2019 - 45 days - Melbourne to Port Hedland and back.

[Lifemagician]

[OMG. I can't believe it is almost 2 months since I looked at this thread. Too many other things going on in the current environment.]

The caravan park where we were staying was about a km from the actual town, and right across the road from the area's Visitor Information Centre and Museum.. For the week, the Rollers had exclusive use of the caravan park. The only males who were there were the maintenance men. The facilities were excellent. Great Camp Kitchen. All facilities fully accessible. And for the most part, great company.

Before I left home, someone had said to me "Why do you want to go there, there's nothing but a couple of cafes". When in actual fact there were a couple of hotels, a very nice restaurant, cafes, two (small) supermarkets and general shopping for anything you may want, mostly centred on tourism supplies - including several scuba diving and snorkling outfitters. Then of course there were the automotive repair shops, real estate agents, banks and ATMs. There was a large water park in town, which was very popular, but by far the greatest attraction were the dozen or so Emus which roamed the town. Locals tended to ignore them, but visitors could not resist taking photos. They walked right up to the shops, and the fully open shopfronts, they would walk straight in. Eating outside was hazardous, as they would peck the food from your plate.

I went into town almost every day. There was a great footpath from the caravan park to town, nice and smooth for my scooter. Some days I went with one of the other two ladies who used mobility scooters. Yeah, a great place.

There were many activiies planned, probably the highlight of them was the glass bottomed boat to Ningaloo Reef in the Ningaloo Marine Park. We stopped by the reef, and many ladies went for a snorkel to view the coral and the marine life. I was happy to view it all from the boat. Most of the time while in Exmouth it was up in the high 30sC. Each evening there were various activities - bingo, dancing, karaoke, etc. There were macrame and paper mache sessions as well as knitting during the day - one of which I ran. Basically something for everyone.

All too soon the week was over, and we had to prepare for the trip home. I had already laid out my route.

Lifey

[Lifemagician]

Early on I made the decision that I would drive home alone. Now that I had crossed the Nullabor, I knew what to expect, where the services were, and what they were like. So felt quite confident. Hoped it would also allow me to meet some of the truckers along that road.

Before leaving Exmouth, I made a visit to the nearby Cape Range NP, on the west coast of the Exmouth Penninsula. As always, my first stop was at the visitor centre. Parked my van and went inside. Having gathered my information and bought some souvenirs, I headed out to go and see some of the shore and other attractions. The dirt tracks seemed smooth enough for my scooter to manage.

As I left the car park, I noticed a dog nearby. Stopped for a moment to check it out, thought it may belong to one of the owners of the many cars in the car park. But as it came towards me I noticed that it was a wild dog - a Dingo! Took a couple of photos, and a video. It was very, very scrawny (read HUNGRY!). As I moved off, I shooed it away, but that did not last long. As quickly as I turned my back it was coming my way again. After a few times of this, and fully aware I am not able to run away, or fight it, I decided to abort my sightseeing, and went back to my van.... warning parents with young children as I went.

Decided to do my sightseeing from the van, and drove over all the roads in the park - none of which are paved. and none of them went close to the shoreline. None-the-less it was a lovely drive. Headed back through town to the Minilya-Exmouth Highway, which would take me to Minilya Bridge Roadhouse for the night.

It was just before I got to the roadhouse that I saw a herd of wild goats. I did not know that they were such a big problem up there in the desert. The lady at the roadhouse told me that with the drought and no food around, they literally climb the trees and shrubs to eat the only bit of green there is - the crown, and thus destroying the plant. The desert landscape was endless with dead plants. I kept thinking how devastating a wildfire would be through there.

Food at this friendly roadhouse was great, and their caravan park comfortable. A really good night.

Lifey