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Tag Archives: Roebourne
Australia day 54 – Roebourne to Karratha
The coast from Port Hedland through Roebourne all the way to Onslow is known as the Pilbara – a largely flat and featureless coastal plain Along this stretch there are only a few transport towns that ship tonnes of iron ore overseas, while inland are the mines and company towns that supply them. It is an inhospitable and harsh environment and it’s endless sameness doesn’t make for particularly interesting driving. As ever, the tourist bumpf makes it sound very inviting and the pristine wild and rugged coastline is certainly very beautiful and the interior is reputedly spectacular. Inland Pilbara is home to the national parks of Karijini and Millstream Chichester which sound very appealing with deep gorges, wonderful waterfalls and tranquil waterholes. Getting to them involves a detour of 450 km from the
Coastal Highway and access into the parks themselves is only by unsealed road.. So we plan instead to push on further south with the idea of spending some time on the Coral Coast around Exmouth and Coral Bay.
We get waylaid in the laundry by a Canadian who has been working out here for five years and must be living – temporarily or semi-permanently, we don’t discover which – on the caravan park. Before we know it, it’s 10am and we still have more laundry to do, showers to have and packing up to do. We get off around 11am to do some shopping in Karratha just up the road. After getting the daily bag of ice for the eskie and tonight’s dinner, lunch in a very pleasant park, we make are way to a local beauty spot and camp ground at Miaree Pool on the Maitland River. This is a delightful spot for a bit of fishing in the late afternoon light. Needless to say, no fish are biting!
We briefly chat with a young Australian couple who are travelling with a very large dog. Travelling with a dog or any type of pet is very limiting in Australia. Pets are not welcome at most caravan parks and are not allowed in the national parks. They had just come from Karijini National Park in the Pilbara interior and had had to leave the dog with some friends of friends in living in Tom Price. They were very enthusiastic about the scenery – the gorges in particular – and were sure that it was accessible by 2wd.
We are now considering whether we should make the detour to visit Karijini. But first we plan to go to Onslow and see the Stairway to the Moon, more of which later.
Posted in Australia, Western Australia
Tagged Australia, Karratha, Roebourne, Western Australia
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Australia day 53 – Clearville Beach to Roebourne
After breakfast, we spend an hour walking to the far end of the beach. It is high tide or thereabouts and the beach has taken on a different character this morning. More sand, less rocks. It’s not a partcularly inviting sea, not the usual light blue beckoning you to swim. It has a more raw and wild appeal. There is no-one else on the length of the beach, and only a couple of vans are visible on the dunes at the far end.
Roebourne is a deadly quiet township noteworthy for its many fine old stone buildings dating back to the pioneer days of the 19th century. The tavern appears to be permanently closed and the hub of the town seems to centre on the General Supply Store – which sells every thing from food and clothes to TVs, music centres and fishing tackle – and the library – which confusingly is no longer housed in the original library building which fulfils some other purpose. The Visitors Centre is housed in the original stone gaol complex which includes the old courthouse and police station. It closes at 3.30pm and with the only access to a public water supply.
The tourist bumpf makes the coastline up to Point Sampson sound interesting and after spending some time in Roebourne library on the internet (payment only required sites requiring passwords), we visit Cossack at the mouth of the Harding River – a tiny riverside settlement with good views across the tidal flats – and on to Settlers Beach for a picnic lunch and a walk down to the sea which is a couple of hundred yards out. There are an enormous number of small crabs scurrying in groups hither and thither then suddenly burying into the sand to disappear from sight. There are lots of snails and starfish too. The lookout above the beach provides sweeping 360 views of the tidal flats, the beach and the enormous Rio Tinto loading jetty at
Cape Lambert further round the coast.
Tonight we are paying for our pitch – we need to do laundry and have a shower; and whilst we could do the former at a launderette we have yet to find any reasonable public showers.
Posted in Australia, Western Australia
Tagged Australia, Clearville Beach, Roebourne, Western Australia
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