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gemfyre6/3/2011
My swag is my little insect proof capsule. While mozzies whine and beetles buzz past and crash into the walls, I'm safe and sound in my little tent-bed.
I'm not eating properly. I'm not sure if it's stress/nerves, or the fact that I have to wave my hands around constantly while I eat to keep away the insects, or maybe my body is still purging from my walk. All I want to do is drink water - Red Eye goes down really well too. But after a few mouthfuls of solid food my gag reflex kicks in and I can't stomach anymore. Weird.
Ah, eventually my stomach started bugging me again, and decided it would hold down twiggy sticks. I ate lunch and dinner with no issues. Maybe it's just a nerves thing? We'll see how we go tomorrow morning.
I left Nallan Station around 8:30 and decided to head onto Newman. "Kate" the Tomtom GPS calculated that solid driving I'd get there by 2:30pm, which left me plenty of time to muck about on the way.
As it was I didn't stop much anyway. I grabbed petrol and 3 bottles of Powerade for $9 at Meekatharra, but the flies and heat kept me from looking around much. I just drove and marvelled at the utter green-ness of everything, and grinned like an idiot when I noticed great expanses of spinefex and red-iron hills. I am now officially in the Pilbara. Sometime the 60s or so Lang Hancock flew over all this and thought to himself, "I can make a killing mining that." And he did.
There are budgies EVERYWHERE. Flocks of 20 - 50 birds flitting over the highway. I guess because of all the rain they've dispersed into many small flocks instead of the occasional thousands strong flock.
The northern and southern branches of the Gascoyne River were pretty much dry again, but the middle, main branch had water in it so I stopped to stretch my legs. One family from Meekatharra was making a picnic of it, all dressed in bathers and having a dip. I think they were trying to catch the small fish I could see in abundance in the shallow part of the river.
Eventually I reached Kumarina, my planned lunch stop. I was considering staying here, and it didn't seem too bad. There were aviarys and fishponds and chairs and tables in the shade, which is what I was after. There was also a friendly cat, they're always nice.
The main thing I noticed about Kumarina however was the aqua-blue Mustang filling up at the pumps. It soon had filled up and moved along to park and I saw a guy was taking a photo of it, so I figured I may as well do the same thing. When I was a teenager a blue Mustang was kind of my dream car. I didn't want red, red was too common, blue was the way to go. Turns out it was a truckie taking the photo and the woman beside him was the owner of the car. She immediately offered to take a photo of me standing beside it, how could I refuse? Apparently she had bought the car in Canberra, left hubby and kids behind and drove with a friend across the Nullabor and was now wending her way north in it. She must have just cleaned it or something because it was immaculately shiny, just a few bug splatters on the windscreen.
The sign at the start of the highway between Meeka and Newman says "caution at all floodways". Some signs even said "water over the road" - they were wrong. The only correct sign was one that said "traffic hazard ahead". There was actually minor pavement damage in quite a few areas, not all signposted. The damage isn't bad, but it's certainly not something you want to drive over at 110kph. Most of it was easy enough to swerve around. In a lot of places the red dirt stuck to the trees indicated what the high water mark had been - pretty high!
Just north of Kumarina lots of little grey birds showed up, sitting on the side of the road and flitting across it. I stopped and quickly realised they were Diamond Doves - beautiful little creatures with a call that just reminds me of Broome. Unfortunately they aren't too road savvy and I hit a few. :(
Then I was getting into Newman. The weather forecast was a bit vague - "scattered showers and thunderstorms over the eastern Pilbara, tending towards the central Pilbara". I could see clouds gathering, but they started off just like the clouds over Nallan - which cleared just before nightfall and didn't result in any rain. As I got closer to Newman though they started clumping together and I could SEE some rain on the far horizon. It was about then I figured I'd better get a donga instead of putting out the swag - sure it may not rain, but it would SUCK to get the swag wet - especially if was trying to sleep in it at the time.
