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gemfyre17/3/2011
I woke up pretty early but read in bed for about half an hour before doing anything (the book I'm reading is nearing a close, and has become quite exciting). My clothes were dry and I was hungry for breakfast by then, so I gathered my gear and went to the camp kitchen to prepare some food. I wasn't so badly eaten by mozzies this morning (I was wearing repellent, which didn't seem to deter a determined few). I quickly got something to worry about though when I noticed something dangling down towards the front of my car. Oh no, I hoped it wasn't anything too serious – maybe it could just be whacked back into place? I figured I'd get packed up and ask the guy at the office if he knew anything about cars before I headed off. Breakfast was the standard bacon, eggs, toast (which kept burning on the dodgy old gas burners and camp toasters), sauteed mushrooms and fried tomato (usually whatever is left after I make sandwiches). Quite tasty. I was all packed and ready to head off by 7:50. As I made my way through the caravan park to leave another worker at the park pointed out that I had something dangling from my car. “I know,” I said, “Do you know anything about cars? Know what it might be?” He immediately got out of his car and down on the ground and took a closer look. “Ah! Seems like you've picked something up.” He grabbed the offending object and tugged on it and it came loose. Somebody else's gearbox covering, perhaps I picked it up in one of those puddles, where I couldn't see it. Well, that was a relief. I thanked him profusely and was on my way.
It was much better driving out with low gear engaged, the 20km journey took about half an hour. One section about 1-2km long was like driving through a shallow river, it was very slow going through that section, but soon enough I was back on the blacktop and roaring my way south.
Once again it was a gray day (I usually spell that “grey”, but “gray” seems to better portray the sheer drabness of the sky). Sometimes I'd get exciting looking clouds and sun poking through, but most was that plain matt gray with the occasional downpour. I filled up at Sandfire and had a choccy bar then roared off towards Pardoo. I checked at the roadhouse to see if they had any info on the station stay (they didn't). Outside I was able to watch a Pheasant Coucal at very close quarters as it pounced on grasshoppers. I was so fascinated watching that I forgot to take a photo.
Seeing as the weather was crap I decided to forgo even just checking out the station stay (it would have been a 26km round trip on dirt roads), I will investigate online for a possible visit when the weather is nicer. I went all the way into Port Hedland where it obviously had been raining a lot. De Grey River was flowing well and there was water over the road at quite a few floodways. For about the last 30km I got stuck behind a couple of road trains doing 80kph.
Seeing as I knew my way around Hedland now I dropped in to see what this Redbank site was all about – turns out it's just a spot for tourists to take photos of the mound of salt (Rio Tinto Saltworks) on the outskirts of town. No good birds here.
I headed into town to the visitor's centre to see what my options were for accommodation that would provide a solid roof over my head and discovered that solid accommodation was a real commodity these days, with most of it taken up by workers at the mines. One place would have given me dinner, breakfast and lunch to take with me, for $200. I had plenty of my own food so that wasn't at all attractive. My best bet was the Pier Hotel, just down the road, which had some rooms with shared bathrooms for $120 per night. They also had karaoke on that night, which was a perk. The woman at the visitor's centre explained that the housing situation was so dire, one hotel that wanted to expand, so it could accommodate more people, couldn't get enough accommodation for the workers that would build the expansion!
This place isn't too bad. I can't figure out how to work the TV, but that doesn't matter. The air-con is high up on the wall and I need to stand on a seat to press the buttons. After initially doing this I did find a remote, but it doesn't seem to work. I made myself a sandwich and chilled out for a while before deciding to make the most of my afternoon with some birding.
I started at Cemetery Beach, where turtles come in to nest – not too much here, a reef egret and couple of oystercatchers (both pied and sooties). I then went to the Cooke Point Sewer Works and popped out of my sunroof again. Again, not an awful lot, many black-winged stilts and bee-eaters on the fence hunting insects.
