CLEAVERVILLE-CAPE KERAUDREN BLOG 11.

CLEAVERVILLE-CAPE KERAUDREN
South of Pt Samson and north of Port Headland is Cleaverville Beach which is 13klms. west off the highway to the coast and the Indian Ocean. What another magic spot. You have to be totally self-contained and take in your own firewood, while D’Arcy and friend Phil with the help of his chain saw managed to collect a couple of times. There is a ranger on site, which is probably about 6-7klms of coastline and you just go and pick yourself a spot. The charge is $7.00 per night and as we had been there for 6 days and the ranger hadn’t started we only had to to pay for 1 night before leaving. Phil & Heather, who we have been travelling with since leaving Exmouth, were our immediate neighbours and we had some great happy hours and night fires overlooking the ocean. Unfortunately D’Arcy had a mishap on his kayak while going out to try fishing. A wave tipped him over and later discovered he had lost his glasses. Even at low tide we had no success in finding them. So now he has resorted to wearing old ones until we get to Broome to collect new ones ordered from Queensland. After being at this spot for a few days another couple of Heather & Phil’s friends arrived and joined our camp spot. Mick celebrated his birthday by catching a long tom. His wife, Pauline and their little dog, Bella made up the party.
Heather & I enjoyed our walks in the mornings as there were many tracks to take as well as along the foreshore. Our site along the foreshore gave us ample opportunity to witness beautiful sunsets and sunrises.
D’Arcy to the rescue of a stranded tourist on the beach, bogged down, only to get bogged himself until Phil hooked up both of them and with great precision and timing everyone was out. Of course there is a thing between D’Arcy, (having a F250) & Phil (with his Holden 4x4) with a little competition between them. Of course I do have another story in relation to that at the next camp spot.
If needed Karratha was approx. 55klms. south with a large shopping centre and services or Roebourne with minimal services, 28klms.north, where water was available. As there was a quite a lot of rocky outcrops along the beach it was not all that good for fishing, therefore, we didn’t wet a line. Another lovely couple we met, also from Queensland, was Val & Peter who are also travelling in their 5th wheeler and had been at Cleaverville for 1 month before we arrived.
During our stay the 1st game of State of Origin was on, so we gathered at set ourselves up to watch Queensland win.
Tues. 31st May we were on our way towards Cape Keraudren. 217klms saw us in Port Headland for supplies and fuel before travelling a further 144klms. to Cape Keraudren, which is 11klms. west of the Pardoo Roadhouse, where water is available, on the Great Northern Highway. It is a coastal reserve controlled by a ranger, with minimal charges. There are various camp areas within the reserve with toilets. There is a boat ramp to access the water for fishing or fish from the shore. Because the tides in this area are quite big on the high, and go out quite a long way for the low it was possible to walk out on the sand flat and witness the marine life including the various species of soft corals, crabs, octopus and the beautiful scenery. The bird life and kangaroos were also in abundance during our walks in the mornings. One morning we decided to walk the beach and instead of our normal hour we took over 2 hours. Too many shells to collect and stop and take
photos.
Although Cape Keraudren is a lovely spot I must say we have not experienced sandflies/midgees so bad, even throughout the day. One day a couple came by who were wanting to park up and when I mentioned that the sandflies were so bad they changed their minds about staying, but before they left we invited them for coffee and Jenny told us about a particular soap you can get that helps and because she had a cake cut it in half and gave it to us. It was only a brief meeting but Jenny & Graham, thankyou very much. Hope we catch up again some day.
Now, about that little thing with the towing between Phil & D’Arcy. Phil had accidently backed his vehicle onto a large rock and after a few hours of jacking and trying to remove it he needed a little extra help. D’arcy then hooked up to tow him free. Sorry Phil, but just had to tell that one. Unfortunately I didn’t get a photo.
Till next time.....

BLOG # 10 CARNARVON-PT SAMSON

BLOG # 10 CARNARVON-PT SAMSON
After departing Geraldton we took an overnight stop at the Edagee Rest Area, (465) before arriving in Carnarvon on 2nd May, 2011 and staying at The Marloo Caravan Park, where we had stayed last year on our way south. We decided to stay in Carnarvon for a week so we were sure to have communications as son Michael was having an operation back in Brisbane and we wanted to follow his progress. As it turned out it was a success and he is doing well. Some beautiful sunset pics I managed to get during an afternoon drive around and a stop at the Carnarvon Tavern to watch the sun go down. A convenience also was Mother’s Day and we had a lovely lunch out. After my early morning walk I arrived back at our van to discover a beautiful large single yellow flower on the step. It took a while to discover that the park owner had taken it upon herself to deliver one to every van in the park. A really lovely gesture. As Carnarvon is the largest area in WA for growing and supplying 70% of the States’ fruit & vegies, it was devastated early in the year by wild storms and cyclone damage. Even now there has not been a lot regenerated as yet. Quite devastating for the town.
Then it was on to Exmouth and the Cape Range National Park. There are approx. 9 campsites in the N.P. but on a couple that we could comfortably fit and the system is that it is first in first served to get a site. We booked and stayed at the Yardie Creek Homestead Caravan Park for 1 night, before leaving to line-up at the Ranger Station to the N.P. at 5.15a.m. The station opens at 8.00a.m. We arrived to discover that we were 4th in line. Each camp ground has a host that takes care of the camp and informs the Ranger each morning what sites are available. We did miss out on our preferred camp, but were able to get a spot for one night in Osprey Camp then transfer the next day to Mesa Camp, which is a 50klm. drive into the town of Exmouth for any supplies and water. As it is a National Park there are no camp fires allowed. We did enjoy trying our hand at fishing and having lovely sunset drinks on the beach. I caught one edible fish one night and the next night had to let one go and lost one really big one as it took all my gear. Our camp hosts were John & Maureen who have been volunteering for the job since 1998. Emus, kangaroos and birdlife are in abundance. As always it is easy to meet friendly people like Phil & Heather, who are Queenslanders too. One day we drove to the furtherest point of the park, Yardie Creek, approx. 45klms from our camp where we launched our kayaks and went for a leisurely paddle through the gorge. We took sandwiches for lunch and had them sitting in our kayaks. It was really pristine and lovely. You get to see a lot more when you are up close. Gorge photos courtesy of Heather, as I didn’t take a camera. Thankyou Heather. It was a great day.
After our week there further north to Karratha and Point Samson. Phil & Heather travelled with us and we had an overnight stop on the way at Onslow Rd Rest Area. It was only a small area and there was a “Road Closed” sign available so Phil decided to put it across the entry. As it turned out another guy just went around it and asked if he could camp near us for the night. Of course we didn’t tell him that Phil had put the sign up, just as a joke. We went into Karratha to pick up mail before heading to Pt Samson where we stayed in the Cove Caravan Park, approx.55klms. NE. We only stayed for 3 nights and during that time celebrated D’Arcy’s 76th birthday on the 20th May. The night before he met some permanent stayers in the park and during our dinner at the Tavern the next night one of the guys brought over a bottle of red and presented it to him for his birthday. On my morning walk I experienced the sun coming up over the ocean. At first I couldn’t fallom it because we are on the west coast of Australia, but then realising we are quite a way north and out on a peninsular. About 5klms from the small village of Pt Samson is Port Lambert, where iron ore is delivered from inland Tom Price by very long long trains for loading on ships for delivery to China. It is really big business over here, I mean the mining industry. If you get caught at a railway crossing, as we did, it quite a wait, as they are over 2 1/2klms. long. I should have started counting the number of loaded carriages.
Till next time.........