Travelling Oz

12th August 2008.
The trip from Port Hedland to Broome is appprox 600 kms and a good way to break up this long haul is to visit a few of the magic sites along the way, namely Eighty Mile Beach, Port Smith Lagoon and Barn Hill Station, all unique and enjoyable in their own particular way.

11th August 2008.
Located in the largest shire in the world (Shire of East Pilbara, 371,696sq kms), Marble Bar has the reputation of being the hottest town in Australia. The record is 160 consecutive days over 38.7 degrees recorded in the sweltering summer of 1923-24. It also boasts a Jasper Bar which was originally mistaken for Marble, which is how the town got it's name, so decided it was worth a visit.

8th August 2008.
Needed an overnight stop on the way to Port Hedland and our camp guide showed a park at Whim Creek, about 125ks south of Port Hedland. Arrive there and no caravan park anymore, but we did notice a few caravans in the carpark at the local pub. Went into the pub to enquire and they tell us we can stay in the carpark, no charge, just have a drink or meal in the pub. So we had a few beers which was a lot cheaper than having to pay site fees in a caravan park.

6th August 2008.
Seen pictures of Deep Reach camp site on the banks of the Fortescue River, read all the reviews and really looking forward to chilling out there for a few days and having a crack at some barramundi. As we couldn't get to Milstream from Karijini / Tom Price due to bad road conditions, we had planned to go there after Karratha via Roebourne along the open Wittenoon dirt road. As luck would have it, the new black top sealed road from just south of Karratha through to Milstream was officially opened this week, so we were in luck, brand new road, shorter, quicker and no dirt, or so we thought.

31st July 2008.
Karratha was built in 1968 to service and accommodate the workers mining iron ore in the Hamersley Ranges. It's a huge shipping port which exports iron ore from all around the Pilbara region and is also the business centre of the Pilbara. Not much of a tourist attraction, but we're heading there to get the air conditioning fixed and to catch up with friends.