Thurs, 21st Nov, 2019 Galena Bridge Rest Area, Galena (east of Kalbarri National Park) to Roadside Rest Stop, 15km south of Overlander Roadhouse, WA (Jodie’s birthday)

6am 17 degrees – we had left the bedspread on last night. Wind blew all night.

7am up to 18 degrees and the wind is still blowing. Lovely clear blue sky.

Sent a text off to Jodie for her birthday and to see how she is after having the flu. She replied that she is slowly getting better and will let us know when they move to Mt Isa etc.

Continued north through scrubby country. Spotted some goats as we neared Billabong Roadhouse. I had checked on the Fuel App and noticed there were two prices, 156.9 and 148.9 for diesel. I thought the cheaper one must have been a 24 hour bowser but when we pulled in there were two service stations. This one is the original, established in 1962.

The chap at the bowser had the 6 wheel truck that Steve wants to build so I asked if I could take a photo. Steve wasn’t sure about his back tray though – looks bent.

I left them chatting as he topped up the tank and went inside to pay. Chatted with the assistant who has only been working here 3 weeks but he was very helpful. He said as they are an independent servo they always have the lower price for fuel and it is quite interesting watching the cars pull into the Shell one, check the price then drive around to them. The owner, Jaques came out and when I said we needed to find somewhere to leave the van while we explore in our truck he gave me his number and said we could leave it at his other service station in Denham. How’s that for country hospitality. And they have free overnight camp area too.

Shark Bay information.

We continued on as it still early. We pulled off into the last roadside rest area before the turn off into Shark Bay and parked further into the bush near the station’s fence line. Still very windy but it is a lot warmer here away from the coast.

Had lunch, 34.2 degrees at 1pm.

I wrote up my blog then we played Skipbo till smoko. Warming up to 37 degrees.

Played a game of 3 to Kings over drinks then the wind swung around and buffeted the awning.

Cooled off after the sun set which I caught through the trees.

Closed the windows and had dinner while watching a movie with Robert Redford, looking old. He was alone on a yacht and it was hit by a floating shipping container and it was about him surviving. I think he only said 2 sentences in the whole thing – we gave up half way through and fast forwarded to the end. His yacht had sunk and he was in a life raft which caught on fire when he tried to signal a boat by burning paper in a plastic container. It finished with him sinking into the ocean then he saw the boat arrive and he swam up. The last bit was him reaching up and a hand grabbing his. Not one of his greatest ones.

Wed, 20th Nov, 2019 24hr RV Stop, Geraldton to Galena Bridge Rest Area, Galena (east of Kalbarri National Park), WA

7am 20 degrees, bit chilly. Big black clouds heading over us and we heard a few drops of rain hit the van roof.

Watched our photos from 2 years ago again, need to catch up from when I went away. Two years ago we were exploring this area up to Kalbarri so we have done this section. Our new adventure starts above Kalbarri.

By 8.30am the dark clouds had moved north and the sky was starting to clear. Packed up.

Nice screens around the dump point site.

While Steve filled up the van with water I wandered out to the point to see if the sea lions were awake. Good look-out platform.

Hard to make them out with the naked eye as they just look like rocks. A lady who was using the binoculars said there were two just under the marker so I could zoom in on them with my camera.

Another one decided to get up and have a stretch so he was easy to make out. Another one was sleeping to his right.

Nice view over Geraldton and bay.

On the other side of the point is the grain loading facility.

Drove north on the North West Coastal Highway and pulled into camping shop to get our 3 gas bottles filled, only $22 each. As it was smoko time when we headed off again Steve found a park just up the road to pull off. Back in touring mode!!

Continued up the highway till a roundabout near Sunset Beach. There had been an accident with a 4WD (smashed front and windscreen) and it was still being loaded onto the tow truck. Two road trains had pulled off the road as they obviously didn’t want to do the detour left to the beach. We managed to get around them and turned onto Chapman Road.

I remember hearing about the bush fire burning at Drummond Cove on the news in Cairns and thought it must have been a house allotment or something. It was the roadside area which went for a bit along the edge of the homes.

Continued on till we met the highway again. The Indian Ocean is very choppy with a strong wind blowing.

