Apart from the mandatory venue QR code login, we can forget about the coronavirus, at least for the time being and join the hordes of other interstate travellers roaming around WA. The first objective is for Stephanie to see Purnululu (Bungle Bungle Range), which she does from a helicopter out of the caravan park at the beginning of the rugged dirt road leading into the Purnululu National Park from the west. This way we avoid 100 kilometres of dirt and, because I have been to Purnululu before, I can wait with the car for the chopper to return.

We have a lot of country to cover to get ourselves into the central west of the State, which is where we wanted to be by now before Covid delayed our passage through Qld and NT. We are about to zip along and where we stop is just a series of quick steps, at least until Karratha. Enroute to Purnululu we charged the car at Warmun (formerly Turkey Creek) Roadhouse.  While waiting there, sheltering from the 37 degree heat, we found a lot to read.....Warmun community was home to legendary aboriginal artist Rover Thomas, who founded the art centre there. As the centre is currently closed to protect the community from Covid risk, some paintings are on display in the servo, along with biographies of the artists.  Their credentials were impressive. Many have been widely and often exhibited including internationally. Themes in the few works on display included the distinctive cylindrical striped forms of Purnululu, and Argyle diamonds depicted as the scattered scales of barramundi escaping from a spinifex net.  Mistake Creek, the location of a horrible massacre, is not far from Warmun, and remains a source of grief for the local community. 

A well-produced brochure featuring the owl depicted in a large painting associated with a framed photo and bio of Rover Thomas in the Roadhouse, advertised Violet Valley, a new campground on the Bow River. 

It is 11 km off the Highway down an unpaved “suitable for high clearance 4WD” road, on aboriginal land. We decided to attempt the drive in after unsuccessfully trying to make phone contact. Luckily for us, the grader had just finished working on the road and it was in tip top condition. Bruce was a little surprised to find us there... they’ve not had many Teslas! 

It has twelve level, unpowered grassed sites and great facilities. They’re not quite ready for campers and would appreciate online bookings.  The bird life was magical, clearly thriving on the lack of disturbance and the permanent water. Without a doubt, Violet Valley is about to be a much more appealing option than the Purnululu caravan park.

Next stop for a recharge after the “wow” chopper view of Purnululu was Halls Creek, in the grounds of the motel... the Toyota dealer/mechanic with advertised 3 phase charger had disappeared for lunch indefinitely so we used the motel to charge for few hours but it cost us $45 (usually its free). We spent some of our waiting time in the local cool and well equipped library where we discovered the council had just installed a simulator for learner drivers. Very impressive!  A quick visit to the Yarliyil art centre revealed another treasure trove of art for sale including printed Tea towels and cushion covers.

It took just two days to pass through Halls Creek, Fitzroy Crossing and Broome. We had both visited all three locations 15 years ago on our road trip across the Tanami to Broome from Alice Springs, a memorable and fun filled trip trip we did with Briony our teenage daughter, Stephanie’s brother Thomas and our friend Liz and her two daughters Isobel and Greer. This time we recharged the battery by 60% at Halls Creek, arrived in Fitzroy Crossing late but charged the car while we slept soundly in our tent.  We were very lucky to get a beach side powered camp site in Broome, where Rosella also packed in the electrons while we slept. We had a chance meeting with Shane and Matt from Best IT in Broome who are strong advocates for a fast charging network up the west coast.

An interesting feature of the Paspaley Plaza shopping centre carpark is the use of a massive solar array as a roof that also powers much of the plaza.

At the Courthouse Markets the next morning we made another chance meeting with a past resident of Mooloolah Valley (near where we live), Emily Currey. Broome is becoming a regional city and growing fast but still retains the warmth and charm that it is famous for. Nevertheless we set off on our way to make up for earlier Covid delays.

We had a big day ahead of us travelling south, regretfully having to pass Anna Plains station, a major base for shorebird banding in North Western Australia. Later in the day we turned off the main road between Sandfire and Pardoo Roadhouses, along a 15 km long gravel road that took us to the 80 Mile Beach campground on Mandora Station. 

