By the time this gets published, we will have left Exmouth.  There is packing up going on around me at present, in the rain.  From here we will be homeward bound, and from past experience, that means home as quickly as we can!  Thanks to our house/animal sitters, Sandra and Malcolm, and Nat, who has been handling any work related issues, we have been able to enjoy the break without worrying about anything at home.  We are very appreciative of your help.

After we left Broome, our next stop was at 80 Mile Beach.  There had been recommendations for three places south of Broome on the coast.  The other two, Barn Hill and Port Smith, were a bit too close to Broome for a stopover, so 80 Mile Beach it was.  This is just a caravan park, on the beach.  There is no town, or roadhouse, just a dirt road through a station to get to the park.

I’m going to let the photos show you what 80 Mile Beach was like.  I think they speak for themselves.

And if you think that is impressive, have a look at the beach at sunset.

That was a sunset when it was clear, this is what is was like when it was cloudy.

And all that was just a couple of minutes walk over the sand dune from our camper.

There was some fishing done, off the beach, without a lot of success.  When you are standing in a place like that, what you catch is unimportant.

We had 3 days there, in a little piece of paradise. 

When we left 80 Mile Beach, the road south along the coast took us through Port Hedland, Karratha and Dampier (of Red Dog fame – we saw the statue).  These towns were all what we expected, lots of new housing, particularly “villages” for workers, lots of white 4WD twin cab utes, lots of hi-vis vests.  It was too far to get to Exmouth in one day so we had an overnight roadside stop.  This was on the banks of the Robe River, which was very sandy and dry.  Even in a place like this, there was a spectacular sunset.

The roadside stops in WA are very well set up, they are usually in an area with shady trees and have some basic facilities.  They are well signposted and maintained, and seem to be about 250 kms apart.  Free camping is very well supported in this state.

PS I wrote that blog in Exmouth, and haven't been able to post it until now.  We left Exmouth yesterday morning and tonight we are in a very small town called Sandstone, on the goldfields of WA.  Ben, if you are reading this we are in familiar country for you now, we passed through Mount Magnet today, and will probably be in Kalgoorlie tomorrow night.  The next post, hopefully tomorrow night, will tell of our exploits at Yardie Creek on the beautiful Ningaloo coast (and there will be pictures of fish!)

Love you all, thanks for the comments (on FB or by email, doesn't seem to work on here). xxx