Friday Oct. 19th
It's another hot sunny morning and are heading to the NW Cape .
After stopping for gas the scenery hasn't changed much unfortunately. It is very hot (41C).
We finally reached this dirt road to our campground which was 9kms of washboard ruts. I thought that this van was going to fall apart but it didn't. It is a good thing that everything has it's place in the cupboards.
When we reached the crest of the road into the one and only campground we encountered a beautiful view of the sea. This spot is situated on 80 miles of a white sandy beach. The tide was out and folks were out so far that they looked like dots in the water. We also got to watch the sunset along with alot of other folks after we had gone for a walk on the sand. Thank goodness for the breeze as it helped to kep the flies away.

Saturday Oct. 20th
It is already hot in the sun and we have the 9kms of washboard road to cover in order to get back out on the highway. It didn't seem so bad going out as it did coming in. We saw some beautiful coloured birds in this stretch -- bright blue, tourquiose, lime green to name afew . I have no idea what kind they are as my bird book is at home -- alot of good it is doing me there eh!
We stopped in Port Hedland not only to get gas but to have alook around this town which is built around the mining industry of salt and iron ore. There is alot of construction going on here as well.
The port is one of the largest in tonnage terms with over 158 million tons of product shipped each year -- lots of money!
Some stones are also mined here such as tiger eye, snake skin, jasper, agate, amethyst, hermite, quartz, and jade to name afew.
BHPBilliton is a huge mining conglomerate here in Australia and they tried to buy the potash company in Saskatchewan.
The railcars can number over 600 and they have to add engines in the middle to help with them moving. We saw some at the depot and couldn't see the end and then on the way out of town we saw one moving slowly.
The mounds of salt and ore are huge and the set up at the port is amazing to see and to watch the road trains come in to unload their loads.
We are back on the highway and it is only 43C driving through this desert .
We passed by the Roebourne Visitors centre which is located in the old jail. The houses around the jail look like ginger bread houses with the white around the windows and doors.
We arrived in Karratha for the night and this town is very busy as well with all the construction going on. At the campground we talked to afew people and they are camping there long term as they went north to find work and from what they say it is good pay as well.
We had to have a swim to cool down as it is hot.

Sunday Oct. 21st.
It is already 34C and we are just starting out. The scenery has improved and there are alot of gas plants as well as the large mining sites. There are hills and some are just bare rock and others are cover in scrub grass.
Now we are making our way over to the NW Cape which juts out into the Indian Ocean. The scenery has been very interesting today which was a real treat.
We stopped at the Lighthouse campground just outside of Exmouth for the night. Thank goodness for the breeze as the flies are really bad . The saying is that as you are brushing the flies away this is known as the "Aussie Salute". We were even able to sleep tonight without the air conditioner going which was a treat.

Monday Oct. 22nd
It isn't quite as warm this morning but the flies are horrible as they try to get up your nose, in your ears and eyes and just buzz your head constantly. We learned from a carpenter fellow last night that the houses are built of steel as the termites would destroy your place in a matter of weeks. We also see alot of brick as well as concrete.
Just outside of Exmouth is home to the solar observatory, a weather station, and RAAF base.
Today our goal was to reach Carnarvon which we did about 1pm. Eric stopped along the water so we could sit with the windows open and have our lunch. This was so much nicer that sitting along the roadside in 41C or more.
Carnarvon is home to many plantations such as bananas and mangos. They also grow tomatoes, lettuce and there were afew vineyards. The bananas have the white plastic bags on the bunches to hasten the ripening process.
Again it is very windy so the laundry didn't take long to dry. Also the air mass is so different as it is much cooler (29C).