Day 59
Friday
31 August
Broome – Sandfire – Pardoo – Port Hedland
It is hard to believe we have had two weeks in Broome, where has the time gone? It has felt like we have had a mini holiday and now we are back to life on the road. I have loved being in Broome and getting the chance to really explore the town, but I am satisfied and ready to move on and continue the exploration.
As typical for moving day, Paul was awake and ready to get up and out, I protested that it wasn’t even 7am yet and managed to lay in until 7.20am, but then there was no stopping him. We got straight into breakfast and then I was off for a shower. I returned to the van packed up and ready. By the time Paul got back from his shower, we were on the move.
We parked up out the front and put the car on the trailer, then we made our way through Broome town and out towards Roebuck Plain. At 9am we hit the Great Northern Highway and steered the van south.
I busied myself with the blog and continuing to trawl through the photos from last year, managing to knock off the November shots, as we passed by Barn Hill Station and soon after, Port Smith Caravan Park, where we had intended to pull in and hang out for a few days. However, we opted to stay off the 23km of dirt, not keen for corrugations, hence our extended stay in Broome.
By 10.30am, I had made it halfway through December and we were back on home soil. I can now set about putting together some state albums, though I fear the enormity of the task may mean they will be a looong work in progress.
The k’s ticked away from 600km, passing other vehicles, watching the scenery, checking out for wildlife, skittering across the road or in the case of a lizard, sunbaking in the middle. At 11.45am, we arrived at Sandfire roadhouse. Every man and his dog was pulled in for fuel, including two very large trucks carrying massive mining equipment. With time to kill I got out of the van and did a wander around the vehicles, just to get a scope on the size. They were humungous.
We eventually reached the front of the diesel line, filled up the van and set sail once again, the gps letting us know it was only 260km to our destination. The road was monotonous. It is still very green out here, despite 5 weeks passing. There were even some roadside lakes that seemed to have plenty of water in them.
At 1.30pm, we pulled into the Pardoo Roadhouse, so that I could make lunch, as I was starving. We found a shady spot and I got busy. We ate our rolls, before Paul did a once over of the vehicles and then we were back on the road by 2pm, with only 150km to go.
We finally made Hedland for 330pm, driving on to the BP to fuel up, before stopping at the Woollies for supplies. Once we were all sorted, we made our way to the free camp at the turf club and settled in for the afternoon.
Unlike our last visit, the oval was crawling with kids playing soccer. Needing to get our steps up, we did a couple of laps watching the games in progress, there wasn’t much happening in the skills department.
Once back at the van, I started on dinner. We took out the Karijini brochures and read up on where to stay, planning our onward journey for tomorrow. There looks like there will be some beautiful places to explore.
By 830pm we were ready to call it a night. I read for a short while, then it was lights out and sleeping to the sound of the rumbling trains.
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