Almost there – Port Hedland to 80 Mile Beach
I was originally going to spend a night at the Pardoo Roadhouse but decided to drive to 80 Mile Beach as it’s a good half way point between Port Hedland and Broome. And as you can see, there wasn’t much to commend the actual roadhouse except as a fuel and food stop for the truckies!
Pardoo Roadhouse – not all that enticing anyway!
I remember those long drives I did earlier in the journey and they were pretty tiring – guess I was just eager to cover the distance as quickly as I could back then – but a Granny needs to stay alert so thought it would be a good idea to relax at the beach at least for an afternoon before driving on to Broome the next day.
Also, what further prompted this decision was that I got talking to two ladies in the Visitor Centre in Port Hedland who said they had just stayed at the campsite and loved it.
They also told me that the campsite is only 9km off the main highway on a dirt road but quite OK for a 2 wheel drive vehicle though most seem to be 4WD with caravans or campers.
No trouble for Bluebird though!
Just one more hill to climb …
It’s a very green area, with lots of trees and shady campsites and I don’t actually know why I haven’t taken any photos!
It’s very popular with fishing people who catch salmon and quite a bit of shark too. There are notices to say that “we don’t know what’s in the sea, there are no patrols here, you swim at your own risk” etc. Needless to say, no one was in the water. The coastline stretches as it says, 80 miles with beautiful white sand and azure blue sea – rather disappointing for someone who loves to swim but there was no way I was going to risk becoming a dinner. So I sat on the beach for a while and collected some seashells it was very peaceful (but a bit too hot to stay for too long without a refreshing swim).
The campsite seems to be very well set up with a mini supermarket, a car wash area and also a fish cleaning area. I have noticed that most of the camping grounds don’t allow people to clean their fish at the site so they have to find somewhere off site to do that. For example, at Coral Bay there was a big fish-cleaning place over the road from the camping area, by the beach.
I have also observed that not all caravan parks have waste dumps but there are places along the main roads where caravanners can take a dump – literally!
Also, the places off road marked with a ‘P’ are not always so pleasant if you want to stop and eat your lunch or have a cuppa because people have obviously used the bushes as toilet stops – and there are no actual toilets there if you get my drift. Best to wait if you can for a ‘P’ sign that also includes the sign for toilets – although it’s probably best to bring your own loo paper !!
Ah well, just including a few hints while I think of them.
Spent a very pleasant rest of the day sitting under a shady tree in my chair and reading Tim Winton’s latest book The Shepherd’s Hut kindly sent to me from my friend Pam in Sydney.
And at last I got to eat my lasagne from Dampier which was delicious. Spoke to the people in the neighboring cabin and they were keen on fishing but a little upset as they hadn’t yet caught any salmon, only baby shark.
So, one more sleep and it will be Mother’s Day and I will hopefully achieve my goal and arrive in Broome. So excited to see family again!!
