A long time between any updates on our travels back to Perth. From Kununurra we are planning to travel to Port Headland then take the inland road via Newman, then down towards Mount Magnet then across to Canna and finish up back in Perth in time for the couple of engagements we are planning on attending.
From Kununurra we did a big days travel, for us anyway and made it 460 kilometres down the road and camped the night at Mary Pool Overnight Camp. Good for a one night stop and not to much traffic noise. Next morning it was down the road a bit further for a nights stop over at the Boab Tree Rest Area. As the name suggests this rest area has a Boab tree in the area and it is a very big one at that. The rest area is bituminised and is dominated by a huge Boab tree. Its close to the road but after about 9pm there isn’t much traffic anyway so you still get a goods night sleep.
Our next stop for a few days was Barn Hill Station. We have been here before, it is a nice area and right on the beach. We stay in the unpowered section as you can still hook up to water and if your self sufficient for power then we feel it is the better option. The beach at Barn Hill is pretty awesome to walk along and swim in at this time of the year and we did quite a bit of both. Sunsets are quite magic every night as well. They bake there own bread at the station as well but you have to get to the shop early each morning to get a loaf as it sells out very quick with only a few loaves made available for sale. Our last two days at Barn Hill were spoiled though as the wind came up and turned a lovely spot into a sand blown landscape. Al least our first few days there were perfect.
After finishing off getting blown out of Barn Hill we drove next down to Eighty Mile Beach Caravan Park for a couple of nights. This is a very well appointed park but a little on the expensive side if only staying short term. We chose a powered site as we had quite a bit of washing to do. The unpowered sites were $35 a night which is quite expensive. It was a nice stay though and the wind was a lot less which was nice. There were lots fishing off the beach but not many actually catching anything and talking to some in the caravan park it had been that way for quite a while. That was a good enough reason for me to leave my fishing rod neatly packed in the van.
From Eighty Mile Beach we were planning on stopping at Pardoo for a few days but they had no vacancies. This made our next decision easy and it was down to Port Headland for a few days. Anika was also in Port Headland for work so it gave us a chance to catch up with her as well. We stayed at the Landing Resort and Port Tourist Park just opposite the airport. We were pleasantly surprised by this place and would definitely stay here again. Very little noise from the airport or trains. We did look at the short stay at the race course in town but weren’t very impressed by this at all. You are packed in very close to each other, down off the road where everyone can see in and staying on dirt. Didn’t look inviting to us at all. Have stayed in a lot nicer places in the bush.
While in Port Headland we drove around and looked at where we used to work in the LIA and also the company houses we stayed in as well. They are trying hard to make Port Headland a more attractive place but still have a lot of work to make it more appealing. The town centre of Port Headland still has a lot of dust coverage from the BHP loading facilities and I don’t see this changing much in the future. Everything has this dirty brown look about it. A nice couple of days though and good to see everything again.
When we left Port Headland we decided to do a short trip for the day and go to Indee Station for a night. This was only a short 65km trip so we were there before lunch. Its about a 12 km drive in off the highway on a pretty good gravel road. The camp ground is quite well laid out with lots of room and the toilet/shower facilities were very good. We packed a picnic lunch and went for a drive out to Red Rock. There were supposed to be some aboriginal petroglyphs to look at on the rock as well as rock pools and some water in the river. They give you a mud map to follow at the station when you leave and you really cant get lost as its pretty much following one track out to the rock. The trip was really worth the effort, the petroglyphs are easy to spot and quite visible and with the rock pools around it was very picturesque. With the bit of water in the river we had a very enjoyable afternoon. Later in the afternoon the station owners invite you over to there house for sundowners and nibbles. Great way to have a chat with others campers and relax at the same time.
Even though we only stayed one night we really enjoyed our stay at Indee station and would definitely stay there again if passing and it suited us. We travelled as far as the Albert Tognolini Rest Area today which is just south of the Munjina Roadhouse. This is an awesome free camp area with plenty of room with some absolutely amazing views. As with most things though there was something to spoil it a bit – THOSE BLOODY FLIES. This was our second time staying at this spot and we probably will stay again in the future.
Next stop was just down the road and Newman. We had got in touch with John Riebe and were going to park on his front lawn for the weekend. It was also the Fortescue Festival weekend in Newman as well. We hadn’t been to one of these for many years so were looking forward to both catching up with John and going to the festival. John has a huge lawn at the front of his house and after we had set the van up it was as good as any caravan parks we had stayed in. John was a great host and drove us around Newman and pointed out all the changes that had happened since we left all those years ago, and there were many. The Fortescue Festival though seemed a lot different. When we lived in Newman there were a lot more community groups involved in the festival. Now it seemed to be just people who came up for the weekend selling there stuff and not leaving anything in the town. A pity though I suppose it’s a sign of the times we now live in. On the Saturday night John and I went to the speedway for a look but unfortunately we didn’t stay for the whole meeting. Some races only had three competitors so it really wasn’t much of a spectacle. A pity because the venue is very good and well catered for. On Sunday John took me out clay target shooting. I had never done this before and was very nervous about embarrassing myself badly. To my surprise I actually hit a few targets. This was a lot of fun and a sport you could easily get yourself into. We had a great time in Newman and it was good to catch up with John.
We would have liked to stay longer in Newman but time was telling us to keep heading south towards Perth. We were heading south to Mount Magnet then heading west towards Canna to look at the wild flowers. Apparently they were out in full this year and everyone was saying how wonderful the year was.
We had two one night stops on the way down to Canna, at the Gascoyne River South Branch Rest Area and then Old Wynyangoo Parking Area. The latter was an excellent area to stop at, heaps of room and lots of firewood around. You could drive quite a way off the road as well so it was nice and quiet. As this was going to be our last chance to have a camp fire for a while we took advantage of the wood available.
We got to Canna and set up camp at Chris and Jan’s farm about 2 kilometres from Canna itself. Jody was there on her break so we crashed her time off as well while we were there. The wildflowers on display in the district was very impressive indeed with large areas covered in all colours. One of the best displays around we thought was actually on the farm itself in the old rams paddock. This was literally covered in a thick carpet of wildflowers and you couldn’t help but walk on them as there was no room to walk around. At Canna itself there were orchids out as well. These were Donkey Orchids, Spider Orchids and Cowslip Orchids. We also went for a drive over to Coalseam Conservation Park to look at the flowers as well. These were impressive as well though still not as good as what was at the farm. A late lunch at the Mingenew Hotel finished that day off very nicely.
After a great week at the farm we reluctantly had to leave and keep heading south towards the big smoke. From Canna we travelled to Dalwallinu for the night before arriving in Perth. We were told the local hotel in Dalwallinu did a pretty good meal so we decided to check it out. They were right, it was a good country pub meal. The only downside to the night was that it was raining and cold and they didn’t have the fire going in the lounge. Pity as it would have added a nice atmosphere.
Once back in Perth we have a few commitments to do and some travel to get in as well. We are off to Hyden for a wedding then after that off to the Kulin Bush Races for the weekend, then we are going north again up to Shark Bay and Steep Point then back to Perth and down to Mandurah for a couple of weeks house/dog sitting. After we have completed all that it will be Christmas. We will need to go away on a holiday again to rest up.