We are on holiday!

Thursday 18th August 2022

We had a strange start to the day – a heavy mist came in during the night and with all our windows open on the tent we woke up at 5am really wet! Poor Richie was sleeping under the metal support bar across the roof, where any moisture collects before dripping onto the floor, so he endured some water torture through the night! Richie suggested we find some accommodation at the next site to have a break from the tent so he must have been feeling low!

We sat in the mist and had coffee, waiting for the sun to appear and dry us out! Eventually it broke through the mist, and things started to brighten. A wind picked up, which at first was very welcome as we had hung all the bedding out to dry off. Soon it turned very strong though, which made packing up the campsite very challenging! Half way through packing up we almost lost the tent – luckily Richie was standing behind it at the time to catch it!

Despite the drama of packing up we were leaving by 9:30. First stop was Port Hedland to take a moment to plan our destination. I had two sites in mind – Cleaverville, north of Karatha, that apparently has great beach camping, or a free camp on a river half an hour south of Karatha. Richie had also booked the car in for a service in Karatha, mostly to burn off the dpf, which has been problematic for us in the past. I did check for accommodation options, but on seeing the price we decided to stick with camping! Slightly disappointing because our mattress developed a leak at Barn Hill,and I’m not sleeping particularly well on the deflated mattress. 😵

We checked the weather and it turns out there are strong wind warnings for the coast for the next two days. This immediately ruled out beach camping. We aren’t sure how the tent will hold up in those sorts of winds, especially when pegged into sand! In the end we decide on a caravan park in Karatha. That way we are closer for the service, and hopefully a bit more sheltered from the wind. Karatha hasn’t exactly received glowing reports from other travelers, but nearby Dampier looks nice.

One thing WA does well is wildflowers, and today’s drive really delivered on that. We saw masses of Sturt desert peas – so funny how carefully I watched for them driving through central Australia, and here they are everywhere! The first ones we saw I made Richie turn around and stop, before realising how common they are! Also loads of other flowers – peas, daisies, all sorts! With the backdrop of red stones and soil it is a stunning scene!

We pulled into our caravan park in Karatha. A place with a huge number of cabins, guessing mostly for mine workers, and a very small grassed patch for campers. We are right next to the pool though! Richie took the kids for a swim, then a shower, while I cooked up the last of the barramundi for dinner, yum!