hedland, Dampier and Karratha were all purpose built by the mines. Port Hedland we found very ordinary, you would only be here for the work! But interesting to see how people live and what they do. 
Pinch of salt on your dinner sir? Massive salt works, just outside Port Hedland.
And this is where the money is - iron ore, heading to the docks at Dampier. About twenty years ago Woodside Petroleum went searching for oil off the coast of Dampier (the North-west Shelf), didn't find oil, but did find natural gas. It is pumped ashore to the refinery below, where it is turned into liquified natural gas, stored in massive tanks, then shipped to Japan. The monument below was built to honour the men killed during the building of the refinery. It is huge, and set to get bigger. We spent a fascinating hour at the information centre, talking to a girl from Melbourne who works there, there are heaps and heaps of Victorians on this side of Australia!
This is just one part of the refinery. The domes are where the liquified natural gas is stored.
And so we drive on......and on......and on.......the distances between towns are HUGE! We get up nice and early in the morning, try to be on the road by 4.30am (watch out for kangaroos and cattle!) Now you know you're in the wilds of Australia when the sign on the roadside says "emergency airstrip for Royal Flying Doctor Service"!
Yep, we just drove over the airstrip!
At Exmouth this mother emu and her chick were just wandering around the town. We had never seen so many emus, lizards, feral cats - this is a wildlife paradise!
And then to Coral Bay; just glorious! And there she is snorkelling again. So much fun. Warren managed to talk me into going out on quad bikes to snorkel at Oyster Cove, yes I nearly needed clean undies! I hadn't been on a motorbike since I was 18 (a very, very long time ago!). But once I got over my apprehension it was great fun, even though I was very relieved once we got back to the van in one piece.
Just one part of Coral Bay, it's absolutely beautiful. The water is the most stunning torquoise colour., and you can just walk out into the water, and where you can see the darker colour, that's coral. Whack on the snorkel and flippers and go snorkelling! We had a lovely few days here.
And so we headed on down the coast to Carnarvon (next blog), Monkey Mia, and Geraldton where we are now. The sign below says it all (and it's lucky you can still read it, considering the amount of graffiti and stickers covering it.)
At this point I'll say happy holidays to all my CRC Sydenham pals - have a great Christmas and New Year people! Enjoy the Christmas break. To everyone else, we'll ge another blog in before Christmas. See you then ...........................
