We are on holiday!

Sunday 14th August 2022

We got up and going pretty early. We got a coffee at the cafe, and couldn’t resist buying some local beef from the shop. We drove out and over the Fitzroy River, which looked worthy of a fish. There is a free camp across the bridge that looks nice, and it could have been worth setting up for two nights there instead. We decided to push on though – Richie must still be living the post barra glow. 😁

We spent much of the drive trying to decide what to do about Broome. We decided not to bother trying to stay there, with the accommodation situation so uncertain. A couple I spoke to at Judbarra NP recommended Barn Hill Station, not too far south, so we thought we would be better off trying there. But it did seem silly to drive so close to Broome and not going there, so we ended up heading through to Broome.

We stopped in at the courthouse markets for a look. Lots of pearls, t-shirts, artworks etc. We got mango smoothies, the kids got tie-dye t-shirts (I guess it had to happen somewhere!), and I bought a ring. By then Richie had gone past his market tolerance level and wanted to go, so we grabbed some supplies at Woolies and headed south.

We were relieved to see the temperature dropped from 37°C to 33°C as we got closer to the coast! We arrived at Barn Hill Station around 3ish. I had tried to book a site there a few days previous, after it was recommended to us, but the ‘proper’ sites were booked out, leaving a couple of unpowered camping areas where you just have to find somewhere to fit in. So many people!! A bit of a shock after such quiet camping at Palm Springs! There was enough room around the place though, and we were able to find a very shady spot next to one of the amenities blocks. Which are interesting in themselves – a very open design, with no roof and large gaps at the bottom. I suppose a shower under the stars is a lovely idea, but I would think that doing anything in there in the middle of the day might be unpleasant, in the hot sun!

We set everything up, had coffee and a snack, then headed to the beach. It feels strange to be at the beach – to go from being ‘in the middle of nowhere ‘ to suddenly at the coast – we definitely feel like we have missed a lot in between!

It is a short walk from our campsite to the beach, and so beautiful! Over red sands, absolutely covered with red grevilleas, purple Scaevola (fan flowers), wattles and purple Ptilotus, just stunning! Then down a cliff onto a long beach with amazing rocky structures along the edge that look like castle ruins! The kids went wild immediately, so much to explore! We all went in for a swim, and stayed in until the sun set – our first over the Indian Ocean! Then we explored the rocks exposed by the low tide, finding various sea stars, shells, sponges and corals. Amazingly there was only a couple of other people on the beach, despite so many at the campground! Richie disappeared with his beach rod, so the kids and I made our way back up before it got dark.

Richie reappeared at the campsite a little after dark with a large Long Tom, which a fellow camper immediately informed him was terrible eating. Given it was now dead, I quickly fried it up anyway, and honestly it was delicious! A little bony, but with some careful filleting that wouldn’t be a problem. The kids loved it!

We then cooked steak for dinner – we bought a whole piece of porterhouse at the roadhouse in the morning – we’ve seen so much cattle but butchers don’t seem to sell local beef, at least where we have asked, so we were keen to try! Of course we have to fit it all in the freezer so we needed to eat some straight away! It was so delicious! Totally worth trying to cram it into the fridge this morning! We also bought beef cheeks, which I realise is a bit crazy on a camping trip but I really love them! We just have to find a place that will allow fires so we can have them cooking in the camp oven all day!