Tag Archives: Cleaverville Beach

Another long day of driving racking up a further 450km.  The scenery approaching Port Headland is more hilly providing a bit of welcome interest.  Some wags have placed hard hats on top of the termite mounds just outside town – a eccentric reminder of its industrial heritage.   We stop here primarily to replenish our water supplies but can’t find a standpipe anywhere.  The standpipe that should be in the Community Park seems to have been removed as part of what looks like a general facelift.  Port Headland as it’s name might suggest, is a huge port supporting the mining industry that dominates this corner of north-western Australia.  It handles the iron ore that is mined in Normanton.  As a consequence it is not a picturesque town with a rugged foreshore.  Useful for topping up on our food stocks but not a place to linger. 

About 190km further south, just past Roebourne we take an unsealed road towards Clearville Beach.  The road hasn’t yet been graded and is badly corrugated to begin with causing the van to rattle and shake alarmingly.  Fortunately it improves and we make good time along most of the 13km to the coast.  For $7 it is possible to find a completely secluded spot, without facilities of course, on the sand dunes overlooking the beach, and with a bit of judicious parking so as not to get stuck in the sand, even a 2wd can camp here.  The tide is out, a long way out, revealing a great expanse of sand and rock.  Such  gloriously pristine surroundings all to ourselves!  As the sun sets we take a stroll along the shore and remind ourselves once again how lucky we are.

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