After investigating the tourist centre I enquired about dongas at Whaleback Caravan Park. The woman assured me the $60 dongas they had would be the cheapest in town. I let her know I was going to check out Opthalmia Dam but I probably would be back and she cheerfully suggested that the dam was lovely, and if I just wanted to camp out there I was welcome to use the showers here at the park in the morning for $3.
I went out the dam - how I didn't run out of petrol I do not know. Once again it was hot and not conducive to much walking. Plenty of Diamond Doves, some Grey-crowned Babblers - which are always a delight - and a Common Sandpiper! My first wader (not counting the one I saw flitting away at Warne River). I came back into town, grabbed petrol at the Ampol station (the only other option was a BP, and I try not to use them anymore). It was closed, but they had an automatic setup, which was interesting, but efficient. I then went up to Radio Hill Lookout. Newman is actually quite a pretty town from up there - lots of open space and neat houses, surrounded by industrial areas, great carparks of HUGE mining machinery and dongas. I think I may have to investigate the golf course tomorrow, and try to find these Striated Grasswrens.
I returned to the caravan park and hired a donga for the night. A bed, air-con, a fridge, TV if I want it. I also have use of the camp kitchen, the pool (which I dipped my feet into for a few minutes), and the donga bathrooms, which are a bit nicer than the general camper's bathrooms.
So, life is currently good. I was chatting to mum on Skype and mentioning how the wind had just whipped up, that storm was coming and I better have a shower soon, when it started to rain. It's still raining, but I'll have a shower anyway then probably go to bed.
Karijini tomorrow!! I promise I'll take LOTS of photos. And I'm wishing for a Spinefex Pigeon and Spinefexbird (yes, there is a specific species called a Spinefexbird).
6/3/2011 (Nallan Station, Meekatharra, Gascoyne River, Kumarina, Newman, Opthalmia Dam)
Australian Wood Duck
Black-breasted Buzzard
Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike
Brown Falcon
Budgerigar
Cockatiel
Collared Sparrowhawk
Common Sandpiper
Crested Bellbird (H)
Crested Pigeon
Diamond Dove
Galah
Grey Teal
Grey-crowned Babbler
Little Corella
Little Crow
Little Woodswallow
Magpie
Magpie Lark
Masked Woodswallow
Pacific Black Duck
Pied Butcherbird
Plumed Whistling Duck
Restless Flycatcher (H)
Rufous Songlark (H)
Rufous Whistler (H)
Singing Honeyeater (H)
Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater (H)
Torresian Crow
Tree Martin
Wedge-tailed Eagle
Weebill (H)
Western Bowerbird
Whistling Kite
White-plumed Honeyeater
Willie Wagtail
Yellow-throated Miner
Zebra Finch
See the rest of today's photos here.
My swag is my little insect proof capsule. While mozzies whine and beetles buzz past and crash into the walls, I'm safe and sound in my little tent-bed.
 |
|
| Nallan Station - frogs in the sink These guys are Desert Tree Frogs - Litoria rubella. They emerged from the sink when I removed the plug. I am rather delighted by frogs - they are harmless and eat bugs - all good by me! (Photo from last night) |
I'm not eating properly. I'm not sure if it's stress/nerves, or the fact that I have to wave my hands around constantly while I eat to keep away the insects, or maybe my body is still purging from my walk. All I want to do is drink water - Red Eye goes down really well too. But after a few mouthfuls of solid food my gag reflex kicks in and I can't stomach anymore. Weird.
Ah, eventually my stomach started bugging me again, and decided it would hold down twiggy sticks. I ate lunch and dinner with no issues. Maybe it's just a nerves thing? We'll see how we go tomorrow morning.
I left Nallan Station around 8:30 and decided to head onto Newman. "Kate" the Tomtom GPS calculated that solid driving I'd get there by 2:30pm, which left me plenty of time to muck about on the way.
