Friday August 15
We have very poor coverage at the moment so these next few blogs will be published when we get proper coverage.
Got up this morning it was blowing its ....... off, we decided to stay at Cape Kerauden as it is a nice spot. We really enjoyed our walk yesterday at low tide, or partial low tide, in amongst the rocks that appeared as the water receded. There were rock pools, mini waterfalls and so on. This is something that sailors don't see very often and it quite a phenomenon, actually quite spectacular. There were no shells to be found as they were all firmly attached to rocks. Anyway after enduring the wind for a while and finding sand getting into the van from every closed window and door we decided that nature had won and we would depart.
Down the road we went, paid the ranger for our one night stand, turned right at the highway to head south once more. Next stop was the DeGrey River which we had been told was great, the comments on Wiki Camps were also very positive. Experience, we are learning slowly as we travel (by which I mean slow learners), to look around before selecting a site. For once we did just that moving along the river away from the highway and found a great spot next to the railway bridge. I will say old bridge because the rails have surface rust so the line probably hasn't been used for a while. On the other hand there are lots of concrete sleepers some dated 2012, so we will see what happens.
Saturday August 16
We are nicely settled here at the DeGrey River and will probably stay for a few days. The site that we have is grassed, flat, has nice shady trees but still has sunny spots for our solar panels. Yesterday Elaine made bread and today she is sorting out her shell collection, it will be interesting to see what she does with them. After sleeping in this morning we went for walk along the railway line over the bridge to the other side of the river. This is the dry season so the river is not in full flow. There is water in there but in pools, quite a number of pools of reasonable size. The view from the bridge is great and shows the rather large size of the river when it is flowing. I would like to revisit this part of the WA at the end of the wet season, the rivers, waterfalls and billabongs must be rather spectacular. There are a lot of rocks around the railway line, apparently quarried locally that are interesting - zebra stripes in various dark colours, although we did see some white stripes, and textures. Surprisingly we collected a few.
Last night we lit a fire and enjoyed a sundowner with our neighbours. One couple we have met and shared campsites with over the past week or so and will continue to as we head south as our itineries are similar.
Sunday August 17
Another day in paradise! We are still camped at the DeGrey River along with a large number of vans, I'm not good at counting them so I'm not sure how many, but I would think at least 50. Some are right on the river bank, some on the high ground well back from the river and some like us in between. All the sites, just space in amongst the trees, are very nice. Most with green grass and shade. In the top section near the road there are 2 sets of toilets, 2 dump points and signs telling everyone about the rest area. It is one of several that we have seen since Kununnurra and they seem to be a result of royalties for regions and in cooperation with the local shire, main roads and the indigenous land rights people. It is my suspicion based on what we have seen here and in the wheatbelt, that a lot of royalties for regions has gone to promote tourism. Tourism can't be our main industry but as mining slows down and our population gets more leisure. It must be an important part of our income mix.
Monday August 18
Still here and I could stay for a few more days, but we are heading off tomorrow, much to madams delight. This morning I walked firstly through the upper area then under the road bridge along the river bank then back through the lower area and along the river bank. At this time of year it is possible to cross the river bed on dry land but there is enough water to attract a few swans, white and black. On the way back I found a tree branch that had been cut and left on the ground, so I dragged it back for tonight's fire (I did the same yesterday). However we are low on BBQ meat so the cooking will be indoors tonight, although we will still have a fire.
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