Day 8. Tom Price – Karijini to Port Hedland (450 km)
Tom Price is one strange place. We thought it was just a roadhouse in the middle of nowhere, but it’s actually a town.. in the middle of nowhere. There’s a student campus, although I’m not sure what’s being taught there, as well as Coles and Blockbuster. Just look and wonder. There are a few hotel motels (hotel motel – I guess that’s one of the Aussie inventions) and a caravan park. The last one was our home for the night, although with no tent in our backpacker’s equipment, we slept under the stars. Again. Well, some of us did. Wasn’t me (a) :)
Anyways, we didn’t actually drive all these 600km for some place that we thought was just a roadhouse in the whoop-whoop. There was a reason, I promise :) And the reason is hidden in Karijini, in the depths of red deserts, green mountains and a number of beautiful gorges with natural swimming holes and waterfalls. A sharp descent (level 1) takes you down to Fortescue Falls and Circular Pool. The information board says that routes level 1 are for experienced walkers with a moderate to high level of fitness. Trails may be undefined and go over steep, slippery and unstable stretches. Your safety is our concern but your responsibility. Hmm. That said, we should maybe change our beautiful thongs with some more appropriate walking shoes. But down we go, that’s for sure :) The descent is steep, almost vertical in some places and takes you through some rocks and bushes before you arrive on the gorge floor with a small creek forming beautiful cascades and waterfalls falling right into the natural swimming hole called Circular Pool. So refreshing before you start climbing back up again. There’s just one thing that ruins the perfect picture. Flies! Like Die Hard, the more you fight, the more they attack. Their favorite flying route goes from your ears to your eyes, and from your nose to your mouth. And they are just everywhere. Once we’ve figured out how to keep them away and wrap our faces up in a towel and sunglasses, we look like 3 Ninja Turtles on a bush walk.
Afternoon. Port Hedland (370 km away) is our next destination. I’m driving. If you are a backpacker and Lonely Planet is your bible. You have the latest version and you live with it, you rely on it, then this is where it goes wrong. Your home is not there. It’s been closed down, and a recent cyclone has swept away a few roofs. There’s no backpackers’ and everything else is permanently fully booked by the miners working in town. So unless you’re interested in mining (I hope you aren’t!), you can as well avoid the town and I promise you won’t miss much. If you aren’t late, just keep driving – Broome is just a stone throw away ;)
Day 9. Port Hedland – 80 Mile Beach (250 km)
Port Hedland Caravan Park was the only place that finally offered us a place to stay. A little 2-bed cabin, so one of us could luckily sleep on the floor. Luckily.. because sleeping on the grass would’ve been a nice encounter with some of the park’s permanent residents. They first welcomed me in the shower, there were 3 of them, they were green and some people say that if you kiss them, they might turn into a handsome prince.
11 am. We’re ready to leave, but Tobias decides to hit an iron pole on the camp site. Ouch. Poor Mr Four Wheels, he’ll need some beauty treatment and facelift when back in Perth. Incident reported, we’re allowed to continue. We’re now 600km away from the final destination. But before we complete the journey, there’s one more place to see. The 80 Mile Beach – remote, unspoilt and beautifully shell-covered. We stay overnight at Eighty Mile Beach Caravan Park, and arrive in B R O O M E early Friday afternoon.
