Wildlife Extravaganza in Western Australia ( 9/14 )
DAY 10 ~ Tuesday
Next big trip – the Pilbarra: Tom Price and Karajini National Park. We stopped on the way back to Exmouth to see the Ospreys again, then Vlaming Head Lighthouse, which is now disused. It was a great view from there, you could really see how close the reef was to the shore. Unlike the Great Barrier Reef, this was a fringing reef.
Having stopped in Exmouth for provisions and souvenirs we set off en route to Karajini, a long, long, long drive – I think about six hours altogether, and it was pretty dull for most of the way.
The first stretch, getting back to Hwy 1, we went through an area of ‘longitudinal sand dunes’, a geological relic of the wind patterns. Again, this is Ian’s forte. It was pretty cool, especially when you’d see the road cutting through them. It was otherwise very arid and dull, not even much scrub. We took turns at driving to relieve the tedium.
As we got off the main highway the scenery became more interesting and the road more twisty, with the added hazard of cows wandering across. We saw several huge and magnificent Wedgetail Eagles, (relatives of the golden eagle) just by the roadside, which was a delight.
We were on over-drive to try and get to Tom Price before dark and before the campsite shut. Eventually, we reached the unsealed road to Tom Price as the sun was going down, which meant we were on “roo alert” again. I was terrified one would throw itself out in front of us, as we’d had a very close call that morning. Ian was doing about 80kph (you’re supposed to do 60 on unsealed roads) and it was a real white knuckle ride that seemed to go on forever and ever, and get more frantic!
And while again, it was a gorgeous sunset, the hills went a beautiful
purple, there was also a fantastic moonrise, huge and golden. Finally, we made it to the campsite – a minute before it shut, phew! After two days at Tulki beach, this was our opportunity to indulge in the wonderful hot showers and the flush toilets!
Jump to the days…
Week 2
Tuesday
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