I knew 6 Mile Creek would be a goer though, and I was right. The tide was right out and I spent a good half hour just scanning the flats and identifying lots of waders. Seeing as I could get a better look out here I managed to ID a few Black-tailed Godwits among the Barwits, and there were loads of beautifully coloured up Great Knots and Greater Sand Plovers. A female white-breasted whistler even flew in close. It was quite pleasant out there – the mozzies whined near my ears, but didn't seem to be that interested in biting, there were a few flies, but not an infuriating amount, and although it was humid, it wasn't too hot and a nice breeze was blowing. Being out there made my day so much better. So far this trip 6 Mile Creek has been the best wader spot due to neap tides while I was at Broome. After doing up my daily bird list I found that today has yielded the most species so far – 59 in all.
I am now back in my room, and about to get changed and head out to find food and karaoke.
Wow, dinner was huge. For $18 I got the following - A large pile of “braised lamb chops and sausages” which I dubbed “meaty slops”. Among falling off the bone lamb and sausages was plenty of gravy, bacon, mushrooms and onion. Very tasty, but I couldn't finish it. This was served with 2 boiled potatoes (I detected a hint of mint in their flavouring), not huge potatoes but not tiny either – could only eat one – 2 pats of butter were provided for these, I only used half of one. A good scoop of cauliflower cheese – I ate all of this, and a pile of baby carrots, beans and corn – I assume from a pack of frozen veggies – ate most of this. Washed it down with a glass of LLB at a very reasonable $3.50.
The karaoke didn't start until a bit later, so I hung around and thoroughly read the songbook – not a bad selection. I got one song in before I left – I was tired and the crowd wasn't the same as at home. Mostly workers getting drunk and being loud (and smoking like chimneys). I think I take my karaoke too seriously for country bars. :)
The shared showers here are a bit dodgy, but tolerable. At least they provide a bathmat. I couldn't get any hot water flowing, but at least the water was that cool-with-just-a-hint-of-warmth temperature and was actually quite nice anyway. I'll probably try and get off early tomorrow just in case I can't get appropriate accommodation in Point Samson and have to resort to Karratha or something. Will also find out what the roads around Millstream are like, the way it looks I might end up taking a day trip there out of Point Samson/Karratha then heading straight to Exmouth. I've pretty much decided to cull Onslow off the trip – it's just too far off the beaten track and offers too little.
17/3/2011 (Port Smith, Sandfire, Pardoo Roadhouse, De Grey River, Port Hedland, 6 Mile Creek)
Australian Bustard
Australian Pipit
Australian White Ibis
Bar-tailed Godwit
Black Kite
Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike
Black-faced Woodswallow
Black-fronted Dotterel
Black-necked Stork
Black-tailed Godwit
Black-winged Stilt
Blue-winged Kookaburra
Brahminy Kite
Brown Falcon
Brown Goshawk (H)
Brush Cuckoo (H)
Caspian Tern
Cockatiel
Crested Pigeon
Curlew Sandpiper
Eastern Reef Egret (both morphs)
Galah
Great Knot
Greater Sand Plover
Grey-crowned Babbler
Grey-tailed Tattler
Little Friarbird
Magpie Lark
Nankeen Kestrel
Peaceful Dove
Pheasant Coucal
Pied Butcherbird
Pied Cormorant
Pied Oystercatcher
Rainbow Bee-eater
Red Knot
Red-capped Plover
Red-necked Stint
Red-tailed Black Cockatoo
Red-winged Parrot
Rock Dove
Ruddy Turnstone
Rufous Whistler (H)
Silver Gull
Singing Honeyeater
Sooty Oystercatcher
Terek Sandpiper
Torresian Crow
Wedge-tailed Eagle
Whimbrel
Whistling Kite
White-bellied Sea Eagle
White-breasted Whistler
White-breasted Woodswallow
White-plumed Honeyeater
White-throated Gerygone (H)
Willie Wagtail
Yellow White-eye
Yellow-throated Miner
See a photo of the world's dodgiest toilet (as well as other photos from today) here.