Day 10. 80 Mile Beach – Broome (350 km)
Broome. The city of great sandy beaches. The city of emerald waters. The city of mangroves. The city of pearl luggers. The city of Saturday markets. The city of Mangrove Resort. The city of DJ Whale :) The city of coconuts. The city of wine sipping. The city of Cable Beach. And most of all, the city of s u n s e t s. If you can’t relax here, we’d suggest therapy. That’s how we do it:
Tom Price is one strange place. We thought it was just a roadhouse in the middle of nowhere, but it’s actually a town.. in the middle of nowhere. There’s a student campus, although I’m not sure what’s being taught there, as well as Coles and Blockbuster. Just look and wonder. There are a few hotel motels (hotel motel – I guess that’s one of the Aussie inventions) and a caravan park. The last one was our home for the night, although with no tent in our backpacker’s equipment, we slept under the stars. Again. Well, some of us did. Wasn’t me (a) :)
Anyways, we didn’t actually drive all these 600km for some place that we thought was just a roadhouse in the whoop-whoop. There was a reason, I promise :) And the reason is hidden in Karijini, in the depths of red deserts, green mountains and a number of beautiful gorges with natural swimming holes and waterfalls. A sharp descent (level 1) takes you down to Fortescue Falls and Circular Pool. The information board says that routes level 1 are for experienced walkers with a moderate to high level of fitness. Trails may be undefined and go over steep, slippery and unstable stretches. Your safety is our concern but your responsibility. Hmm. That said, we should maybe change our beautiful thongs with some more appropriate walking shoes. But down we go, that’s for sure :) The descent is steep, almost vertical in some places and takes you through some rocks and bushes before you arrive on the gorge floor with a small creek forming beautiful cascades and waterfalls falling right into the natural swimming hole called Circular Pool. So refreshing before you start climbing back up again. There’s just one thing that ruins the perfect picture. Flies! Like Die Hard, the more you fight, the more they attack. Their favorite flying route goes from your ears to your eyes, and from your nose to your mouth. And they are just everywhere. Once we’ve figured out how to keep them away and wrap our faces up in a towel and sunglasses, we look like 3 Ninja Turtles on a bush walk.Afternoon. Port Hedland (370 km away) is our next destination. I’m driving. If you are a backpacker and Lonely Planet is your bible. You have the latest version and you live with it, you rely on it, then this is where it goes wrong. Your home is not there. It’s been closed down, and a recent cyclone has swept away a few roofs. There’s no backpackers’ and everything else is permanently fully booked by the miners working in town. So unless you’re interested in mining (I hope you aren’t!), you can as well avoid the town and I promise you won’t miss much. If you aren’t late, just keep driving – Broome is just a stone throw away ;)
Day 9. Port Hedland – 80 Mile Beach (250 km)
Port Hedland Caravan Park was the only place that finally offered us a place to stay. A little 2-bed cabin, so one of us could luckily sleep on the floor. Luckily.. because sleeping on the grass would’ve been a nice encounter with some of the park’s permanent residents. They first welcomed me in the shower, there were 3 of them, they were green and some people say that if you kiss them, they might turn into a handsome prince.
11 am. We’re ready to leave, but Tobias decides to hit an iron pole on the camp site. Ouch. Poor Mr Four Wheels, he’ll need some beauty treatment and facelift when back in Perth. Incident reported, we’re allowed to continue. We’re now 600km away from the final destination. But before we complete the journey, there’s one more place to see. The 80 Mile Beach – remote, unspoilt and beautifully shell-covered. We stay overnight at Eighty Mile Beach Caravan Park, and arrive in B R O O M E early Friday afternoon.
Day 10. 80 Mile Beach – Broome (350 km)
Broome. The city of great sandy beaches. The city of emerald waters. The city of mangroves. The city of pearl luggers. The city of Saturday markets. The city of Mangrove Resort. The city of DJ Whale :) The city of coconuts. The city of wine sipping. The city of Cable Beach. And most of all, the city of s u n s e t s. If you can’t relax here, we’d suggest therapy. That’s how we do it:
- Day 1. We relax and have a few bottles (bottles, not glasses :)) of wine on Cable Beach.
- Day 2. We take a stroll to the markets. We relax and enjoy the sunset on Cable Beach, and have a few drinks for Tobias’ farewell at the Mangrove Resort.
- Day 3. We see a few apartments for rent in the morning. We find a huge coconut under a palm tree, crack it open (it’s hard work! :D) and enjoy the delicious inside. We relax in the spa and pool at the Mangrove Resort.
- Day 4. We take a walk in the town centre, get invited for an interview tomorrow afternoon at the Mangrove Resort, and meet Simon about a 4-week onboard crew position on a luxury yacht cruising to ‘Horizontal Waterfalls’. The question is: Shall we go?
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