EXMOUTH TO CLEAVERVILLE 3OKM NORTH OF KARRATHA IN THE PILBARRA REGION

MONDAY 9TH SEPTEMBER   -   We left Exmouth at 9am for our next destination Cleaverville 30 kilometres north past Karratha and a distance of 579 kilometres from Exmouth.  Karratha is part of The Pilbarra Coast. It was a massive day of driving, which we normally don’t do or like to do very often.  We had a possible overnight stop at Robe River half way if we didn’t want to do the full planned trip.  It took us 2 hours driving from Exmouth to get back on to the main highway again.  We had 3 petrol stops along the way.  The price of petrol was the highest we’ve ever paid  -  $1.92 at one stop and $1.99 at another.  The total cost of petrol for this part of our trip from Exmouth to Cleaverville was a staggering $300!!!

We got to Robe River at 1pm and had a lunch stop.  The stopover was very close to the highway with trucks rushing past non-stop.  It was around 33 degrees and very hot there.  There was no water in the river and the place was pretty dusty.  There was a huge boulder preventing anyone driving under the bridge where you used to be able to drive under and camp along the riverside.  We weren’t overly impressed with the place, so decided to press on to Karratha.

We arrived at the Cleaverville turn off at 5pm, pretty tired and dusty and glad that our massive day of driving was almost over.  The red gravel road leading up to the camping area took about 10 minutes and was tarred in places, with vivid green undulating hills on either side which were very pretty.  At the end of the road, we came up to the beach and camping area.  There were lots of caravans parked along the beachside in the designated parking areas.  We found a nice flat spot right on the beachfront and set up in record time so that we could go for a walk along the beach before dinner.   The fees were $7 per night, $45 per week, or $150 per month.  Most of the people parked there had been staying  for 3-4 months.  Some of them had been coming to this spot for over 30 years.  There was a toilet and dump point close by and a resident caretaker.  It was a lovely place and we couldn’t believe our luck getting a spot so close to the water.  Behind us there were high, green hills, stretching from one end of the coastline to the other.  

A LARGE LIZARD ON THE ROADSIDE 

STUART DESERT PEA SPREAD ALL OVER THE BEACH

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VIEW FROM TOP OF THE HILL LOOKING DOWN TO CAMPING AREA

ANOTHER HILL TOP VIEW 

Parts of the road in were tarred.  We were told this was because some of the movie “Red Dog” was filmed here and also further down the beach at a beautiful fishing lagoon.

THURSDAY 12TH SEPTEMBER    -   We went for a drive around some of the local towns and attractions heading north from Cleaverville.  Our first stop was Roebourne 39 kilometres from Karratha, on the Banks of the Harding River, where we found the quirkiest original stone building Visitor’s Centre.  Out the front, there was a self-serve water machine with gold coin donation.  The staff inside were really helpful and friendly and advised us we could use the washing machines right at the back of the centre and “please help yourself to a free tea or coffee whilst you’re waiting for your washing to do”.   The 3 washing machines were almost brand new and donated by The North West Shelf Mining Co.  It was $3 per wash.  Whilst waiting for the washing to be done, we visited the museum and learnt some of the history (good and bad) of the area.  We were disgusted to learn about “black birding” rife all along Western Australia, whereby aboriginal men were captured and forced to work for the diving and mining industry and kept with chains around their necks and feet. Their womenfolk were forced into prostitution.  We saw some really sickening photos of these helpless soles.

ROEBOURNE VISITORS CENTRE

BLACK BIRDED ABORIGINES

In 1969 William Dampier sailed into the Dampier Archipelago on his ship “The Roebuck”.  The township of Roebourne was first established in 1866 and named after Western Australia’s first Surveyor General John Septimus Roe.  The town quickly grew to become the administrative capital of the North West.  The nearby town of Cossack was the port that serviced this then very large town.  The early years of settlement were extraordinarily difficult with cyclones, sunken ships and a smallpox outbreak killing many aborigines and settlers in epidemic proportions.

