Friday August 29

Well, well, well we are out of range again, so today's blog get uploaded when we next get coverage.
The day started with a fabulous view over the river, complete with some very attractive reflections. A work along the track alongside the river revealed that we did have neighbours. It also revealed that various animals had been down to the river for a drink, quite a feat as the banks are very steep and about 3 mtrs high.
The next move was to drive down to Old Onslow to see the ruins, but while the locals have been very careful to label all the sites there were no ruins to see.
There was of course construction activity all around the place, the Wheatstone Project is happening here. We saw a pipeline being built and trucks laden with construction materials arriving.
After we left Karratha I though that we had left the powerhouse (of the Australian economy) area, but we were wrong it continues with pockets of activity all over the place. This is all very exciting, but I am not 100% convinced that it is good for Australia in the long term. The various plants, yards, offices, etc take up an absolutely tiny proportion of the space available, so that is not a big issue. What worries me is that we are selling all these bits of Oz and not creating an enduring industry  to fill in when it is gone. I also don't think that making the projects use more local companies is only part of story, the other part is new industry processing and using the refined products.
So much for my solution to the nations problems. The other thing that we are now seeing is the re-emergence of anthills, or termite mounds. Now we are seeing thousands of these. Today we saw some with what looked like yarmulkas on their heads and I even photographed one that was wearing a Tullas (prayer shawl). Seriously though maybe they are an alien life form preparing to take over the country!!

Saturday August 30

We spent last night at a rest area called Barradale Rest Area on the banks of the Yannarie River. So this morning I went looking for the the river, what I found was a dry river bed! When it is running this must be quite a river, the river bed is about 500 mtrs wide and, judging by the size of the trees uprooted and carried down river it has a lot of power in its flow. Today however I could not find any water.
We packed our bags and headed south once more, then we saw our first animals for some time, 2 emus standing by the side of the road watching the traffic pass by. We spent a bit of time trying to photograph them then moved on. Turning right we headed up towards northwest Cape and Exmouth stopping for the night at a parking spot about 60 kms south of Exmouth.

Sunday August 31

Last night, just as we were thinking about sundowners, 2 cyclists arrived at our campsite. They were a Spanish couple who have been on the road for 2 years travelling across Spain, Corsica, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, etc - quite a feat I think. Anyway we struck up a conversation watching them set up camp from the gear that they were carrying on their bikes - tent, mattresses, etc.  Then Elaine offered the girl a shower which was gratefully accepted, followed by dinner, goodonya Elaine who felt good being the good samaritan.
This morning we all got up late, the cyclists, another van that was parked in the same area and of course us 2 sleeper inners. Next stop was Exmouth and while Elaine did the shopping I refuelled, rewatered and emptied the thingabob. Then off round the top of North West Cape to the western side of the cape (we were on the eastern side) to the Cape Range National Park were we will spend the next few days at the Yardie Creek Camp.
North West Cape is quite an interesting place. Firstly it is home to the Learmonth RAAF base which is also used as an alternative landing site to Perth Airport when necessary. Then it has the town of Exmouth and the Harold E. Holt naval communications base, which is connected to the huge radio setup they the USA used for there world wide communications and their space program. Then down the middle of the Cape we have Cape Range which is a long but not particularly high mountain range. It is the home to many species of animals and today for the first time in ages we have seen wildlife in the form of a couple of emus, one with chicks. The other big feature of this Cape is Ningaloo Reef which runs down the western side of the cape. Where we are camped we have Cape Range on one side and Ningaloo Reef on the other side, not bad eh!