All chilled out

So after our last Ningaloo sunset

we packed up house and headed north east toward Broome.  The decision was: do we go inland to Karijini National Park or stick with the coast and travel via Karratha.  We visited Karijini last time and beautiful and interesting though it is, we decided to go via Karratha.  A family that we met in Coral Bay actually live in Karratha working for the mines and they told us that the only reason anyone would go there was to live while working, you wouldn't bother going for any other reason!!!   We disagree - while it certainly wouldn't top any 'Top ten holiday destinations' it does give an insight into how other people in Australia live and some of what makes this country tick.  Existing solely for the purposes of processing the gas from the off-shore gas fields (North west shelf project) and port facilities for the various mines, it has some quite modern facilities.  The rich red landscape is typical of the Pilbara and Kimberley regions and all vehicles passing through will be forever tinted with the earthy tones (as will the clothes, every nook and cranny…) but there is something almost romantic about the harshness of the country that imbues your soul with a sense of 'home'.
Surrounding Karratha are the townships of Dampier which provides the large Port facilities for the shipping of Iron ore and the gas treatment plants; Roebourne which we only drove through on the way out and Cossack which was the original home of Pearling in the north west and these days I suspect is visited more for it's restored heritage buildings.  We did visit both Dampier and Cossack and the buildings in Cossack were really well restored  and definitely worth the drive

Dampier of course is also home to 'Red Dog'

                                          The colours of Dampier

From Ningaloo to Broome is approx 1200 km and the driving can be quite tiring - there many, many road trains and road works to concentrate on so the journey is best broken into lesser distances daily. After Karratha we had an overnight sop at 80 Mile Beach and the next day drove to Broome.
Bruce and Kathy were still here when we arrived and so we spent a couple of days together before they headed off which was lovely.  The weather in Broome had been very hot and humid and Kathy had been telling us that people arriving in Broome - having travelled the Gibb River Rd were all truly exhausted and completely 'washed out'.  Bruce and Kathy had been delaying leaving Broome for this very reason. At least here there's beautiful beach and pool but once you leave Broome and have to head inland there's little relief from these conditions.  Our first few days continued in the same weather pattern but early June bought some mild relief and the humidity disappeared.  We were left with days of about 30 deg, sunshine and light winds.
Cable Beach (so-named after the communication cable that linked Broome with Indonesia) is just a delight.  With amazing tidal differences of up to10 metres, somedays the 'surfs up' and other times its amazingly calm.  No matter what the tide's doing though it's always guaranteed to be crystal turquoise blue and beautifully warm (about 26 deg).  We did have to 'clear the water' one afternoon though because apparently a crocodile had decided he might like to make visit to the area!!
We did a short drive along the Cape Leveque Rd

                                          Just love these sandy tracks
Most of the time though has been spent relaxing, enjoying the sunsets that Broome is so famous for:

and of course the odd visit to Matso's Brewery:

             Undertaking a Quality Control Check of their fine brew!!
Anyway….heading off tomorrow in an easterly direction………..next stop……….Fitzroy Crossing.