Alice Springs West to the Indian Ocean.

Well you have probably worked out that we have the wrong month on the title for the last couple of posts. Anyhow it is definitely July as we sit here in Broome. It was only a short run, for us, into Broome and on our arrival we went straight to Coles to stock up on food etc. We then went and checked in at the Roebuck Bay Caravan Park which is near Town Beach.  This is the second time we have stayed here and on both occasions we scored sea views on each site. Take a look. Our site. Our view. We had lunch and I was sitting enjoying the view and Bob went to the ablution block. Suddenly the chair I was sitting on started shaking and then the truck started shaking to the point where you thought it was on a corrugated road. It was an earthquake which no doubt you have all heard about on the news. Bob thought it was one of the washing machines unbalanced in the laundry. Everyone came out of their vans etc and from then on each person you met made some joke about the earth moving for you etc.

This morning we finally were able to change our Broome Caravan Park booking to arrive a day earlier than we had originally booked.  So we decided to head off to Barn Hill so we could fit in 2 days there and just have a short run into Broome on Sunday. We arrived at Barn Hill in time for lunch which was just as well as there were only a few sites left. We were able to fit into a fabulous site overlooking the sea because we are only a small vehicle.  Later in the afternoon we took a walk along the beach. Why would you want to be anywhere else? We got chatting with our neighbours who Bob helped to dig out when they got bogged reversing their caravan into their site. Liz and Nev from Perth. We had happy hour with them and plan to do the same tomorrow night. The sunset was beautiful again. June 13. This was our view as we ate breakfast this morning. Africa is over the other side of all this water. After breakfast we went for a long walk on the beach. As we went past the office a German guy

After lunch we drove to 80 Mile Beach arriving at the campground around 3.30. After setting up and having a chat with the neighbours, one of who we had camped next to at Marble Bar, we walked down onto the beach to await the sunset and have happy hour. The sunset was terrific. We finished the evening chatting to our neighbours who were from SA and had travelled some of Len Beadel’s roads to WA too.

We arrived in Port Hedland about mid morning. We wanted to find our way around and couldn’t work out why google maps wouldn’t come up with Port Hedland. It wasn’t until the next day when were at the museum that we realised it is Hedland not Headland. Port Headland was named after a Scandinavian sea captain, Peter Hedland who arrived here in the 1890s. Well you learn something new every day!! We drove along the Esplanade and watched the ships leaving the port fully loaded. This was the Dalgety Office with a house for the manager at the back. You can see the extra timber on top of the roofing iron put there to keep the roof on in a cyclone. The museum had information on the establishment of Port Hedland, the local Aboriginal history and connection to country, the social history of the area and the history of the Dalgety Co in the area. It was really interesting.  Other points of interest in down town Port Hedland were  The local War Memorial. A 25 Pounder Gun at the War Memorial. The old