In the Rocks camping area
Monday 26th August, 2024
We've had an interesting few days weatherwise. It was hot on Thursday after our night at Goldwire Rest Area, so, as mentioned in the last post, we took the next roadhouse caravan park, Sandfire Roadhouse, and had a shady, powered site. We used our air conditioning to get through the afternoon.
Sandfire hosts many animals, kangaroos, which we couldn't see clearly as they were in a distant field, a camel, peacocks and peahens, chickens and geese. The chickens and geese roam around the caravan park and become very interested if you have a little bag of something, such as Stephen's bag of connections for the hose.
We decided to be brave for our next park up and went to the De Grey River Rest Area. It's only about 80kms from Port Hedland and is a very well laid out RA with lots of options for parking overnight. We found a partly shady spot and were very glad of a cool breeze that lasted until evening.
Just on the side of the road where we stopped briefly.
At De Grey River RA
We are fenced off from the river, although you can walk down there if you want to. There are cattle beyond the fence and the risk of crocs in the river. Maybe not!
We had already booked a caravan park in Port Hedland, but would have been alright in the free camping as Port Hedland also had a cool breeze that made being in the Sherwood fairly comfortable. However, having a partly shady spot in the caravan park was still appreciated.
In Port Hedland we shopped at Woollies, went to our favourite Port Hedland café, then back to the shopping area to do some washing. The laundromat is handy as it allows you to pay by card, rather than having lots of coins.
Yesterday morning we also washed our bed linen early in the morning and it was pretty much dry by the time we left at 10.00 a.m.
This park up (In the Rocks) has not been as comfortable as it was hot during the afternoon. Stephen found it best to be outside, with lots of insect protection, whereas I found it more comfortable inside with the fan on. By the time I went to bed it had cooled down and I needed the doona.
Stephen is still going out at night to view stars, but wears long pants, just in case there are biting insects. Some of his bites from the Broome Bird Observatory are still itchy and annoying him. We managed to get some Locals insect repellent in Port Hedland and he is finding it soothing on the bites. The combination of lavender and ecucalyptus oil makes it smell really nice as well.
Listening to the weather forecast last night it confirmed that the heat we are feeling is unusual for this time of year. We've decided not to go into Karijini as any walks, etc. that we might like to do would not be pleasant in the heat of the day. However, we still get to enjoy the scenery of this area and our next park up, the Albert Tognolini Rest Area, is one of our favourites for scenery.
There are constant ore trucks on this road from Port Hedland to Newman. We had a truck close behind us when we arrived at this park up, so had to drive past and wait for the truck to pass us before doubling back. It was worth it as it's a lovely spot. We have three other campers here and there is so much room that we are a long way from our nearest neighbours.
We haven't had much in the way of scenery in the past few days of travel and now that we are so far south all of the rivers are dry. Which was another reason to choose this informal camping area as it has good reviews on Wikicamps.
We probably won't stay overnight in Newman, but we can get water, fuel and use the dump point, plus do any shopping that is needed. Then we will be heading southwards and can begin to hope for cooler weather. At least the overnights and mornings have been cool on our journey, without that it would be so unbearable that we would have to consider travelling much faster.
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