Ningaloo Reef Trip 2021

 

After much delay we finally started our western odyssey on Thursday 22 May.  We had planned a trip kayaking on Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia for May 2020, but the Covid Pandemic and interstate movement restrictions put paid to that.  This year, we rebooked the trip and planned to leave in early April.  The fridge in our camper died, however, and the new one was delayed.  After a nerve-racking wait, Bill got the fridge on the 21st, stayed up late to install it, and we manged to leave about noon on Thursday.

 

This delay curtailed our time to explore on our way to WA, as we have to be in Exmouth (near Ningaloo) on 9 May, so the first part of our trip has been a hard driving race across the continent. Hopefully we can take it slower on the way back.

 

The first day we drove through Ebor and the pretty ranges south and west of Yamba to Tamworth, Australia’s “Home of Country Music”.  There was a cold snap overnight (down to zero) and we remembered how wide the temperature range in the western plains could be.  

 

Friday, we drove through Gunnedah to Cobar, a small town in western NSW.  We started to see a bit more wildlife, with a group of emus, lots of herds of feral goats and many dead kangaroos. I don’t understand how the goats can be smart enough to learn to avoid vehicles, but the kangaroos just don’t seem to get it.  Leaving Cobar Saturday and still pushing hard, we had lunch in Broken Hill.  Broken Hill is known for silver and copper mining and home of BHP (Broken Hill Pty), now a large international mining conglomerate.

 

We left Broken Hill, crossed the Border to South Australia and spent the night in a funky renovated cottage in Peterborough. It was decorated sort of like grandma’s house, (knickknacks everywhere) but with up-to-date kitchen and plumbing.  Heating was by fireplace and we certainly needed it.  

 

Peterborough used to be a big railway centre, and the beautiful old roundhouse with a huge wall of small paned glass windows is now a museum.  We had a quick stroll around town, but we were late arriving and most things were closed.

 

Sunday we continued on through the Horrocks Pass, a beautiful twisty road through the hills west of Peterborough. We passed through the pretty tourist town of Wilmington. It has many fine old stone buildings and a magnificent wide main street with a boulevard of trees down the centre.  We stopped for coffee in a mystery town, which boasted silo art and this interesting statue honouring the Australian Farmer. I can’t tell you the name of the town until next blog as Bill has put this photo in the yacht club newsletter as a “guess where this is” contest.

 

We stayed in Ceduna Sunday night, and on Monday morning took our bikes along the foreshore path, which is an easy ride along the edge of the inlet to the Pinkie Point Light. It was nice to take a littler break from driving and do a bit of tourist stuff.  The inlet was calm and busy with fishermen, waterskiiers, and walkers and bicyclists on the edge.

 

We travelled on across the Nullarbor and spent the night at a free camp called Bunda Cliffs.  This was about 2K off the road and behind the dunes on the cliffs overlooking the Southern Ocean.  Lovely spot, if a bit windy.  Beautiful moon over the sand dunes.

 

Tuesday we headed for the Western Australia border.  The recent cases of Covid in Perth and the snap lockdown had us a bit worried, but our cross-border passes were accepted and we were into WA.  We camped that night at Balladonia Roadhouse, famous as the Skylab Crash Site 1979. We had travelled about 3300 kilometres by this time, and both of us were getting a bit tired of the incessant driving.

 

Wednesday the 28^th we stopped in Kalgoorlie for 2 nights.  Time for a bit of a rest.  We rode around Kalgoorlie’s excellent network of bike paths, and admired the fine old architecture, particularly of the grand hotels.  I nearly did a Rory, however, after we stopped at a sports store.  (Rory is a friend who broke two fingers after he fell off his bike, not realising the front tire was flat.)  I had exactly the same experience, but I managed not to fall.  We had forgotten the notorious “Double Ds”, a nasty seed with two tough, horn-like thorns that are the bane of Western Australian bike rider’s existence.   

 

I had to walk the bike home over 2k as I did not want to change a tire on the main street of Kalgoorlie.  After I had fixed my tube and tire, Bill realized his front tire was also flat.  More repairs.  Then the next morning my rear tire was flat as well.  We had to visit a bike store for tubes, tire liners, patches and slime to survive the rest of the trip.  

 

Friday, we travelled on Leinster, a mining town north of Kalgoorlie.  It is run by BHP and they have a small, inexpensive caravan park ($20 for a powered site and free washers and dryers).  As well, you can have dinner in the Miner’s Mess for $20, which has an enormous buffet of hot and cold food, salad and dessert.  Mains included such unusual dishes as a vegetable biriyani and a polenta and vegetable bake as well as roast dinners and fish and chips.

 

Saturday, we headed up the Great North Highway where you really start to get the feel of the outback.  Three and four trailer road trains with hay, stock, chemicals, ore and mining equipment are very frequent on the roads. We found the drivers very professional and polite, often signalling when it was safe to overtake and even slowing down as we did so. What a change from the Pacific Motorway near us in NSW.  The roads have numerous exits to mining or exploration sites, as well as the occasional outback station. The rate that mining is going on here Australia will be nothing but a huge hole with all the minerals shipped to China.

 

We camped south of Newman (another mining town) at an attractive overnight rest stop on the edge of a small cliff overlooking the desert.  The land is so flat that despite being over 1k from the road we could still hear the traffic.

 

Sunday May 2 we arrived In Karijini National Park for two nights.  Karijini is in the Hammersley Ranges and is famous for its beautiful red rock gorges.  We got in around noon and took a very corrugated road to Kalamina Gorge, where we did a short walk through the gorge along a stream.  Lovely to be out of the truck and walking.  

On the way back to our campsite, however, the road got the better of us and we totally shredded a rear tire.  A pleasant young couple behind us stopped and helped us change it.  We don’t think any major damage was done apart from the tire.  We are heading to Tom Price Tuesday so I guess we will be tire shopping.  Funny, we were here 10 years ago and we ruined a tire and had to buy a new one in Newman.  History repeats itself. These roads in WA do not like us.

Today we hiked through Dales Gorge to Fortescue Falls and Fern Pool.  Very deep, shear, red rock gorge with a trail along a stream at the bottom.  Beautiful light and scenery.  I finally got in short swims at both Fortescue and Fern Pools, the first since Yamba.  

Looking forward to next week when we get to Ningaloo Reef.

 

P.S. We managed to get 2 new identical tyres in Tom Price, and are confidently on our way again. -Bill