Our Mick, 70 years young during a record rain event in the Pilbra!

Carnarvon was a return visit town for us, so a caravan park stay and a catch up/stock up was in order.
In the afternoon we went in our vehicle 60km further up the coast to an area referred to as Quobba/Quobba Station, one is a shack area where there is a minimal weekly fee to stay, the Station is further north. Quobba has some blow holes and some quite dangerous fishing cliffs, only the week before  a fishing person been washed off the rocks and has not be found...warnings warnings warnings!!  Monuments...memorials. Notorious area!

 

and so shock horror at Quobba..even if we had our vans on there was no room, 65 vans we counted along the dunes almost awning to awning, many there long term for the fishing and snorkelling..no shops or supplies, Carnarvon being 60km away and phone service was up at the lighthouse only.

 

and the blow holes, risk a life for the ultimate photo shot, it is what comes up behind that is the concern here.

About 500m from the blow holes we could see balloons in the sky, so off we go to investigate and there we two Quobba Station guests from Perth fishing with huge helium filled rubber balloons attached to their line. They were fishing off a very high cliff and had caught two big Spanish Mackerel this way, hauling them up the cliff face with a special gaff. We checked out their vehicle very specked up note the helium gas cylinder attached to the back, they had all the best gear and do this twice a year..would be excellent fun..

Carnarvon is also well known for it's farm fresh veg and bananas..wrong time of year to buy any.

 

A tranquil, serene rest stop, by 2pm...time out...time

 

CORAL BAY...had a few nights there in '99 not much had changed! as very limited development land there. 2 very overcrowded caravan parks, mini mart and a few tourist boat trip businesses.. I remembered the water as warm and I snorkelled for hours while Mick went on a fishing charter on our last visit..this time very cold water but the colour is beautiful. Hmm should we do return visits?

 

Some one had fun making this.. WAS wool history here, shipped out of Exmouth.

 

 and this is a typical WA river,  at our camp at Barradale on the highway, south of Onslow.




Sunday 23rd saw us taking the 80km detour off the North West Highway into Onslow..one 'cos we wanted to and two, Brodie Pascoe a family friend and her Adam and three young kids spent a month or so in there as Brodie had a nursing contract there....it could have been a long month!!  Onslow has pop of around 880 but it is  a town in transition because of the mining and off shore gas development. We checked out one very ordinary fibro house and it was under contract at $1,150,000....there are 2 very squeezy caravan parks and accommodation blocks being built. Pub, servo fuel and food  diesel $1.98/l, small supermarket and a very enterprising person had a coffee and food caravan with a few tables in front of it, the tourist info was quite handy although not real informative..except to say there was a huge amount of rain expected and probably it was not advisable to camp on the Ashburton River about 20 km out of town...so we heeded the advice and didn't thankfully!

 

Onslow salt mine..employs around 90 people we were told.

 

And now for the 5000 workers FIFO..Accommodated in these 3 boats, dongas and anywhere they can be put at the moment.

3 Story accom units being built, look like room enough for a single bed and that is about it, probably shared facilities, I did not like seeing lots of fellas roaming around town with not much to do...some sitting outside their dongas on a plastic chair head in hands...a concerning lifestyle...

 

Onslow war memorial,  it has been designed for the sun to rise through the centre each and every Anzac Day... really nice.

More of this type of accommodation was being built on this site, resort style.
And that was Onslow, no doubt a good fishing place, we were out of there heeding the rain warning.

Wikicamps was telling us the next best camp was the Robe River area..arrived 5 pm, it was packed with around 25 vans! Across the road and parallel to the highway was the old high way...unused and sealed so we camped up there, thankfully...during the night it started to rain and it did not stop, not heavily or too windy where we were but rain, we were soon to learn that it was the most rain ever recorded in this area  around 260 ml in 24 hours..ABC radio kept us all informed as did the iphone apps..

AND SO WE WERE HAPPY TO STAY PUT AS IT WAS MICK'S BIG DAY!!!

 

Not quite as planned but yum anyway, lamb shanks and mash for 4, Doug and Jean have had many a winter with us so have celebrated Mick's birthdays often.

A 'slab' of me made Rocky Road...easy to make on the road.

Tuesday, the next day, too much flooding to move on. Collecting water from across the road to wash our very dirty van and vehicle..a good chance to do some overdue maintence.

The local ABC radio asked for pics of what we travellers were doing and how we were coping with the conditions..so I sent this one in and it was discussed for  quite some time. The next day Wednesday I had a call from the ABC asking if I would do a radio interview around 10 am which was about how the 'grey nomads' had coped and about Micks 70th birthday on the road in the rain..except they were not allowed to call me a grey nomad...they liked the term 'Freedom Lifestyler', we had quite an off air discussion about that.
The rain had let up but we really had come all this way to go into Dampier, Karratha and Pt Sampson Roebourne, as we had not been there on the last trip, having gone inland to Tom Price and Newman and Marble Bar.
The towns had been flooded and we did not need to be amongst that and accommodation/parks are limited and the free camp areas had been closed, so we decided to spend the three days here camped on the road, the sun was out, wind blowing, the rain going further north.
The caravan traffic .had been noticeably less but tonight there are 28 vans camped in this area so tomorrow we are off to see what we can see..and stay where ever we can be..hopefully Broome in 2-3 weeks time.

 

Wet day on the road..out came the wool bag, couple of head bands, a few hand towel holders, for who I do not know but I enjoy it, the Rocky Road..eat/walk, eat/walk... 

One of the best things we have done in the van is raise the seat and use this area for the computer storage, books and magazines and place mats etc..I read a whole book  here to loved it "The Currency Lads' by Peter Yeldman Set in Sydney in 1833 about 2 young fellas and life and corruption in the colony and the convict trade etc..nice blend of fact and fiction.

The most used and essential bits in our van..everyday the Chefs toolbox combo cooker, the 3 trivets, and silicon mits, the plastic vase of Jade and my butterfly, thanks Jo x

Other trivial info which may interest some..We have been gone 10 weeks and in that time have only stayed 18 days in caravan parks which has average out at $30/stay, so the other 52 days have saved us about $1560..all adds up, but fuel and gas can be expensive, 9kg gas refills have  ranged from $22-41. Our bottles last approx 2.5 weeks and gas is used for cooking, hot water service and the fridge.

that is it for a few weeks..til Broome Cheers Marg and Mick and yep he is asleep!
PS caravan living..this is my time!!