We turned away from the coast. Over a rise and we head back into grazing and grain country again.

Drove through Northampton, established in 1864, which we have explored previously. Past the turn off into Hutt River Providence. Rest in Peace, Prince Leonard. I wonder if Prince Richard and the family will continue now Leonard has passed on as they were having lots of problems with GST, import taxes etc. As it is such a tourist attraction now you would think the government would cut them some slack.

The grain fields (I can’t tell what grain is what) go on forever, heading to the coast.

The wind is very strong but luckily it is blowing us up the road.

Past the turn off into Kalbarri and the National Park. Lovely place – we enjoyed exploring there.

We are now on new road for us – the next adventure begins.

Turned off at the site of an old township and lead mining area. There are two big camping areas on either side of the Murchison River. There are shelters, tables, toilets and even a dump point. We checked out the south side then crossed the old bridge to the north side.

New bridge to the west.

Plenty of water.

We found a nice spot where we could see the water easily from the van. There are no other campers here yet.

Plenty of birds around too.

I had opened the windows to clear the van of any heat but soon closed them as the wind was very cool and strong.

Had lunch then went for a walk. We walked back across the low bridge. Selfie time to celebrate being back on the road again.

Steve noticed a weir downstream – will have to check that out.

At the entrance to the other campground we found an information board about the lead mines around here. Also the smelter which we explored two years ago as we drove into Kalbarri National Park. We have our own pile of Galena (lead) back in Cairns after Steve found it near Halls Creek when we were detecting. He thought it was some special metal as it was so shiny and heavy. Sadly we carted 15kg of it home in the truck to find out it was lead and we would need a ton of it to get $600!!

We continued up the hill on the old road to check out the site of the Galena School. Well the sign said that and pointed along the track but we didn’t find any more information etc – only a heap of old rubbish.

We crossed the highway and followed another track to where an old caravan park was – according to an old sign. Another van was parked on one of the old concrete slabs but no one was around to say hi too.

We continued along the track passing lots of shallow shafts.

We could see an old head frame above the tree line so headed that way.

More shafts appeared on either side of the track.

The flies have found us as we walked through the bush. I will have to remember to put my fly net in my pocket for every walk.

Near the head frame was a very big hole.

Around the head frame was lots of concrete foundations for machinery etc. No information here but I think this is the Geraldine Mine mentioned on the information board though there map is a bit misleading.

We walked back to the ‘caravan park’ then headed down to the Murchison River again to find the weir.

 We walked across – haven’t seen any fish in the water. Two dead pelican were on the downstream side of the concrete.

  

Very rocky downstream.

The view from the other side.

Then upstream, looking back to the new bridge and the old one.

Walked down a bit further to a natural rock bar so we could cross back to the other side. The river continues on and winds its way through Kalbarri National Park before reaching the Indian Ocean at Kalbarri.

The wind is still blowing hard. Some backpackers were setting up camp on the south side and were erecting their roof top camper – it might blow off if this wind keeps up as they are getting the full force of it this side.

Back across the bridge. A couple of other campers have arrived. We wandered over to say hi to a couple from near Brisbane who were travelling with a camper trailer. They both had their fly nets on as they rested in the shade of the trees. They had been at Mt Augustus recently when a German chap had gone missing. Sadly he was found 200 metres from the toilets at the base of the Summit Walk. Obviously he was away from the track hence no one found him for a few days. It was very hot there, 45 degrees. Glad we did that on our way down in August.

Back to the van for a cuppa. Steve had pulled out our chairs to sit outside but the wind was cold and strong so we stayed inside and just enjoyed the view through the window.

Rang Jon to check on mail I was waiting for – very hot and sticky in Cairns. Margaret texted – slowly getting better though she is back helping Bob with the renovations downstairs. Silly girl!

I wrote up a few days of my blog to upload when we get better reception.

More vans and backpackers are pulling in as we had our drinks and played Skipbo. We were one game each and should have left it at that but we played the next game and I lost!!

Had dinner and watched a movie. Needed to heat the water for our showers as I was quite chilled even with the windows closed. Still blowing hard outside – hope the ones in roof top tents tie themselves down.