80 Mile Beach to Port Samson via Port Hedland

The past few days have been fairly quiet for inspiring places to go for our family. We have still seen a few wonderful sights and experienced things we would never have experienced unless we were here, but from Barn Hill we headed to 80 Mile Beach full of anticipation.
If I said one of the best parts of 80 Mile Beach Caravan Park and surrounds was the Ablution Block (they had shower screens!) then maybe you'll get the gist of our collective feelings.

Alas, there was nowhere to swim at 80 Mile Beach. The beach itself had sharks, stingrays and catfish in abundance and the water was hard to see through as a greyish silt covered the water. It was a shame because as we came over the hill, there was a collective "Wow" in the car as we could see pristine aqua blue water and palm trees. The Park had copped a Category 5 Cyclone last Christmas and the trees that once lined the rows in the park had been shredded. We had also been told the fishing there was amazing. I caught 3 large Sea Catfish which was fun but we were advised by our next door neighbours at the time they aren't very nice eating and had to be prepared a particular way.


We did see the resident pheasant coucal take on a large goanna, and the people were friendly enough. The kids did swim the first day, but on the second morning as they were about to enter the water, a kind person who had been coming there for 10 tears explained why it wasn't a good idea to swim and with no pool, we decided that our original 2 night booking would be enough. It was a shame as the twitching could have expanded wildly as migratory birds come from everywhere to this beach to feed, and it is also a green turle nesting place from October through to February.

We drove out and set off for Port Hedland. If large mountains of salt is your thing, then Port Hedland is a must see. Alas, it is not something we were looking for, and the cost of the Caravan Park we stayed for the night was the highest we have paid thus far for not really much of what we like. There was a pool and Annie and the kids went for a swim while I went looking for a few camping supplies. Port Hedland is lit up like a major city at night, lots of street lights and refinery lights can be seen. They also have trains carrying iron ore which are 7.325 kms in length!

After our day at Port Hedland, we thought we'd see what Port Samson was like. Again, supposedly good fishing, and the best fish and chip shop in the Karratha district!
Our first attempt at a swim didn't go to well as the tide was out, and in these parts, it goes out a long way. But we did manage to amuse ourselves with a walk along the sand and into the sandy-rocky flats. The kids experienced their first close encounter with a small ray. I think they would prefer this to be their only encounter as it swum safely through the shallows around them but gave them a bit of a scare. We also saw soldier crabs like those at Philip Island among other places and an octopus was a little distressed as we hung around looking at it.
In the late afternoon I went fishing for little result but enjoyed the setting sun and surrounds. Annie tried to take the kids to a place nearby which may sell prawns (we'll find out tomorrow) which should be local as prawning boats operate from here. The other main feature of the area is the enormous carriers that are sitting out on the horizon. We think this is the main port for Rio Tinto (BHP uses Port Hedland), and there are probably 7 of these supertankers sitting on the horizon. They are taking the ore from Tom Price mine, which we intend to visit.

We may be here for a few more days or just one more night after tonight. The park we are in is quite new and the amenities are a far cry from some of those we have had. Either suits us, it is nice to have these amenities here, but when you are in a place like Barn Hill, the rustic toilet blocks don't seem to matter.
Tonight we go to sleep with the sound of the waves floating through the windows. In the morning we'll be awoken by the sunrise on the bay with a view to die for from our Jayco. Hope to post this photo and others tomorrow night!

To answer some questions, we don't keep anything we catch, only those we intend to eat, so sharks have been set free to swim again. We haven't seen a Brolga for over a week now. Our Twitching list should come close to Clive, but it is a tall order! The kids do get out of their swimmers, but only because we insist they wear pyjamas to bed. Our trip started at the very end of August and we won't return to Alice Springs until Australia Day or there abouts!

We hope you enjoy the photos and videos of recent times.

WF's

Octopus at Port Samson Video





Fishing at Sunset Port Samson

Last Days at Barn Hill

We have come the end of our stay at Barn Hill Station Stay. Can recommend it as it is hard to leave. We asked the kids to write about the time here. Here is Banjo's response he wrote in his diary:

"THE AWESOME THINGS ABOUT BARN HILL.
The sunset was beautiful. The sea was so blue. You can hand feed miners, they jump on your hand."



We have been really lucky with what we have seen. The photo below is of a mother and baby chick Tawny Frogmouth. We have watched this little ball of fluff grow to a frowning youngster!


The sunsets are fantastic. This is Banjo about to catch a wave as the sun sets in the background. The kids have loved the gentle surf at the beach. We have swum most mornings and afternoons.


Ruby Dreaming at Sunset. The bench she is sitting on is perched above the beach and is a great viewing seat of the beach at any time of the day, but is standing room only normally at sunset.



Annie and Ruby, (I think I'm nearly as tall as you Mum!)


