After leaving Broome we stayed overnight at a camping spot on the De Grey River. Great place to break up the drive to Karratha.
Since leaving the De Grey the countryside has changed and it is much greener now.
The Yule River has a little bit of water – the cocky’s screeched in for a morning drink without disturbing the other birds who were just relaxing in the sunshine.
Karratha is a surprise, we haven’t been here for years, and the high rise buildings are new. It has certainly changed.
It was so lovely to catch up with our neice Zora, Will and the kids, who live in Karratha. We dined out at the yacht club and got to watch the footy on Saturday with them. It was a good win, especially since Jamie kicked the winning goal for WCE. Yeah!
Will took us on a tour of the port at Dampier and the Burrup. He works out at the port so had all the local info for us. Primarily the port services the export facilities for the mining, gas and salt industries.
The rock formations around Karratha and Dampier are quite different to anywhere else we have been….some appear to have been dumped by a tip truck, but apparently they are natural formations.
After leaving Karratha we stayed a couple of nights at Yannarie River, a free camp about half way to Carnarvon. The lovely white river gums are such a contrast to the riverbed.
Sunset and sunrise were just a spectacular.
It was here that we noticed our first tyre puncture on the caravan for the trip. Somewhere we have picked up a nail but fortunately the tyre deflated while we were in the camp.
It is amazing how much the weather can change in 300 kms. Arriving into Carnarvon we have had to dive back into the wardrobe to find the jumpers. Much cooler now and more to come.
The fishing boat harbour was busy – I know you can’t tell from the photos – but the boats all had workers busy with nets, equipment or the boat itself.
On the fertile banks of the Gascoyne River a large variety of fruit and veges are grown along North and South River Roads, known as the ‘Fruit Loop’. Several have stalls so that visitors can purchase freshly harvested produce.
Our final touristy thing was a visit to the Space & Technology Museum. The museum houses two main exhibits. The Carnarvon Tracking Station was built to allow communications on NASA’s Gemini, Apollo and Skylab missions. During its eleven year operation from 1964, it was the largest manned space flight tracking station outside the USA and at its peak had a staff of 220 people. The OTC Satellite Earth Station was opened in 1966 to house the Casshorn antenna which transmitted the first pictures live via satellite to London from Australia. Subsequent upgrades allowed NASA to relay communications across the Pacific Ocean.
The good weather is still holding out for us – but the reports are showing rain tomorrow.