We next went to Cossask a heritage town rich in history and a fascinating little place, with placards along the roadside for a self-guided tour of the town. In 1869, Cossack was the port for the pastoral industry and had over 30,000 sheep all over the Pilbarra.  It was also busy with gold prospectors when gold was discovered in the Pilbarra in the 1880’s.   Cossack was also a busy town for pearl divers with over 80 boats, with divers from Japan, the Philippines, Malaysia and China stopping there. By 1900, the pearling industry moved up to Broome to take advantage of the pearl beds in that area.

THE OLD COURT HOUSE AT COSSACK

THE OLD STORE

From Cossack, we went to Wickham, established in 1970 by Cliffs Robe River Iron Associates as a processing plant for the iron ore mined in nearby Pannawonica.  It is now a prominent mining town with a population of 2,000.    There is a yacht club at the far end of  town.  Wickham is currently undergoing a $300,000,000 upgrade by Rio Tinto for accommodation and infrastructure to cope with its growing population.   Nearby Cape Lambert has a 2.7km open sea wharf, one of the highest and longest open ocean wharves in Australia, and is capable of loading three major iron ore carriers at the same time.

From Wickham we drove to Point Samson, a popular tourist and fishing spot, with 2 caravan parks and holiday accommodation.  At one time, Point Samson jetty handled the third largest annual port tonnage in WA.  Time and cyclones have all caused the deterioration of the jarrah jetty, which was finally removed in 1991.  Point Samson beach is bordered by a coral reef and has calm waters for safe swimming, snorkelling and game fishing.  Honeymoon Cove is nearby and another popular spot.   We had our picnic lunch here overlooking the calm turquoise waters.

The Pilbarra Region covers the towns of Karratha, Dampier, Wickham, Point Samson and Cossack.

SATURDAY 14TH SEPTEMBER   -    We went for a drive to Dampier as I really wanted to see the Red Dog statue.  Dampier was a pretty little town with newly built parks and facilities overlooking the beach and 42 islands in the Dampier Archipelago.  The bronzed memorial to the infamous red dog is in the Information Bay as you enter town.   I just had to introduce our white dog Sally (growing redder by the day with the constant red dust from the Pilbarra) to red dog. She was suitably impressed.  It was a busy photo spot.

From Dampier, we drove along the coastline to beautiful Hearson Cove, a spectacular horseshoe bay with stunning green hills with huge red rocks scattered all over them.  It is a very popular picnic and swimming area.  We had our picnic lunch there and really enjoyed the stunning views of the ocean and surrounding landscape.

MONDAY 16TH SEPTEMBER   -   We went into Karratha to have a look around and restock food and water supplies.  Outside The Visitor Centre, we bought drinking water by putting in $1 for 50 litres of water.  It came out of a metred tank, similar to a petrol bowser. 

Karratha is 1,600 north of Perth and has a population of 24,000 and comes from the aboriginal word meaning “good country”.  It is a large mining area producing salt, iron ore, copper, fertilisers and natural gas.  Some of the world’s largest privately owned railways are located there.   The region generates about 25% of Australia’s national economy from exports, taxes and royalties.  Karratha is home to many of the FIFO workers (fly-in-fly-out) with “donger villages”  popping up all over the town.

Centro Karratha had Coles, Woolworths and many other shops and was 30 minutes from our camp at Cleaverville.

We have really enjoyed our stay at Cleaverville and would definitely come back here again.  We’ve had full internet and phone coverage,  a fantastic location,  stunning views and lovely companions for our  nightly 5pm happy hour (or 2 or 3) gatherings.  We couldn’t believe we even met a man that used to be a milkman in East Hills (our home for 23 years) until 1997.  His daughter and son-in-law still live around the corner from where we lived in Broe Avenue, East Hills.  It’s a small world!!!

I’m off to Sydney for 10 days to catch up with friends and family.  I get back on 4^th October when we’ll be heading further north to De Grey’s River for a few nights and on to Broome, which will be our last destination north before we turn around and start the long trip back down to Perth for Christmas with  Daniel and Min.