80 Mile Beach - Port Smith

80 Mile beach, It's a pity i dont have any before photo's to show the amount of damage caused by the cyclone on the 21st December 2009 but the aftermath is easily seen on the 9klm drive in, the scrub land has been flattened and barely a tree left standing in the park itself.




The Van park is large and reasonably spacious, we asked to stay two night's and were given a site where we found two other Bushtracker Vans already set up opposite and beside our site, i wondered whether this was a coincidence or they group people together rated on what they towed ... As things turned out one couple kept completely to themselves whilst the other couple made the effort to say hello, we did feel the 'odd Man' out.

We had heard from other campers that a 4WD had been submerged on the beach that afternoon and another 4WD had rolled on the beach, a walk to the car park revealed the rolled 4WD, luckily no one was hurt as it had extensive damage to the roof and glass damage, most certainly an expensive repair bill if not a write off. The submerged 4wd was definately a write off, being left overnight due to the high 6mt tides it surprised me that it was still sitting on it's wheel's the next low tide more than 20 hours later. At first all we could see was the shape of the roof rippling on the outgoing tide, as the time ticked by it revealed itself with very little noticeable damage visually from a distance, of course being submerged in salt water for any time let alone nearly a day meant it was destined for the scrap heap but the owners were responsible to have the vehicle removed at their expense. I heard prices mentioned of $5k recovery and though it wasn't my decision to give it a go in salvaging it, i was one of many that leant some muscle in dragging it out of it's salty grave.








I didn't bother fishing at 80 Mile, i did see one Giant Threadfin Salmon caught of a decent size but that was it. I helped another Caravanner check his electric brakes and found the magnet had broken so it was disabled, sufficient enough to get them down to Port Hedland where it could be repaired properly.

Next stop was Port Smith, we have stayed here before and liked it enough to come back, we remembered the sand flies were bad back then and things were the same this time. Last time i paid my $2 and went on the Park's boat trip across to the point and spent 4 hours fishing before being picked up, Vickie was laid up with a sore back so didn't do it, this time all was good so we both took the ride over. The fishing wasn't as good this time but i did manage to catch two GT's and 1/2 dozen Longtom's which i released to swim another day.






With temperatures in the high 30's we found a lovely tidal creek and had a refreshing dip :-)



Interesting patterns in the sand as the tide went out took on the appearance of tree's



Having visited all of these places before we tossed the idea of staying longer and putting the Kayak's in but decided not to, instead we drove onto Broome where we intend staying a couple of days & re-stock before heading up the Gibb River Road.
We always give Broome Caravan Park a go 1st and have never been turned away by Graham the owner, he remembers us from previous visit's, even remembering what vehicle we drove at the time. The park is busy and site's are cramped but we are happy that we were not turned away, but two days here in Broome is enough and it's onto the GRR where hopefully things are less hectic.

Ningaloo - Karatha

We stuck it out another week, such hardships we have to endure ..... the last three days were very windy and overcast but we did manage to get the Yak's out for one last fish. This time it was Trev's turn to catch the only fish caught and with the water getting rougher we left it at that. Back at camp it was pack up time and we were on the track out the next day, stopping at the Homestead to say our thanks and collect our key deposit back we were soon on the blacktop and heading further North.

We took the Burkett Road which saves us going back to Minilya and comes out on the North Coastal Highway further up, we stayed the night at a free camp site alongside the [......] river, we noticed a cross in the bush and went and checked it out, a simple white cross with PANDA written on it, Vickie also noticed another cross further away that had Colin & Panda written on it, it wasn't untill we were talking to our mates Allan & Joyce at Karratha that we were told the story and how Colin was a friend of theirs & Panda was his beloved dog and they died after being hit & killed in a car accident whilst slowing or turning into the camp area. [The Details are sketchy as to how it exactly happened]

With that news and also hearing that a good friend of ours in Sydney was not travelling well health wise made us think just how fortunate we are to be able to live the life that we do.

We plan to only stay a couple of nights here, long enough to re-stock with food and catch up with our mail and then move further North, possibly 80 Mile beach.