As it was I didn't stop much anyway. I grabbed petrol and 3 bottles of Powerade for $9 at Meekatharra, but the flies and heat kept me from looking around much. I just drove and marvelled at the utter green-ness of everything, and grinned like an idiot when I noticed great expanses of spinefex and red-iron hills. I am now officially in the Pilbara. Sometime the 60s or so Lang Hancock flew over all this and thought to himself, "I can make a killing mining that." And he did.
 |
Greenery beside the road |
There are budgies EVERYWHERE. Flocks of 20 - 50 birds flitting over the highway. I guess because of all the rain they've dispersed into many small flocks instead of the occasional thousands strong flock.
The northern and southern branches of the Gascoyne River were pretty much dry again, but the middle, main branch had water in it so I stopped to stretch my legs. One family from Meekatharra was making a picnic of it, all dressed in bathers and having a dip. I think they were trying to catch the small fish I could see in abundance in the shallow part of the river.
| Gascoyne River Under the bridge. I am standing on a crossing that is usually dry, but this day it had about 20cm of water running over it. |
 |
Eventually I reached Kumarina, my planned lunch stop. I was considering staying here, and it didn't seem too bad. There were aviarys and fishponds and chairs and tables in the shade, which is what I was after. There was also a friendly cat, they're always nice.
The main thing I noticed about Kumarina however was the aqua-blue Mustang filling up at the pumps. It soon had filled up and moved along to park and I saw a guy was taking a photo of it, so I figured I may as well do the same thing. When I was a teenager a blue Mustang was kind of my dream car. I didn't want red, red was too common, blue was the way to go. Turns out it was a truckie taking the photo and the woman beside him was the owner of the car. She immediately offered to take a photo of me standing beside it, how could I refuse? Apparently she had bought the car in Canberra, left hubby and kids behind and drove with a friend across the Nullabor and was now wending her way north in it. She must have just cleaned it or something because it was immaculately shiny, just a few bug splatters on the windscreen.
 |
Kumarina - Blue Mustang The woman who owned this bought it in Canberra and had been driving around Australia with a friend - she left the hubby and kids back home. She must have just washed it, because it's way too shiny for this part of the country. |
The sign at the start of the highway between Meeka and Newman says "caution at all floodways". Some signs even said "water over the road" - they were wrong. The only correct sign was one that said "traffic hazard ahead". There was actually minor pavement damage in quite a few areas, not all signposted. The damage isn't bad, but it's certainly not something you want to drive over at 110kph. Most of it was easy enough to swerve around. In a lot of places the red dirt stuck to the trees indicated what the high water mark had been - pretty high!
| Road damage at Kumarina Roadhouse This was the reason that the road was "Open with caution". The damage is minor, but you don't want to go over it at 100kph or more. One wonders how little caution people usually drive with if they feel they must warn people about hazards like this. I was expecting something far worse. |
 |
Just north of Kumarina lots of little grey birds showed up, sitting on the side of the road and flitting across it. I stopped and quickly realised they were Diamond Doves - beautiful little creatures with a call that just reminds me of Broome. Unfortunately they aren't too road savvy and I hit a few. :(
Then I was getting into Newman. The weather forecast was a bit vague - "scattered showers and thunderstorms over the eastern Pilbara, tending towards the central Pilbara". I could see clouds gathering, but they started off just like the clouds over Nallan - which cleared just before nightfall and didn't result in any rain. As I got closer to Newman though they started clumping together and I could SEE some rain on the far horizon. It was about then I figured I'd better get a donga instead of putting out the swag - sure it may not rain, but it would SUCK to get the swag wet - especially if was trying to sleep in it at the time.
| Newman View from the top of the lookout. See that rain in the distance? That's why I took a donga this night as well - it actually DID rain here, if only briefly. |
|
 |
After investigating the tourist centre I enquired about dongas at Whaleback Caravan Park. The woman assured me the $60 dongas they had would be the cheapest in town. I let her know I was going to check out Opthalmia Dam but I probably would be back and she cheerfully suggested that the dam was lovely, and if I just wanted to camp out there I was welcome to use the showers here at the park in the morning for $3.
