MEEKATHARA-GERALDTON

MEEKATHARA-GERALDTON
192klms. today 28th Aug. And we were in Meekathara. 2 nights in the caravan park gave us the opportunity to go prospecting. The town is only a very small community, but services the mines in the area, which there are a few. So, no excitement in the prospecting arena.
On arriving further south to Mount Magnet where we had stayed back in April, we found the caravan park very full, but Phil the manager found us a lovely spot on some grass and it was just lovely to have grass between the toes. Our objective was to be in Geraldton on 1st Sept. as we had our rig booked for a vehicle inspection for our Queensland registration and visit with family.
As our booking was for 10.00a.m we stopped in a rest area approx. 80klms. east of Geraldton. Tenindewa Pioneer Well (the guide to FREE CAMPING in the NORTH of WA camp # 26.) 18klms. west of Mullewa. It was just lovely and it hurt a bit as we had to park over so many beautiful wildflowers. We had them all around us. Another lovely night with our open fire too.
We were looking forward to seeing Kim, Steve and grandson Kyle again after 5 months. Our inspection could not be passed due to the fact we had a broken leaf on one of the springs. As the rig was booked in for a wheel alignment on the following Monday at TME we were advised to go around and see if they could fix it. As it turned out we booked into the Belair Gardens Caravan Park and a staff member from TME came around and removed the broken leaf and returned the next day, Friday to fit it along with a spare one. We were quite amazed at the prompt service, but they said it would have held them up on Monday when they had to do the wheel alignment if it wasn’t fixed. Then at the end of the day on Monday the inspection centre was closed so the guy came into the park and saw that the work had been carried out and gave us the certificate. We do not have enough good words to say about the services we received in Geraldton. Along with all of that we had the F250 serviced at Geraldton 4WD too on the same day and they delivered it to TME for the wheel alignments to be done on both vehicles. Thanks to Kim & Steve for a loan of their Prado so we could get about while we were in town. A few good nights and days were enjoyed. Our first night in town and Kim invited us for dinner and then Friday was Kim’s birthday so we celebrated firstly with morning tea at a local restaurant and dinner at Accor’s Four Seasons Resort. (as we all are members). Sat. was film night so we stayed over to share our photos of recent tripping. Ours being the Gibb River Road through the Kimberley and Kim, Steve & Kyle doing the Canning Stock Route for 3 weeks. A Father’s Day breakfast was prepared by Kim & Kyle. It was good for D’Arcy to spend Father’s Day with family.
Till next post......

NEWMAN WA

NEWMAN-MEEKATHARA
To exit Karijini National Park it was 49klms back to the Great Northern Highway. We don’t usually backtrack, but this day because we had to get fuel and the closest fuel stop was the Auski Roadhouse 36klms. back north an extra distance of 72klms. to our trip south to Newman. It only made the total for the day 282klms.
We were really looking forward to getting to Newman thinking it would be quite a very large town, but a little disappointing actually. Although there was a Woolworths. We hadn’t been to a supermarket since leaving Port Hedland 2 weeks ago. A lot a washing was needed so my washing machine worked overtime. We did manage to find a very good restaurant in a resort for an evening meal. We thought we deserved it and were able to have a glass of wine. If you read my blog on Marble Bar you will know what I mean. Newman is of course a very large mining town, so there is a great influence of mine workers. This goes for most of the towns in the Pilbara region. Even the caravan parks do not have that many sites for travellers as most of it is taken up with dongers for mine workers accommodation. After 3 nights in Newman and driving around sightseeing there was not much else to do but move on.
The wildflowers were in abundance and very beautiful. Apparently this has been a very good year due to the winter rains.
Gascoyne River (Middle Branch-Camps 576)was our stay for 2 nights. It was only going to be one, but it was such a lovely spot and we had met Gordon & Helen who had been there for a couple of nights before. We enjoyed their company by our fire for happy hour and beyond. The birdlife was prolific. Even to the degree that a trailer carrying homing pigeons pulled up for the night as they were going to release them the next morning. The flood waters that came through this area earlier in the year done quite a bit of damage to the surface of the riverbanks, and gouged out a lot of the parking sites for vehicles, but we did manage to find a level area. D’Arcy gave the metal detector a little run along the riverbed, but not finding anything of value.
Then on to Meekathara.......

KARIJINI NATIONAL PARK

KARIJINI NATIONAL PARK
18TH August and we were on our way to Karijini National Park via Woodstock. To save going back to Port Hedland we decided to take this route even though it was a gravel road. Most of the 166klms to the Great Northern Highway was not too bad, but we did hit quite a large bump only to find out later the damage it caused. The scenery was just amazing as it changed so often. The countryside covered in Spinifex hills and differing colours of earth.
Once we hit the bitumen, The Great Northern Highway, it was a further 112klms. to the Albert Tognolini Rest Area where we camped for the night. During this part of the journey the highway was just a picture of colours with the wildflowers. So beautiful. Some of my photos don’t show enough justice. This area is on the eastern side of Karijini National Park and on top of the Munjini East Gorge, so we only had a short distance to travel the next day into Karijini. The views from here were just stunning especially during sunset and sunrise. As always a stroll around and you get to meet up with fellow travellers.
There are 2 main camp grounds in Karijini. Dales on the eastern side and Savannah on the western side. We chose Dales which is controlled by camp hosts and very well set out. Of course you have to be self-contained, but there were long-drop toilets. We made this our base for 4 nights while exploring the Park and the many Gorges. The only disappointing thing with National Parks is you cannot have an open fire, which we love to have. We walked Dales Gorge along the bottom through to Fortescue Falls and Fern Pool after observing the scenery from the top. It was not that challenging going down, but quite steep in places and had to take it careful and steady. After reaching the bottom of the Gorge we discovered another lovely scene. The Circular Pool. A bit too cold for swimming but would be lovely in the summer.
Our camp at Dales was approx. 45klms. to the east of Savannah and we travelled the gravel road, which was quite good for day trips to all the other gorges.
We decided to only walk through Weano Gorge after visiting the lookouts of Joffre Gorge and Falls and Knox Gorge. It was quite a pleasant walk although at times a little narrow and slippery, but like a lot of walks it was worth it. You have to get some exercise somehow.
12klms from our camp was the Visitors Centre and well worth a visit as its display is set up to depict the early days of the original settlers and the aboriginals who worked on the stations. A further 2klms towards camp is a fresh water supply for campers. So to top up our tanks we filled our containers frequently so there was no worry about running out of water.
I almost forgot to mention during our travels in WA I have not even seen a snake up until coming back along the track from Fern Pool. I stopped dead in my tracks when I heard the rustle of leaves only to look over and see a brown snake sliding off behind the rocks. I was glad he didn’t decide to come my way, which was only about 2mtrs from me. Might not seem close for some, but it was to me. Too quick to get the camera out.
After our 4 days it was time to head towards Newman......