Our trip south to Point Samson covered more of the same desolate country. The only highlight I can recall was a sign to the Whim Creek Copper Mine which explained the deep purple and red colours in the rocky mountains we could see in the distance. High winds again made another day of unpleasant driving conditions and we saw lots of willy willys swirling the red dirt around.
The Cove Caravan Park at Point Samson overlooks the ocean and those gale force winds wouldn't let up. White caps and rolling surf created spectacular views at our back door. This is by a country mile, the best van park we have stayed at with excellent facilities and a great outlook. It's like the "Five Star of Parks"! We were relieved to wake up the next morning to calm conditions which gave us the opportunity to take the woofs for a walk down to the beach and get out and about to explore.
Restored Cossack Court House
constructed 1895
First port of call and just down the road from Point Samson is the ghost town of Cossack established in 1863 to support the pastoral and pearling industries. A cyclone hit the area in 1898 and the pearling fleet then moved north to Broome and in 1950 the town was completely abandoned. A heritage trail tells the story and many of the old stone buildings have now been restored. The historic towns of Roebourne, settled 1866 and Wickham settled in 1840 are nearby.
We took a run south to Dampier and Karratha, approximately 40 kilometres away . Dampier, named after the English buccaneer William Dampier, was established in 1965 by Hammersley Iron. It's aother sea based export location for iron ore and also provides loading facilities for Dampier Salt, Pilbara Iron and the North West Gas Shelf Project. Karratha derives its name from the Aboriginal word meaning 'good country'. It must describe the mineral wealth - not the views and countryside. Boating and fishing are popular around the Dampier Archipelago and given more time and warmer weather it would be great to experience the Montebello Islands off the coast; a designated marine park and known for beautiful coral reefs, sandy beaches and unique marine life.
Friday was time to move on and we are still travelling south this time to a free camp at Barradale. Once more high winds added to our fuel consumption and the car was noticeably running at much higher rpm's to counter the head winds. We encountered more flat and uninteresting country with occasional glimpses of distant ranges. We passed by gas mines and a huge stock pile of iron ore and equipment visible from the road at the Mesa Mine. There are loads of long road trains carrying mining equipment up and down the highway as well as fuel tankers. South of the Nantutarrra Roadhouse the highway is an Emergency Runway - no planes landing or taking off while we were driving - now that would have been something to talk about! Food note: An expensive lunch of a pie and a pastie and sauce $14.80 at the roadhouse. We travellers are a captive audience without other options as there isn't anywhere else for 200 kilometres.
Barradale Free Camp
Saturday morning after our overnight camp at Barradale, (loved the river gums but more horrible red dirt!) we travelled further south, turned west and then north to reach Exmouth on North West Cape at the top of the Coral Coast. Up and down the sand dunes was the order of the day with glimpses of the blue waters of the Exmouth Gulf. Yeah a change of scenery!
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