Earixson Explorers in Hervey Bay: From Karratha to Millstream NP,..to Hammersley Gorge.

So many days have passed since Karratha and so many things have happened, that I will only gloss over the bits that stand out the most.

My computer reception at Karratha was sketchy at the best, so I couldn’t upload anything. I even thought there was something wrong with my computer because Chris could get reception, but me, with the new “ yew beaut” computer couldn’t get ANYTHING. But, we’re now at a place called Tom Price, which is a large mining town in the Pilbara range area. I’ve already uploaded all the photos and processed one blog, so here’s a couple more coming up.

Here we go…

After we left Karratha, this was our first spot that we stopped at. It was inside a riverbed. The water left in the river is called a billabong. There was small fish in it and plenty of birdlife around it.

We had a lot of ground to cover across the plains. We were heading into a national park called Millstream-Chichester NP.

This hill called Pyramid Hill is the forerunner into the national park.

These little Zebra finches were fluttering around the campsite. It was hard to get a good focus on them as they kept moving too fast for the cameraman.

And unbeknownst to us, there was an oasis about 500 mtrs from our campsite. We discovered it by accident. And it wasn’t too long ago that a cyclone that came through. The floods flattened the grass around the area and left debris everywhere. There was a homestead here called Millstream and as with most colonial homes, they parked it right next to the fresh water running creek, not knowing that it spreads out during floods and cyclone season!

The sheer beauty of this lagoon made you want to stay and bask in the serenity of it all. The water was around 4 to 6 ft deep and crystal clear. You can even see the fish!

This is also where I had my first canoe trip. It was awesome. Where we started off, the corellas were screeching and you can hear the people talking, but as we paddled up river, the noise diminished and then you could hear the wind in the trees and the babbling creeks flowing into the Fortesque River. We only paddled a couple of times into the banks and went aground on one shallow area. But it was still fun!

We stopped at the cliff lookout to view the sunset over the valley. Tomorrow, we head out to Tom Price.

On the way to Tom Price, halfway down the dirt road, we came across this. There had been an accident where a truck overturned. There were 16 people on board. 6 adults in the cab and 10 kids on the back. A large bull walked out in front of their convoy and they swerved to miss it. Three people had to be airlifted out. I was so surprised to see the fire dept., the police dept., and the helicopter way out here in the middle of what seemed like nowhere.

The dirt road had been lined with cars and people. It was so sad for the family. I think Chris unconsciously slowed down a little after that. You just never know when a roo or a cow runs in front of you out here in the bush until it’s too late.

We stopped here for lunch. You’ll notice that the spare wheel covers on the back are red, not black. Once again, there was a bit of dust in the van. (which I spent yesterday cleaning up) Here, Chris was getting ready to tape the door up. Most of the dust seemed to be coming in from there.