Camped Up Ningaloo

The past couple of weeks has involved the School holiday's so the South Lefroy Bay area has been very busy with campers with kids, the past two days things have settled back to 'normal' though what is normal up here? The wind is annoying, each day we hope that it stops so we can get back out on the water but the Wind God is not listening to us. Not much we can do about it so we have been doing lot's of reading & sitting around.

Our Nephew Trevor and his girlfriend Ashley arrived last Friday, they were up here camped with Trev's parents Dave & Jo before we arrived but had to return to Perth to finish work and organize affairs before embarking on the Around Australia Trip, what a life 25 years of age, secure trade's behind them and the exciting adventure of travelling around Oz. Trev has a F250 and a camper trailer and they are getting better set up each spot they stay.

Not much else is new other than our internet connection has finally been established with the new modem that BigPond sent us, signal is not 24 hour reliable but it does enable me to check the email and update the Blog each evening and morning.

Fishing has been quiet due to us not being able to get out on the water, Vickie has hooked onto a few Golden Trevally and i caught a good sized Queeny which put up a good jumping fight. We are planning on staying another week and then move on unless the weather improves.

Camped up Ningaloo

Camped up Ningaloo June – July 2010

Three weeks have passed since arriving at South Lefroy Bay, Ningaloo. The weather has been a mixed bag of beautiful sunny day’s to overcast rainy & windy weather, but that is the West Australian Coast and we don’t let it bother us much, we always find something to do even if it’s just refilling the water tanks or taking a drive along the Coastal Track to Coral Bay like we did last Friday.

It’s a full day drive even though it’s only around 70klm to Coral Bay, by the time we drive down every side track and walk up and down the deserted beaches finding many treasures such as washed up numerous fishing lures, a boogy board and Vickie found a fishing knife still in it’s sheaf. The track is rough & corrugated in places but nothing any 4wd couldn’t handle easily. Of course a day to Coral Bay is not complete without having lunch at the Bakery, some of the best pie’s and cake’s can be found here.


Around 4pm we decided to head on back to camp, Dave accidently locked his keys in his Landcruiser. It took us an hour to finally get the rear door’s open using wire and relayed information as to where to place the wire as the ‘wire holder’ Dave couldn’t see what he was doing.

We managed to get out on the water with the Kayak’s on Saturday, it was a lovely day with crystal clear water but not many fish about. Vickie caught some large Chinaman Cod or Charlie Courts as they are more known as here, I caught some small Redthroat and Dave had fun with some Long Tom’s.

Other than that it’s our son’s Birthday today the 27th , Best Wishes to you Dan we would love to be able to give you a hug but a phone call will have to do.
Another week has passed and we have settled into the routine of fishing from the beach, fishing from the Kayak’s, collecting water, emptying the loo, eating & happy hour’s. We had one fantastic day where Dave & I were fishing off the beach and doing well with a mixture of Trevally & Spangled Emperor, and Vickie out in her Kayak having a ball catching 4 large Golden Trevally, it was great to see her finally catch some fish that gave her a tussle, she did extremely well fighting them and getting them into the Yak, she has some bruises to prove how hard they fought.
We all drove into Exmouth to attend a World Heritage meeting at the Rec Centre, apparently the Ningaloo Coastline and the Cape Range has been put up for World Heritage listing by the Federal & State Govt, this has been done with minimal consultation with the local Shire, Pastoral lease owners & the general public and there has been an angry backlash, the meeting we went to was attended by over 100 people with another meeting that evening having 400 + people going along. Plenty of questions were asked and no definate answers were given, from what i could understand is, ‘If the area meets the criteria of the World Heritage Council’ then it’s just a rubber stamp and hand balled over to DEC [CALM] to manage, if that happens we can all say goodbye to the Coast as we know it.

Saturday the 3rd, The Billy’s were leaving for home after camping here for two Months and we had to break camp and move 600mts up the beach to another camp site as our camp was booked out, it was sad seeing them go as they are good company and even though they are family they are great mates and we enjoyed camping with them. Our new camp is out in the open on the beach flats, it’s ok but not as nice as where we were. We spent the day setting up camp again and dissapointed that we don’t get reliable phone or internet signal, even a drive up into the dunes where i have received signal before didn’t work so not sure when i will get to upload the latest blog.

