Go West, Day 67 – Karijini

Day 67 Tuesday 12th May 2015, cloudless Tom Price to Karijini National Park, Dale’s Campground The nights are quite cold here as we are at 719 metres, according to the GPS and do we trust her? Anyway, it is high for us coastal folk and we are sleeping well. Shirley, Double or Nuthin’ and I set off on the Rio Tinto mine tour for the morning leaving Woody (who’s over mines) to do the shopping. The tour takes us into the open cut mine pit and we soon learn why Tom Price is no longer called Mt Tom Price, they’ve … Continue reading Go West, Day 67 – Karijini

Go West, Day 66 – Tom Price

Day 66 Monday 11th May 2015, warm, clear Tom Price We rush into town to do the mine tour only to find that it has been cancelled for today. I think that’s God’s way of making us do a bit of housework. Woody pays $8 to wash the car down the back of the caravan park and comes back disappointed. The water is artesian and leaves streaks and he finds a chip in the windscreen too. It looks like we should factor in the cost of a new windscreen after each long trip. This town has a real community feel. … Continue reading Go West, Day 66 – Tom Price

Go West, Day 65 – Tom Price

Day 65 Sunday 10th May 2015 Beasley River to Tom Price  A lone bird sings us awake. The inside of the van is a sea of dead bodies, a film of tiny black dots and bits of wings. It must have been a bugger of a night. Once more the road winds gently through the red rusty hills. Water courses are marked with white trunked ghost gums. As we approach Paraburdoo high carved hills come into view. The town is very suburban except for a large green 1600 HP haul truck on display beside the road. It must get very … Continue reading Go West, Day 65 – Tom Price

Go West, Day 64 – Beasley River

Day 64 Saturday 9th May 2015, clear 25 degrees at 9:30 Barradale to Beasley River Rest Area There is loud moaning coming from the cubicle next door, the sign above the drop dunny says “If you didn’t eat it don’t drop it down the tube.” Heaven knows what he ate! The road passes a range of mesas, red soil stippled with green spinifex buttons. What an interesting drive. The grass is lush and thick from the rains and in the distance the ranges are purple and lavender. What beautiful country this is. Nanutarra road house is clean and neat and … Continue reading Go West, Day 64 – Beasley River

Go West, Day 61 – Ningaloo Reef

Day 61 Wednesday 6th May 2015, cloudless, windy Osprey campground, Cape Range NP The wind picked up again overnight and we wake to whistling and buffeting. “It’s enough to blow your wig off” as Aunty Thel would have said. High misty crests crown the breakers on the reef. We find a blowhole in the rocks that roars like an ogre with every wave when the tide is high. I am so captivated by the rock formations that I scramble head down across the rocks taking photos of fossilised coral and watching my every foothold carefully for fear of being shredded … Continue reading Go West, Day 61 – Ningaloo Reef