Locations: Broome, Barn Hill, Eighty Mile Beach WA

Regions: Kimberley WA

Dates: Wednesday 21 August – Saturday 24 August 2024

Temperatures: 18 – 37 hot and sunny

Starting kilometer’s: 6096

We leave Broome around 10am with the destination of Barn Hill Beach Side Station stay 149 kilometre’s away so not a long drive today.

The landscape is arid and dry, flat and there are not a lot changes along the way. It’s also very hot today.

Barn Hill Station is a 10km drive off the Great Northern Highway along a red gravel road with four gates. At every gate we find vehicles behind our vehicle so naturally I wait to let them through. They all say thanks but not one offers to wait to shut the gate, despite my limping. Nothing surprises me these days.

The station is set along a clifftop, has a cafe where you can order the days meal, buy coffee and pastries and fresh baked bread. There are amenity blocks, huts to camp in and you can walk or drive down onto the beach.

After set down we head down to the beach for a slow walk.

The beach is lovely and currently at low tide with an amazing 7 metre tide change (probably due to the full moon this week) so goes out a long way revealing all sorts of beautiful rock and sand sculptures along the coast line.

On our return to camp we seek and find Tony and Amanda’s van; friends made in Manning Gorge. We stop by to say hello and chat a while before heading back to our van.

Thursday 22 August 2024

Temperature: 21 – 28, warm and sunny

The next day Rob takes an early run on Barn Hill Beach and I rest my foot – too much walking yesterday. Later we wander over to the cafe to get a loaf of their whole grain high top bread to go with our snags in bread for tea tonight.

At the top of the cliffs we find some pink mulla mulla wildflowers.

Later Rob returns to the beach for a high tide picture and then sunset.

Friday 23 August 2024

Temperature: 21 – 28 sunny

We have a longer drive today, 256 kilometre’s trekking down the coast line to Eighty Mile Beach.

The landscape remains desert dry, arid and flat for most of the drive with floodplains and an escarpment glimpsed in the distance.

We stop at the aptly named Sandfire roadhouse to refuel. It’s busy with a queue for fuel that takes 30 minutes!

Again we turn right off the highway towards Eighty Mile Beach Caravan Park and head down another red gravel road for 9 kilometre’s to the park. No gates today thankfully.

The park is spacious and our site is on grass and shady which is a welcome change to the red dirt and sand sites of late.

After set down we take a walk to the beach. There’s no swimming due to crocodiles and stingers and as if that isn’t enough all the fisho’s are catching sharks!

The beach is a stunner though with attractive aqua water and a lovely breeze. It can be driven on though so even more caution required…

The walk to the beach, then along and back again is enough for my ankle , it’s also very hot the past few days so we retreat into the shade for the remainder of the afternoon.

We head back to the beach for sunset and it’s a beauty over the water. The tide has gone so far out, about a kilometre at least we thought and amazingly I seem to catch a stairway to the sun photo over the flats!

Saturday 24 August 2024

Temperature: 18 – 34, hot & sunny

Today is even hotter so I catch up on some washing and making bread. My loafs aren’t optimal at present as I’m using lower protein flour, a different wholemeal to feed, it’s consistently warmer and I’m baking in the van oven so I’m trying a levain, made from my starter Millie then fed, bloomed and used in the dough but that’s not really working either. My loafs have a good crumb but there is no real rise which is frustrating.

In the cool of the late afternoon I see a pheasant walking across the top of the hedge next to the van and some White breasted Woodswallows I think, high in the treetops. If I’m correct they are related to the Artamidae family of Butcher birds, Currawongs and Magpies here in Australia.

WHITE BREASTED WOODSWALLOW

Tomorrow we are off again leaving the Kimberley for the Pilbara as we head towards Port Hedland and Karratha.

Stay safe everyone, keep well and be kind.

Lots of love Maryann and Rob xx