Photo's to follow

Safety Bay WA - Ningaloo

On The Road again – Ningaloo June 2010

It was a sad morning leaving our grand daughters Millana & Ruby, Millana was all tears and upset that we were leaving again & Ruby was quite brave calling out to us ‘ See you at Christmas time Nana & Poppy’
It was to be a new experience for us also as we no longer had the F250 nor the boat to take up North, instead we had a Toyota V8 Ute [with canopy] and a 2nd Hobie Kayak. We had not towed the Bushtracker with the Toyota apart from around the block when i was checking the trailer brakes were working properly but i was very confident it would have no problems towing the fully loaded Van.

Certainly compared to the F250 it felt different from the initial take off – the Ford was automatic and the Toyota has a manual gearbox so it was slower to get the rolling mass moving, but once into 2nd gear and beyond it pulled like a train, Onto Kwinana Freeway and then the Roe highway it cruised effortlessly, the big test was going to be the hills out of Geraldton, again nothing was a concern, I was towing in 4th gear and the rig just cruised on up & over, one hill i recall dropping down to 3rd gear but it was more for my sake not over stressing the mechanicals.
Fuel consumption was better than the F250 was getting also, we look like comfortably achieving 18lts per 100, the scan guage i recently fitted and calibrated to the tanks told me we were getting 16lts per 100 and around 8k’s per litre, i have yet to double check i have the calibration correct so i wont get carried away with it just yet.

The drive up to Ningaloo did seem to take us longer than we have felt before, stopping at one overnight camp at 2.30pm was earlier than we usually do and cost us a few hundred extra klm’s we could have travelled that day, as it turned out we got to the Homestead turnoff road around 3pm on Wednesday. I stopped and started lowering tyre pressures as the track in can be very corrugated, i had finished the 4WD tyre’s and went to lower the Van’s, bugger one of them was already ¾ flat! I crawled underneath to see if i could see a nail or any damage and felt the air escaping out from a cut in the the sidewall, bugger! How that happened is anyone’s guess, we were travelling on the black top and hadn’t driven over any objects that would have flicked up and sliced the sidewall, So out came the jack and tools, The F250 had a better hydraulic jack ! The Toyota jack did the job but it doesn’t extend as far out as the larger Ford Jack so it meant some mucking about with some timber to get enough height so i could remove the wheel. With wheels changed we were heading on down the track with 1st port of call the Homestead to see the owners and check in with them and arrange payment for the time we would be here.

Things have changed slightly with a key needed to get through a gate to Sth Lefroy Bay and some minor rule changes but certainly nothing off putting, be prepared though if you visit and do not ‘Do the right thing’ by the Stations rules you will be asked to leave. The track in was fairly rough with plenty of corrugations but the track from the Homestead to Sth Lefroy Bay was worse, 1 hour to travel the 15klms and we came to the set of sand dunes we needed to cross over, with tyre pressures reduced and low range 2nd gear selected we drove over without incident.
Vickie’s sister & hubby Dave were already camped at Ningaloo, they had been here a month already and well and truly settled in and were pleased to see us arrive, we were equally as pleased to get there. As it was now dark we decided to leave the rig parked where it was and worry about getting it into our camp area in the morning. Jo & Dave had a camp oven roast of leg of lamb cooking for us to share for dinner and with a few cold beers we caught up with what was new since we last saw them 6 months earlier.

The next day we got the van positioned and went about getting our camp organized, I got the inflatable Hobie Kayak out and set it up for Vickie and then got our new plastic Hobie Outback Kayak off the roof of the 4WD, with the water looking inviting we couldn’t wait to get them out and have a peddle around, Yes Peddle not paddle as the Hobie’s have the Mirage drive system where you use your legs to peddle which propels the Kayak through the water using a set of fins below the Kayak.
We have been here 4 night’s and every day we have been fishing off the beach or out in the Kayak’s, it’s been great fun and the fishing has been good also. I caught a nice Giant Trevally out of the Yak which was excellent fun on 10lb gear, Spangled emporer off the beach along with a large Shovel Nosed Ray. Dave has really hit his straps cathing more fish than anyone but with the last 2-3 fish under my belt i think i may have stolen his mojo.