I woke up pretty early but read in bed for about half an hour before doing anything (the book I'm reading is nearing a close, and has become quite exciting). My clothes were dry and I was hungry for breakfast by then, so I gathered my gear and went to the camp kitchen to prepare some food. I wasn't so badly eaten by mozzies this morning (I was wearing repellent, which didn't seem to deter a determined few). I quickly got something to worry about though when I noticed something dangling down towards the front of my car. Oh no, I hoped it wasn't anything too serious – maybe it could just be whacked back into place? I figured I'd get packed up and ask the guy at the office if he knew anything about cars before I headed off. Breakfast was the standard bacon, eggs, toast (which kept burning on the dodgy old gas burners and camp toasters), sauteed mushrooms and fried tomato (usually whatever is left after I make sandwiches). Quite tasty. I was all packed and ready to head off by 7:50. As I made my way through the caravan park to leave another worker at the park pointed out that I had something dangling from my car. “I know,” I said, “Do you know anything about cars? Know what it might be?” He immediately got out of his car and down on the ground and took a closer look. “Ah! Seems like you've picked something up.” He grabbed the offending object and tugged on it and it came loose. Somebody else's gearbox covering, perhaps I picked it up in one of those puddles, where I couldn't see it. Well, that was a relief. I thanked him profusely and was on my way.
It was much better driving out with low gear engaged, the 20km journey took about half an hour. One section about 1-2km long was like driving through a shallow river, it was very slow going through that section, but soon enough I was back on the blacktop and roaring my way south.
Once again it was a gray day (I usually spell that “grey”, but “gray” seems to better portray the sheer drabness of the sky). Sometimes I'd get exciting looking clouds and sun poking through, but most was that plain matt gray with the occasional downpour. I filled up at Sandfire and had a choccy bar then roared off towards Pardoo. I checked at the roadhouse to see if they had any info on the station stay (they didn't). Outside I was able to watch a Pheasant Coucal at very close quarters as it pounced on grasshoppers. I was so fascinated watching that I forgot to take a photo.
Seeing as the weather was crap I decided to forgo even just checking out the station stay (it would have been a 26km round trip on dirt roads), I will investigate online for a possible visit when the weather is nicer. I went all the way into Port Hedland where it obviously had been raining a lot. De Grey River was flowing well and there was water over the road at quite a few floodways. For about the last 30km I got stuck behind a couple of road trains doing 80kph.
 |
De Grey River Plenty of water. |
Seeing as I knew my way around Hedland now I dropped in to see what this Redbank site was all about – turns out it's just a spot for tourists to take photos of the mound of salt (Rio Tinto Saltworks) on the outskirts of town. No good birds here.
| Salt pile at RedBank - Port Hedland Run by Rio Tinto Salt. Great spot for wader watching - if they'd let you in. |
 |
I headed into town to the visitor's centre to see what my options were for accommodation that would provide a solid roof over my head and discovered that solid accommodation was a real commodity these days, with most of it taken up by workers at the mines. One place would have given me dinner, breakfast and lunch to take with me, for $200. I had plenty of my own food so that wasn't at all attractive. My best bet was the Pier Hotel, just down the road, which had some rooms with shared bathrooms for $120 per night. They also had karaoke on that night, which was a perk. The woman at the visitor's centre explained that the housing situation was so dire, one hotel that wanted to expand, so it could accommodate more people, couldn't get enough accommodation for the workers that would build the expansion!
This place isn't too bad. I can't figure out how to work the TV, but that doesn't matter. The air-con is high up on the wall and I need to stand on a seat to press the buttons. After initially doing this I did find a remote, but it doesn't seem to work. I made myself a sandwich and chilled out for a while before deciding to make the most of my afternoon with some birding.
 |
Cargo ship at Port Hedland Probably carrying iron ore. |
I started at Cemetery Beach, where turtles come in to nest – not too much here, a reef egret and couple of oystercatchers (both pied and sooties). I then went to the Cooke Point Sewer Works and popped out of my sunroof again. Again, not an awful lot, many black-winged stilts and bee-eaters on the fence hunting insects.
