80 Mile Beach – great life – retired got nothing on

More of 80 Mile Beach

We had not expected to extend our stay here to a week, but we were finding the beach suited our style. There has been constant sunshine and high temperatures. Each evening, we chose to drive a kilometer down the beach and walk in the setting sun. The west turns on a good show all along the coast and many sunsets get noticed by all those camping on beach side camps. One of our neighbours turned out to be New Zealanders. They were doing all the desert roads of Australia in a 4WD truck with accommodation built into the tray of the truck.

A guy from Perth has provided a few nights of Australian country songs and ballads, many of which, he has written. His guitar solos have been very well performed; fast and furious. Of course, he was name dropping as he introduced some of the music.

It is unusual at this time of year, but the skies seemed ready to drop some sort of storm on us, so we got away by 7:15am on the day we departed. Firstly, 9km of red dust corrugated road to the Great Northern Highway intersection where we checked tyre pressure. We had reduced tyre pressure on the Suzuki to drive the beach.

Purdoo Road House

Arriving at Purdoo Road House, we found a great little shop where Lyn became mesmerised in a thong attached to a stick to be used to smash insignificant flies who had strayed in her direction. The fuel despatch was all done by the customer unlike any fuel depot in more civilised locations. I asked the shops keeper “what brings you to Purdoo?” Both he and his wife sniggered in response. They were from Indonesia and Australians just don’t like to work in “out of the way places” in Australia’s outback. A guy parked beside us, had a starlink receiver attached to his roof rack.

Port Hedland

After setting up at our site for Port Hedland, we headed to the information centre to make bookings for the seasonal active tours that are offered. The twilight Industry Tour and the Harbour Tours are popular and very informative. When they are done, we will know so much more about the world’s busiest bulk export port.

Across the road is “The Kiwi Shop”. Being a New Zealander, I had to check it out. Open the door, and you could hear a kiwi accented conversation happening. And there it was, a fridge full of LnP. Gotta get some. And some Hokey Pokey ice cream, some of that too. And Griffins chocolate biscuits. I felt back home again; and I had migrated to Australia 62 years ago – without the need of a passport. There was also product for Tongans and Fijians too. They come to Port Hedland as FIFO (fly in fly out) employees at the port and the mines.

But what “took the cake” was the Telstra Pay Phone box in the Main Street; space but “no can talk”.

Cable Beach.

As we have moved our mindset from touring West Australia to experiencing West Australia, we are intending to stay 3 or 4 nights at each chosen location, many of them will be beaches. Lyn loves to sit by ocean waters to enjoy sunshine, her reason for the skin color change. Cable beach in Broome is well known for the sunset camel ride. We didn’t experience the camels but filmed them in 2013.

Broome is a very busy town as many travelers restock supplies to do the Gibb River drive around the Kimberleys or further north or on their way south.

Barn Hill

Not far down the Great Northern Highway from Broome is this interesting farm that cares for many campers heading north or south. The 9 kilometers of private road is not the type I would like to drive to get home each day. But that is forgotten when you experience Barn Hill for a few days. Something like flying to London in economy class is forgotten in a few hours.

The grounds are made of the same red dirt you drive to Barn Hill on; powdery cosmetic dust. The clumps of rock and dirt and shale on the coast put there by nature reminds me, in a way, of the Sacred Valley in Peru but without a plan to build a city. Commonly referred to by regulars to Barn Hill as “the lost cities”, the colors change with both the time of day and the angle of the sunlight. If you’re driving the Great Northern Highway and go past the inconspicuous turn off, go back and experience the unique landscape of Barn Hill.

Everything at Barn Hill is done differently. Even the ablution block has been built of corrugated iron. As the property only has campers in the dry season, there is no roofing on the toilets and showers; just the stars in the sky to provide privacy. There is a lawn bowls club and green. Each morning starts with the smell of freshly baked bread created at the onsite bakery. Pizza and take-away lasagna are available on order some nights. Why not drive the red dirt to experience the charm of this “camp on a cliff”.

Flying a drone has become a hobby that brings a lot of satisfaction to me. After having made many travel movies by shooting from a movie camera on a tripod all around the world while taking groups of clients on a “trip of a lifetime”, moving into drone photography has brought many a “wouldn’t I get some great shots” feeling to me, if I had a drone in the sky! But not to be. I’ve settled now with the attitude “gotta get the drone up, there’s some great photos up there”. Driving along the highways on this lap of Australia, it’s happened a few times. Enjoy!

Most flights, I do not have a plan of what to shoot. The plan develops when I see what’s in the camera. Something like “right spot, right time” intuition. Sometimes it’s “let’s try this maneuver” and out comes “Wow! That’s nice”. At Barn Hill, that’s just what happened. The incoming surf was making lace on the beach, and I was awestruck at what nature freely provides for us to capture and share. It’s there now to enjoy. I’ve watched the movie many times since completing it and yes, there is a few “could be better” spots to improve on. But I’m happy to include it in my YouTube library now.

80 Mile Beach

Moving from Barn Hill to 80 Miles Beach started with the 9 km of red dirt and finished with another 9 km of red dirt but with many more corregations. Arriving here is a relief. The camp has over 200 sites and quite a bit of grassed area. You can also drive the beach in a 4wd.