The weather is lovely but we have had a sprinkle of rain and some overcast day’s the last two mornings which hasn’t helped the solar panels charge up the batteries fully but we are getting by. We always have the generator to use if things get bad. The Ute has a 80w panel supplying power to the aux battery to run the Engel but because we are using at as a freezer at present it’s borderline, ideally another 80w panel on the canopy would get us amps in the ‘bank’

One annoying thing is the lack of internet signal i am getting, Dave is getting signal most of the time and camped beside us, he is using a USB 7.2 Bigpond modem with external aerial and i have a Bigpond Gateway Modem but only once have i seen it with any signal strength, our phone connected to the car aerial has full strength most of the time, I don’t have the neccesary cables & fittings to swap things over and try using that aerial to narrow down what the problem could be, maybe the position we are in is the problem, time will tell in 3 weeks time when we move camp to another spot just up the track, where we are now is booked out then and we have to move.

The past few days has been wet wet wet !!! The roads coming in are flooded and many campers were stuck away from their camps. We found a new water leak in the van, or should i say water deluge! We think it is coming from the roof edge and possibly damage caused when i backed the van into the brick wall at home, We knew the side panelling got damaged along with an awning leg and the metal taillight surround on the back but didn't know about any other possible damage. The other piece of bad luck was our awning has been damaged also due to the awning filling up with water and bending the main roller into a big banana bend shape, So .... it looks like another trip to the BT Factory sometime this year.

Safety Bay WA

The last two weeks being at home base have been ticking along, i spent the 1st week cleaning up the F250, Toyota and Bushtracker. I have had the Effy advertised in the Sunday paper and today it went to it's new home, Weststate Motor Auctions, they gave me what i wanted and it will end up being bought by some silly bugger who could have got themselves the deal of the year had they bought direct from us. I have fitted the electric brake controller & neccesary trailer plugs to the Toyota and had a new set of tyres fitted, next i have to get the ute's rego transferred to WA and have our NIKNOFF plates fitted.

We have also sold our tinny complete with outboard & collapsable trailer and having a change of direction by buying another Hobie Kayak to play & fish in. Not so great for the Croc country but it certainly saves us some weight and the hassle of carting & unloading a boat and associated gear. I can always hire or pay a charter to go out those times when the Kayak wouldn't be suitable, as with every decision we make time will tell how things pan out.

Whilst home i have also had to arrange the purchase of a new recliner chair & mobility scooter for Vickie's Dad, with all that done i was foolishly thinking we could head off early to catch up with Vickie's sister & bro in law, Jo & Dave who are camped at Ningaloo but i have been told we have to stay an extra few days and watch our 5 year old granddaughter Millana's Ballet concert.

I am looking forward to when we do hit the road with our 'new' rig, stay tuned.

Streaky Bay SA - Safety Bay WA

Friday 7th May we caught up with Lloyd & Heather at their home in Streaky Bay, they are Bushtracker owners as well as owing a nicely set up new V8 Toyota ute, we have met them previously and we looked forward to catching up again and comparing news on the towing ability of the ute's. Lloyd & Heather were leaving for WA to visit one of their daughters and that evening had planned on visiting long time friends Glen & Libby who have a 4000 acre farm out at Wirrulla, we were invited to come along and it was suggested we all leave the next day and travel together to WA. That was fine by us as i was keen to see how their new ute travelled towing their Bushtracker.

Dog Fence Road



It was a 40klm drive along a corrugated dirt road before we arrived at the farm, we met Glen & Libby and their son Jack and settled down and had a few drinks before Lloyd & Glen got into shucking dozens of big juicy Streaky Bay Oysters. We must admit we were not fans of Oysters, I thought when in Rome do what the Romans do and give it a go, i had previously tried Au-Natural and Kilpatrick and i certainly wasn't a fan of them straight out of the shell, BUT i did give it a go and Eeeeww yuk! It was everything i remembered but i did swallow it followed by a big drink to wash away the flavour. Vickie wasn't game to give it a go but said she would try some cooked, Heather & Libby got a few dozen and did 1/2 as kilpatrick with cheese & bacon and the others they did as sweet chilli flavour, cooked in a home built professional looking stainless steel BBQ that Glen had 'knocked' up the smell was very tantalising. We both tried a few and must admit we quite liked the chilli flavoured oysters, enough so that Lloyd & Heather made up another batch for us when we were camped along the Great Australian Bight, but that is getting ahead of myself.


