Campfires No 8 - Old Langley Crossing to Broome

 

Hello everyone, I hope you are all well and keeping warm for those of you in the southern climate.  Well we have made it to Broome, Yay!!.  

So what have we done since we last chatted?  Well we left our crocodile camp and headed South West  with our first overnighter at the Roebuck Roadhouse and tavern which is on the T intersection for either heading south to Port Hedland or for continuing West to Broome and the Dampier Peninsular.  We are heading South but used this so we could duck into Broome and resupply as we were going to be off grid for a couple of weeks.

 Now stocked up again we headed 340 km south, this time to Eighty Mile Beach Caravan Park.  The drive was the most boring we have done so far.  The scenery didn't change.  It was flat, so flat that Tricia and I were excited to see even the smallest incline.  However this all changed when we arrived at Eighty Mile Beach.  The caravan park is located right on the beach and is super popular not just with travelers from interstate but lots of people from Perth come up here for the winter and with 30+ degree days and a  beautiful beach who wouldn't.

Eighty Mile Beach is well known for its fishing, being able to drive on the beach and for its shells that get washed up on the beach with each change of tide and it disappoint as Tricia who spent hours walking up and down the beach whenever we stopped for a fish, sunbake or swim and now has a haul of shells for Matilda and Lachlan upon our return.

Low tide Eighty Mile Beach

Tricia with a wee Shovel Nose Shark

Sunset Eighty Mile Beach

Just some of the shells on Eighty Mile Beach

 Eighty Mile Beach Caravan park Unpowered sites

One of the great things about travelling is that you get to hear about great places from other travelers and this is what resulted in us heading a little further south to a place called Cape Kerauden that has self contained sites on the beach and cliff edges.  Upon arriving it was blowing a gale so we looked for the most protected spot and it we ended up on the cliffs overlooking the bay and whilst the wind howled and made it very difficult to fish or sunbake the views were impressive.  The wind persisted for a couple of days and just to have a break from it Tricia and I decided to drive down the 150km to Port Hedland for a alcohol resupply as we determined based on current consumption that if we didn't we wouldn't make it back to Broome.  Port Hedland is a mining town and I must say not very impressive.  We did our resupply and drove along the foreshore which is being redeveloped and may be more inviting when finished before returning to our camp site.

Cape Kerauden

One of the many camp grounds

Getting ready for Sunset

The next day the winds finally subsided and we got to do some fishing and found out from the local ranger where the best position was to see the Stairway to the Moon.  This phenonium only happens for a couple of days when the moon is full and the tides are right.  The picture unfortunately will not do it justice but if you ever get the opportunity to see this it is well worth it.

A spot of fishing

Staircase to the Moon

Our initial 5 day booking was coming to an end but Judy had been scoping out another spot which is located right on Cootenbrand Creek and the current occupants were leaving the next day so we decided we would pack up early and move in behind them so as they departed we could take their perfect spots.  The creek is tidal so a great spot to fish.  Whilst we didn't catch massive amounts of fish, we all caught some whiting, Tricia caught the biggest Bream and Len caught a nice shovel nose shark, so we all got to have a fish dinner.

Fishy Fishy

Dinner

Cootenbrand Creek

Couldn't have got closer if we tried

High Tide - Cootenbrand Creek

Low tide from Drone

Being on a limited time frame before we have to be back Tricia and I only stayed here for 2 nights and then started our trip back up north toward Broome. Judy loved the spot so much they decided to stay another day then drive to Barnhill Station. Our first stop was back at Eighty Mile Beach for a couple of nights and then we headed to Barnhill Station where we would celebrate Tricia's birthday and again meet up again with Judy and Len.

Upon arriving at Barnhill I was not impressed.  It looked like chaos with vans parked every which way and red sand that sticks to everything but after finding one of their very few generator site they had left I was pleasantly surprised to how beautiful the beach was and the general facilities which included a cafe that does pizza's at night.  So Tricia got pizza and red wine for her birthday whilst we also played Pass the Pigs and watched the sunset.

For the next three days we spent our time sunbaking and walking up the beach and admiring the rock formations that have been carved over millions of years. The one that stands out is known as The Cathedral and I guess you can see that if on the right angle.

Barnhill Station Beach (South)

Barnhill Station Beach (North)

The Cathedral

The Cathedral from Drone

So that brings me to now where we are finally in Broome which is the only pre planned booking we had made before departing Brisbane (booked in October 2023) but I will leave our adventures here until the next blog.

Missing you all,

Cheers

Matt & Tricia