I knew 6 Mile Creek would be a goer though, and I was right. The tide was right out and I spent a good half hour just scanning the flats and identifying lots of waders. Seeing as I could get a better look out here I managed to ID a few Black-tailed Godwits among the Barwits, and there were loads of beautifully coloured up Great Knots and Greater Sand Plovers. A female white-breasted whistler even flew in close. It was quite pleasant out there – the mozzies whined near my ears, but didn't seem to be that interested in biting, there were a few flies, but not an infuriating amount, and although it was humid, it wasn't too hot and a nice breeze was blowing. Being out there made my day so much better. So far this trip 6 Mile Creek has been the best wader spot due to neap tides while I was at Broome. After doing up my daily bird list I found that today has yielded the most species so far – 59 in all.
I am now back in my room, and about to get changed and head out to find food and karaoke.
Wow, dinner was huge. For $18 I got the following - A large pile of “braised lamb chops and sausages” which I dubbed “meaty slops”. Among falling off the bone lamb and sausages was plenty of gravy, bacon, mushrooms and onion. Very tasty, but I couldn't finish it. This was served with 2 boiled potatoes (I detected a hint of mint in their flavouring), not huge potatoes but not tiny either – could only eat one – 2 pats of butter were provided for these, I only used half of one. A good scoop of cauliflower cheese – I ate all of this, and a pile of baby carrots, beans and corn – I assume from a pack of frozen veggies – ate most of this. Washed it down with a glass of LLB at a very reasonable $3.50.
The karaoke didn't start until a bit later, so I hung around and thoroughly read the songbook – not a bad selection. I got one song in before I left – I was tired and the crowd wasn't the same as at home. Mostly workers getting drunk and being loud (and smoking like chimneys). I think I take my karaoke too seriously for country bars. :)
The shared showers here are a bit dodgy, but tolerable. At least they provide a bathmat. I couldn't get any hot water flowing, but at least the water was that cool-with-just-a-hint-of-warmth temperature and was actually quite nice anyway. I'll probably try and get off early tomorrow just in case I can't get appropriate accommodation in Point Samson and have to resort to Karratha or something. Will also find out what the roads around Millstream are like, the way it looks I might end up taking a day trip there out of Point Samson/Karratha then heading straight to Exmouth. I've pretty much decided to cull Onslow off the trip – it's just too far off the beaten track and offers too little.
17/3/2011 (Port Smith, Sandfire, Pardoo Roadhouse, De Grey River, Port Hedland, 6 Mile Creek)
Australian Bustard
Australian Pipit
Australian White Ibis
Bar-tailed Godwit
Black Kite
Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike
Black-faced Woodswallow
Black-fronted Dotterel
Black-necked Stork
Black-tailed Godwit
Black-winged Stilt
Blue-winged Kookaburra
Brahminy Kite
Brown Falcon
Brown Goshawk (H)
Brush Cuckoo (H)
Caspian Tern
Cockatiel
Crested Pigeon
Curlew Sandpiper
Eastern Reef Egret (both morphs)
Galah
Great Knot
Greater Sand Plover
Grey-crowned Babbler
Grey-tailed Tattler
Little Friarbird
Magpie Lark
Nankeen Kestrel
Peaceful Dove
Pheasant Coucal
Pied Butcherbird
Pied Cormorant
Pied Oystercatcher
Rainbow Bee-eater
Red Knot
Red-capped Plover
Red-necked Stint
Red-tailed Black Cockatoo
Red-winged Parrot
Rock Dove
Ruddy Turnstone
Rufous Whistler (H)
Silver Gull
Singing Honeyeater
Sooty Oystercatcher
Terek Sandpiper
Torresian Crow
Wedge-tailed Eagle
Whimbrel
Whistling Kite
White-bellied Sea Eagle
White-breasted Whistler
White-breasted Woodswallow
White-plumed Honeyeater
White-throated Gerygone (H)
Willie Wagtail
Yellow White-eye
Yellow-throated Miner
See a photo of the world's dodgiest toilet (as well as other photos from today) here.
