South to the Pilbara.
31st Aug to 19th Sept 2021
I won't bore you with my trip back down South as I covered a lot of ground that I did coming up. Even though it took me over a week to get to Port Headland I enjoyed a great trip. Staying at Barn Hill Station enjoying live music and beautiful sunsets as you do up here is so relaxing.
I was looking forward to explore Karijini National Park and the mining town of Tom Price, and I was really surprised at the beautiful country around that area, it was truly spectacular.
As well as camping with the very peaceful view over the Hamersley Ranges and the millions of stars at night. Oh the serenity.
Tom Price and Newman are basically mining towns with a lot more modern infrastructures and clean.
Probably not much to say about Tom Price and I didn't get to play golf there due to my heal being too sore, but I did inspect the course and loved their outdoor theater.
I was more impressed with Newman as it's more like a regional town with nice houses with lawn and gardens and modern shopping complex. The golf course looked very inviting so I had a game and discovered a lot of hazards. The watered fairways looked good but up close the grass just covered rock and anything off the fairway was rock (pebbles). So I played everything off the fairways. Then the sand greens were unbelievable. The biggest ones I have ever played on but also the thickest sand I have ever seen, just like a sand bunker. You would be happy to have a top grass green to stop a ball like here. I hit a really great wedge to one hole and couldn't see the ball as I walked onto the green until I seen it 10' past the hole berried. I had to laugh and take a photo.
As for putting, I couldn't hit the ball hard enough to get it to the hole, so I ended up using my sand wedge playing a bunker shot which was more accurate (only in WA).
Travelling these roads it pays to have a UHF radio as quite often you encounter big loads coming towards you. The escort vehicle calls you and lets you know the width of the load. Like, 4.6 or 5.1. Then sometimes 8.2! Time to pull off the road.
Up in Hammersley Ranges there is a narrow gorge that you have to call on the radio before entering to notify any vehicles coming the other way.
The country was spectacular all the way through Karijini to Newman, then after that flat and salt bush.
Meekatharra, Mt Magnet and Que went flying by as I had been there done that and not very interesting except for Que to which I covered on a previous blog.
My next area of interest was wild flower country. From Mt Magnet I headed east towards Yargoo and Mullewa where there were plenty of wildflowers but I was a bit disappointed as they weren't as thick as I thought and unfortunately I was maybe a week or two too late. Bugger, as I was a week or two early coming through this area earlier.
I am now at a great camp ground at Eneabba (140 k's south of Geraldton) where I'm told there are good wild flowers in the area, and it just so happens a golf course right next door. I've already checked it out so I'll have a hit today. A bit of a roughie but it'll do.
Regards Doug.
