Beaches and Broome-sets
Our wander around Wanjana gorge and Six Mile Creek that morning almost signalled an end to the first leg of the trip, from Darwin to Broome, and a chance to stay in the same place for 3 nights! The destination of Broome had become something of a mantra for those of us who found the heat particularly hard to bare, and every hour or so someone would remind us ’it will be cooler in Broome’, ‘we can have warm running water and a room to rest in in Broome’ and then condensed into the one hopeful statement of: ’not much longer til Broome’.
Our evidence of this was based on the weather reports in the newspapers, so perhaps we should have known better… Even after camping on and off for the last 9 days, on arrival at our hostel we very quickly wished we could go back to sleeping in our swags! No airconditioning, only a fan to circulate ever tepid air, and humid temperatures of 38+ degrees. Broome became instantly less appealing.
For 3 consecutive days we ended up following exactly the same evening routine. We would meet at 6 on the beach, with snacks and dips and stay there to watch the sun go down. Creatures of habit we may have become, but every night followed another stunning and completely different view of the horizon. Of all the sunsets, Broome is in my top 3, and well worth the travel to witness them. The most popular activity to do is the sunset camel ride, where you can see long lines of them tied together waiting for their riders.
A much newer 4wheel drive and a new guide greeted us outside the hostel in Broome to begin our 2nd stage journey to Perth. This leg would involve much more driving to reach the places of interest along the way. Instead of stopping at a gorge or waterhole as we had become used to, our first pit stop was at 80 mile beach (so named for it being…well… 80 miles in length) where we took a small wander, dipped our feet in the water. I couldn’t get over the crystal clear water that was almost turqouise in colour, and spent most of the time we were there crouching to pick up these shell medallions which had the fossilised imprint of sea urchins on them. These coins of the sea were scattered in their hundreds and thousands on the sand. I collected handfuls of them, knowing some would break as they were so fragile, but hoping one or two will last my journey.
From 80 mile beach we travelled onwards, stopping briefly at Port Headland, well known for its iron ore mining. We passed by a massive white mound, which we discovered was in fact a salt mound. It looked completely out of place in the flat and uninteresting landscape that surrounded it. That night we stayed at Indie station that night, and enjoyed a beer and toasted marshmallows on the camp fire while we still could, knowing our days of camping outside were numbered. There was a particularly beautific sunset glowing through the trees that evening, and I slept soundly that night in the cool and natural outdoor breeze.
More long stretches of road awaited us the next day, as we pushed on to get to Karijini national park. We stopped for lunch at Wittenoom, a so-called ghost town where now only a handful of inhabitants live. It was a bizarre deserted place of boarded up empty houses and dirt roads, that still had the street signs on them. We visited the one and only shop, the gem shop, where I bought an iron ore bracelet, supposedly able to enhance positive energy. On to Karijini, where we managed to walk through Hammersley gorge and down for a dip in the waters before settling down for the night in Karijini camp grounds.
