Day 60: 25 July – Southward bound

Author: Mr A

From: Port Samson

To: 40 Mile Beach – Gnoorea Point, south of Karratha

Distance: 111 km

It was goodbye Port Samson, and hello the Great Northern Highway south, via Karratha to get a very reluctant tyre to part from the rim of my bike. Another replenishment of essential supplies at Beer Wine and Spirits, oh and some food, and off we go.

Early afternoon saw us turning off the highway onto a gravel road that Wiki Camps reliably informed us would take us to a ‘4 out of 5′ campsite. We came over the last hill and saw around 50 vans all lined up by the beach. Yup….’You’re never alone in WA!’. We found a patch to call our own and set down for lunch admiring the fabulous view out over the ocean one way, and over the hills in the other . Its actually one of the best spots, with a view of more than the van’s washing line to feast our eyes on. 

We wandered along the mangrove lined beach, and spotted quite a few feathered friends showing off their acrobatic skills. 

Along the foreshore we could see lots of vans tucked behind the dunes. Now, some of these people will be here for months at a time, with no running water….bet they don’t change their sheets once a week! Not our cup of tea…going feral for us means we cant find the wine aerator! 

Retuning to the Zone it was time for  Aperol cocktails and a chat with the neighbours. The guy turns out to be a caravan repairer from down the coast, built his own van…I pick his brains for a bit. His industry, by his own admission, has some shonky operators. There just doesn’t seem to be enough repairers to introduce some healthy competition and get standards up. 

A usual one minute we are basking in the 30 degree late afternoon sun, and a nanosecond later the sun slides off and the temperature dial drops 15 degrees in as many minutes and all the banter around the tables full of grey nomads sharing a glass and a tale suddenly empty. We all scurry back into our burrows and will emerge blinking in the sun of another perfect blue sky tomorrow. 

Tonight is curry night – ‘Well that’s not unusual’ I hear you say – and it’s not – we like a ruby and a red – no doubt about it 🙂