A high frontal dune separates a vast, gently sloping beach of white sand and disappearing mud flats from a grassy, irrigated oasis of groves of five metre high trees. The landward backdrop is spinifex and low shrubs that stretch for miles inland (this is the western edge of the Great Sandy Desert). Laid out in outstanding precision amongst the shade of the trees, are rows of motor homes and caravans. It’s a highly professional setup, obviously doing good business and supported by marine park signage and steel walkways that take you across the dune to the beachfront. We arrived to the recitations of a bush poet entertaining a small crowd at dusk (not sorry to be just out of earshot). The other real oddity on the scene was a group of travellers using bright orange-painted tractors to pull their caravans. Apparently not such an unusual spectacle! We stayed for two nights and felt invigorated by the cooler temperature and the chance to wander freely on the beach at dawn and dusk, enjoying our renewed acquaintance with the Indian Ocean. The crowd behind the dune quickly fades away, dwarfed by the vastness of the beach and sky.

We could not resist a second but brief visit to the coastline at Cape Keraudren, at the southern extreme of 80 Mile Beach and worth seeing (good diversity of shorebirds in view)

We wanted to visit Port Hedland, despite hearing comments such as “Why would you bother”. Also, thanks to Maryann we had mail sent through from home to pick up at the Post Office in Port Hedland. Our friends Gary and Vicki Cox had spent happy years there long ago. However, we were delayed for a night getting into Port Hedland because of smoke from grass fires affecting the main road into town. Together with many other travellers we had to camp that evening by the roadside at De Grey Creek. Unfortunately, where we stopped a nasty burr was a threat to our inflatable sleeping mats so we slept in the car rather than put up the tent. The next morning the road was clear and we arrived early in Port Hedland and set the car on charge at the Walkabout Motel and tavern while we enjoyed a “truck stop” breakfast and some good WiFi to finish off Blog#07.

With a full charge and after picking up the mail we were ready to leave for Karratha. However we did enjoy the curious, all purpose general store that housed the Post Office and then, a short stroll around the town centre (eg thorny devil mural) close to the entrance of the Port.

We researched the origins of Strike Park as well... a public park (originally Leap Park) renamed a few years ago to commemorate the walk off by aboriginal pastoral workers in 1946 (until 1949).  En route to Karratha we passed the defunct Whim Creek Roadhouse, known to us for its quirky hotel and 3 phase outlet but it was no more! Roadhouses as well as towns are primary destinations in these parts and the cycle of boom and bust can strike roadhouses heavily. Whim Creek is also an abandoned mine site and we heard of other places along the road that have thrived and faded in recent times. Roebourne is 40 km east of Karratha but was once a major northern township. Also, as an aboriginal reserve it was once the site of forced relocation from “country” of many disjunct groups of indigenous peoples and suffers from this misguided practice in similar ways that many other places do throughout Australia. In Karratha we learned however of a community project recording the stories of women in Roebourne telling how they relieve stress: gardening, sleeping, taking the grandkids to spend time on country, fishing, painting. The annual Songs for Peace Project is scheduled to return to Roebourne in September as well. 

We needed to stay three nights in Karratha because Peter had a full day “virtual” meeting to attend and needed good wifi. We spent another of those days travelling 250 km to the Millstream-Chichester NP and back.  We probably missed the best part by not going into Python Pool but enjoyed the old Millstream Homestead, its history and the neighbouring oasis wetland created by spring water that feeds the Fortescue River. 

Our free charging point in Karratha was at “The Red Earth Arts Centre” so we had plenty of time to enjoy the fabulous architecture of the arts centre, the library and a high school performance of “Singin’ in the Rain”. Most memorable were the petroglyphs, ancient rock engravings protected after years of lobbying, in the small Murujuga NP on Burrup Peninsula, just north of Karratha. The Peninsula is of great archaeological significance, not to mention its spiritual and cultural value to the traditional owners. It is also the land hub and processing plant for the extensive off shore gas fields and as such a hotspot for the conflict between the might of industrial power and the need to preserve evidence and knowledge of human prehistory and indigenous land and spirituality. What is palpable is the deep significance, for any human being, of witnessing these ancient rock engravings, the densest concentration of such artwork anywhere in the world.