Heading down the west coast!
Cape Keraudren to Exmouth via karratha and Onslow
Karratha - Day 105 (Mon 6th Aug)
After leaving Cape Keraudren we headed south to Karratha, where we stayed for a night at Damon's cousin's house. We had planned on and were
really looking forward to having lunch at one of Australia's iconic pubs. The Whim Creek Hotel is a famous landmark midway between Port Headland and Karratha. BUT - much to our dismay, it has closed down! We couldn't believe it, we stopped here 9 years ago, and remember what an awesome pub it was.
http://www.abc.net.au/local/audio/2011/11/02/3354521.htm
Being in the middle of nowhere, we had to resort to whatever we could find in the car, which wasn't much :(
Along the way we saw heaps of willy willy's and a fire in the distance that looked like a huge mushroom which had been shaped by the wind. We couldn't get over the growth we saw on the outskirts of Port Headland, this place is going ahead in leaps and bounds. We didn't actually go into Port Headland itself, but could still see the changes on the outskirts of town. Cam was loving all the trucks and diggers we saw around here.
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| Sturt Desert Pea |
We saw our first Sturt Desert Pea's around Roebourne, and had to stop to get some pics, they're so unique and pretty.
We had a nice catch up with family in Karratha that night, the kids loved being in a house and all the luxuries that go with it.
Karratha to Onslow - Day 106 (Tue 7th August)
Today we were headed to Onslow, we were lucky enough to get a few loads of washing done before we left (thanks Shaun!)
We've been on the road for 15 weeks today! Wowee, we've done so much in that time, and still have a long way to go till we get home.
We checked out Dampier before heading south to Onslow via a shortcut through Peedamulla station, thanks again Shaun for some local knowledge.
Dampier is a major industrial port in the north west of WA. The port services petrochemical, salt, iron ore and natural gas export industries. After a drive around Dampier, we stopped at the lookout for a few pics, and also had a photo with the statue of the famous Red Dog. On the way out of town we had a look at the Gas Plant which was quite interesting.
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| Dampier Port |
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| Hello Red dog |
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| Red dog |
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| Dampier Gas Plant |
Unfortunately we weren't that impressed with Onslow, we copped some really strong winds, and were stuck up the back of the caravan park on the dirt for $40 unpowered. They're isn't a lot to the town, and we were happy to be leaving the following day.
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| Some aussie pride - taken from Fortescue River Roadhouse |
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| Our lovely campsite, the pic doesn't make it look that bad though |
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| Our View |
Onslow to Exmouth - Day 107 (Wed 8th Aug)
We clocked 15,000km today on our way to Exmouth. We checked into the Lighthouse Caravan Park upon arrival, and explored the nearby beach and lighthouse in the arvo.
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| The road to Exmouth |
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| The road to Exmouth |
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| The road to Exmouth |
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| Surf Beach opposite Light House caravan Park - Exmouth |
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| The kids say Red dog now every time they have a photo taken - instead of cheese |
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| Vlamingh Head Lighthouse |
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| View from lighthouse - overlooking lighthouse bay and the lighthouse caravan park where we are staying |
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| View from lighthouse |
Exmouth is located approx 1260km north of Perth on the eastern side of the Cape Range Peninsula. It was established to serve the nearby naval communications base and now also supports fishing and tourism industries.
One of the major draw cards for us to Exmouth was to swim with the whale sharks! We were all booked and ready to go, only to find that by the time we arrived here, the whale sharks had all moved on. Which meant all tours were now cancelled :( We were so disappointed! We found out whilst in Broome that our tour was cancelled, but still decided to stay here for a few days, as we need to do a major stock up before we go to Ningaloo Station, where we will camp on the beach for 7 nights! We cant wait! We also want to do a day trip into Cape Range NP from here.
The lighthouse caravan park where we are staying, is 17km out of Exmouth towards Cape Range NP. The entrance to Cape Range NP is a further 40km from here. The park is under the lighthouse which is a great spot to watch the sunset, and is also across the road from the beach, so it's a perfect location to check out Exmouth and Cape Range NP.
Exmouth's town water supply is drawn from a large number of low yielding bores. This means the water can be quite warm and salty to drink, and it also makes it very difficult to get any lather up in the shower.