I went out the dam - how I didn't run out of petrol I do not know. Once again it was hot and not conducive to much walking. Plenty of Diamond Doves, some Grey-crowned Babblers - which are always a delight - and a Common Sandpiper! My first wader (not counting the one I saw flitting away at Warne River). I came back into town, grabbed petrol at the Ampol station (the only other option was a BP, and I try not to use them anymore). It was closed, but they had an automatic setup, which was interesting, but efficient. I then went up to Radio Hill Lookout. Newman is actually quite a pretty town from up there - lots of open space and neat houses, surrounded by industrial areas, great carparks of HUGE mining machinery and dongas. I think I may have to investigate the golf course tomorrow, and try to find these Striated Grasswrens.
 |
Newman View from the top of the lookout. It's a pretty big town that wouldn't exist if it weren't for iron ore. |
I returned to the caravan park and hired a donga for the night. A bed, air-con, a fridge, TV if I want it. I also have use of the camp kitchen, the pool (which I dipped my feet into for a few minutes), and the donga bathrooms, which are a bit nicer than the general camper's bathrooms.
So, life is currently good. I was chatting to mum on Skype and mentioning how the wind had just whipped up, that storm was coming and I better have a shower soon, when it started to rain. It's still raining, but I'll have a shower anyway then probably go to bed.
Karijini tomorrow!! I promise I'll take LOTS of photos. And I'm wishing for a Spinefex Pigeon and Spinefexbird (yes, there is a specific species called a Spinefexbird).
6/3/2011 (Nallan Station, Meekatharra, Gascoyne River, Kumarina, Newman, Opthalmia Dam)
Australian Wood Duck
Black-breasted Buzzard
Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike
Brown Falcon
Budgerigar
Cockatiel
Collared Sparrowhawk
Common Sandpiper
Crested Bellbird (H)
Crested Pigeon
Diamond Dove
Galah
Grey Teal
Grey-crowned Babbler
Little Corella
Little Crow
Little Woodswallow
Magpie
Magpie Lark
Masked Woodswallow
Pacific Black Duck
Pied Butcherbird
Plumed Whistling Duck
Restless Flycatcher (H)
Rufous Songlark (H)
Rufous Whistler (H)
Singing Honeyeater (H)
Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater (H)
Torresian Crow
Tree Martin
Wedge-tailed Eagle
Weebill (H)
Western Bowerbird
Whistling Kite
White-plumed Honeyeater
Willie Wagtail
Yellow-throated Miner
Zebra Finch
See the rest of today's photos here.
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no subject
Date: 2011-03-29 12:45 am (UTC)I have so been enjoying your entries and photos,thank you for letting us travel with you.
no subject
Date: 2011-03-29 01:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-29 01:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-29 01:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-29 03:23 am (UTC)Awww, frogs! :yoinks picture:
I like insects. The bigger the better :)
no subject
Date: 2011-03-29 03:28 am (UTC)Photos from when I worked in Broome
Date: 2011-03-29 03:33 am (UTC)Happy now?
Re: Photos from when I worked in Broome
Date: 2011-03-29 03:35 am (UTC):)
Re: Photos from when I worked in Broome
Date: 2011-03-29 03:52 am (UTC)Re: Photos from when I worked in Broome
Date: 2011-03-29 03:55 am (UTC)Lovely snake!
btw- birding list for the win! Saw a Black-Faced Cuckoo Shrike in my yard yesterday...
Re: Photos from when I worked in Broome
Date: 2011-03-29 09:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-30 03:59 am (UTC)What a fun trip. That Mustang looks so out of place.
no subject
Date: 2011-04-02 02:38 am (UTC)