Days 64 - 67 Friday 17th June - Monday 20th June

Doug was up very early this morning as he had to take the car into Karratha for a service. I used the time wisely to do the washing and the housework, then I read and chatted to Lorelle. Fortunately Doug was home by lunch time. He didn’t have a lot to do but he survived.

Day 65  Saturday 18^th June

We left Point Samson at 8.30 this morning and headed into Karratha. We thought we’d have a quick look at Dampier, the port for Karratha,  before we left. It looked a lovely spot on the water but had the iron ore mines and salt mines all along the way.

In fact as we drove south all we saw was evidence of mines. The landscape was fairly harsh with lots of spinifex, grey, dead looking bushes and very little else. The ground doesn’t look as though anything would grow in it and there were heaps of rocks and boulders. We did see 4 dead kangaroos which is the most we have ever seen.

We had thought to stay at the free camp at Robe River however there were quite a few vans already there so we kept going and we are now staying at the Cane River camp. It is very close to the road so we get to hear, see and feel lots of trucks going over the bridge. The water is very dirty and red unlike any other rivers we have seen. We are camped on a cement slab belonging to the old causeway. On a good note we saw some herons nesting just a few metres downstream.

Distance travelled today

Total distance travelled 

Day 66 Sunday 19^th June

We woke at about 7.30 and left our campsite to head for Exmouth. The landscape was improving with some rolling hills, grass and spinifex but nothing much else. The flowers weren’t there and the only building was a roadhouse.

Distance travelled today

Total distance travelled

Day 67 Monday 20^th June

We woke early this morning as we were being picked up at 7.30 to go on our whale shark expedition. It was very windy so I was  worried about getting sea sick but all was well. I took some kwells before I left and survived the day.

There were about 20 people on the boat and we stayed inside the reef and did some snorkelling. It was great but the water was a bit choppy.

Then we went out into the ocean to look for whale sharks. Eventually one was spotted and we all jumped into the water to look at it. It was magnificent – about 4 metres long, whiskers around its mouth, a remora on it and spots. Sadly my camera didn’t work so I missed the photo. The second time we jumped into the water we missed the shark. There wasn’t a third time as it was getting late and we went home. So sad I would have liked to see it again. We did see a few humpback whales though so that was an added bonus.

Cane River

Parrot Fish