We headed down the road a bit on Friday to check out a nearby place called Port Smith Lagoon. It was a beautiful lagoon, but was 600 metres from the caravan park and with sandflies and such a long walk, we decided to just spend the day there. The idea was to swim, snorkel and fish. We all had a dip, Ruby and Annie went snorkelling but the water was a bit too tidal and the sand in the water made it hard to see much, and we didn't manage to catch a fish. As we started packing up, I was walking through the mangroves to see what I could see, and spied the mud crab as shown below. Of course it didn't have a fishing rod holder spike through its head when I first saw it, but eventually Annie managed to spike him, yes, it was a him, and we enjoyed a sumptuous dinner on Friday night of mud crab, the cod I caught at Cape Leveque, the Dart Moses had caught that afternoon, and a flathead I had caught at Broome Pier. All excellent fare.


Moses with his first ever caught Dart


You know when the tongue comes out, Moses is excited about something. What was in the bucket was the cause of his excitement.


Some of the rock formations on the beach at Barn Hill Station are just amazing. The below photo is one of about a dozen I could put up. The Osprey nest was not far from this one, so a walk along the beach was full of shells, little rock pieces, rock formations, bird watching, swimming and fishing. I just can't understand why we like this place so much! :-)



Banjo in the camp ground at Barn Hill Station showing off his new gear, hat, shirt and boardies!


So we will reconnect with you all when we head into Port Headland. Could be 3-4 days, could be a week. We really aren't sure. There is the occasional mention of leaving our holiday and heading home, mainly from Moses who is missing his friends, as are Banjo and Ruby but they aren't as vocal about heading home. We are starting to gather a formidable bird list and naming particular species and varieties is a challenge, but we now have a large library of photos of birds alone. We have joined the Eremea website under Waring Farthings and will update that site regularly on the trip too, as well as posting some of the fantastic photos we have of birds here, such as the Frogmouths above.

Thinking of you all and wishing you were here and hoping you are enjoying the blog.

Please leave comments because it keeps us in touch with you too.

WFs

Photos Cape Leveque to Barn Hill Station

Cape Leveque to Barn Hill via Broome

Cape Leveque was generally accepted as a wonderful place with lots to see and do. Annie, the kids, Grandma and Granddad went to a spear-making activity on our second last day/afternoon, and I went fishing. We all enjoyed our activities. The photos will follow in a later post.

Packing up after 10 days of staying put was probably a bit smoother than either annie or I had anticipated. The drive back along the road to Broome seemed to take a lot longer than getting there 10 days before, and we finally renegged and allowed Harry Potter for the kids. Arrived in Broome and off to the pool for a swim.

We had 3 days in Broome, the first of which was a sad farewell to Annie's mum and dad, the grand final "draw" and then the next two days were spent either fishing, shopping or in Annie and Ruby's case, taking a camel ride along Cable Beach at sunset.

We also had two attempts at seeing the Stairway to the Moon from Town Beach in Broome and after the cloudy disappointment of the first night, managed to see the moon in all its glory and the "steps" in the mud flats on the second night.

Today we took a while to get going. We only just made it out of the camp ground in time at 9:55 am and then headed to the shops. Maybe it was the 41 degree day, or maybe we were just a bit trip lagged, but we didn't get on the road until around 2 pm after some more shopping and then finally made our 100 kms down the road to Barn Hill Station and arrived sometime just before 4 pm. Up went the Jayco, a quick bite of afternoon tea, then down to the beach to explore and watch the sunset. I think of all sunsets I have seen, the one here tonight was one of the best for length and the after glow colours were simply amazing. We had the camera and took some beautiful shots of the kids, the sunset, and the family.

We are probably going to stay here for a number of days, somewhere between 3 and 8. We have limited mobile coverage here, but we can still update the blog.

I'll put up some photos of the last 5 or so days.

WFs

Moses' Shark encounter

Moses was quite excited when Granddad caught a tiger shark. He was disappointed not to be there when Dad caught a 7 gill.

But last night, as we fished until very late under the moonlight, Moses caiught his first ever Shark!

A Black Tipped Reef Shark! What do you think Clancy?

For those who love reptiles

Middle Lagoon and Cape Leveque Days 5,6 and 7

The wind has still been blowing but we have managed to spend a lot of time in and around the water. We drove down to Middle Lagoon on Sunday and found a lovely lagoon, had the whole beach to ourselves and the kids and Annie had a great time snorkelling. The water was fairly clear and they could see lots of fish and other creatures on the ocean floor. There was a spot of fishing also and Harry caught a Tusk fish.
The late afternoon/evening fishing is exciting and Harry landed the Tiger shark previous, about a metre and a half. We have caught a range of fish so far, golden trevally, tusk fish, blackspot cod, red throated emperor/sweetlip, tiger and 7 gill sharks, queenfish, long toms, and there have been a few bust offs, both boys had large fish on that were either taken by sharks or cut off by the reef but the adrenalin was going strong.
There is a rough/fishing beach and a more gentle snorkelling and swimming beach here and the kids love it all.
The boys have found some young kids to play with on occasions and Ruby has spent a bit of time reading in the van or writing letters.
Helen has managed a couple of paintings so far which look great.
Dinner is usually at Helen and Harry's establishment as there is a verandah and plenty of room for all.
Having a great time and will be sad when our time here is over and we head down south for the next adventures. There are so many places here we haven't even seen that look just as spectacular as the Cape itself.

Until next time, may your news be as fun as ours,

WF's