Libby, Lloyd, Heather & Glen and young Jack



We had a lovely night and the biggest surprise was a cake that came out with some birthday candles ..... Yes it was my Birthday and Vickie had got sneaky with Heather and bought a cake when they went to the shops at Streaky Bay, it was a lovely surprise, thanks Babe. Dinner was lovely with huge steaks & snaggers and a few more drinks before Vickie & i hit the sack. The next morning we had a look around the machinery sheds where they have a huge John Deere Tractor / Harvester, big machinery for big properties! They are also going through a mouse plague and there was evidence of thousands of mice, Glen kicked a compressor that was covered in a hessian sack and dozens of mice scattered everywhere, the sand was littered with millions of tiny foot marks, i'd hate to fall asleep drunk as i think you would literally be carried away and eaten ...

A quick look at Harris Scarfe ....... the dump where all old machinery and plant go to die revealed some old treasures, and it was interesting looking around at the history of the place.


Old Relics of the past







It was time to head off, so we said our goodbye's and hit the track, we passed though an old siding at Nunjikompita and had a look around and continued on to meet up with the Eyre Highway and head West. The trip was very relaxed with Vickie generally out in front driving our 'new' Toyota Ute, me behind towing our van with the F250 and tail end charlie was Lloyd & Heather, with the three of us doing different speeds it was interesting to see that when we stopped their wasn't much of a time difference in everyone's travel.

Silo's at Nunjikompita



Our 1st day we drove through to the Great Australian Bight and a scenic lookout at the 133klm Peg, [CAW5 #669] We stopped in the parking area along with a few other caravaners and i quickly got the 'Kimble' pot out and got it fired up whilst Lloyd & Heather got a few more Oysters cooking in their Weber Baby Q. A few drinks and chat with some other campers and we hit the sack after a long day. Up early the next morning to greet the sunrise and get some photo's, it was freezing cold but a lovely view looking over a relatively calm sea.

Camped along the Bight



Pulling into the Eucla Quarantine check point i was annoyed that we got the treatment with just about every cupboard being checked whereas Lloyd & Heather were waved through without so much as a glance. Vickie and i have been through the check points dozens of times and knew what we could and could not take through and already had a small bag with some honey and a banana to hand over, I had already eaten two other banana's and an apple and wasn't worried about eating a 3rd. We just got out of the check point and next we were pulled over for a licence & breathalyser check, all ok there so we finally got away and headed further West, stopping along the way for coffee breaks we spent that night at Domblegabby Rest area [CAW5 #16] where we had another nice camp fire and lovely sunset & sunrise the next morning.

Domblegabby Rest Area, & Evening Sky





Our 3rd night out we stayed at the Gorge just out from Coolgardie, it is a lovely spot far enough off the road to be quiet and a large lake with plenty of Bird life, Heather was in her element as she is a keen Orthamologist and her bird book is well covered in notes of where she has spotted different species of birds throughout Australia. Another camp fire and Heather treated us with a beautiful Lemon Merangue Pie for desert, Yum these people can travel with us anytime!

Nature's Artist, another stunning Sunset




We stopped at Merriden for lunch at the Bakery and our last coffee stop was at Meckering where we said our goodbyes as they were soon heading to the North of Perth and we were going South. With Vickie in front i just cruised along behind but we soon got seperated with Vickie scooting up the hills and around trucks all i could do was watch and hear her dissapear into the distance, gosh that Ute sounds lovely with it's 3" exhaust! Everything went well as i listened to my Ipod untill i got onto the Roe Highway it was starting to get busy and by the time i was near the Kwinana Freeway turnoff i was down to a bare crawl. There had been a traffic accident along the freeway and it was a frustrating snails pace as i stop started inching along. After 45 mins or so i got passed the accident and speed back up the freeway limit. Soon i was back at Safety Bay and greeted by our Daughter and Granddaughters, It's lovely seeing them again.

Now i have to get the F250 cleaned up and get it advertised for sale, hopefully it sells quickly so we can then depart and head to one of our favourite places in Australia, along the coast at Ningaloo Homestead, between Coral Bay & Exmouth.