From the northern suburbs of Perth to Dongara is a coastal route called the Indian Ocean Drive. We took this route as it was a scenic journey along the coast. We drove past seaside towns of Lancelin, and Cervantes, taking a short side trip to see The Pinnacles in The Namburg National Park.
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| The Pinnacles |
The Pinnacles desert is one of Australia's most unique landscapes featuring thousands of wind-carved limestone spires ranging from 1m to 3 1/2 meters tall. The formations can be viewed by either driving through on a one-way 3km trail or a 500m walking trail. We chose the latter and found it interesting and worth seeing.
A few years ago the coast road (now the Indian Ocean Drive) stopped at Lancelin and you had to drive inland to meet up with the Brand Hwy coming up from Perth, but fortunately, 18 months ago a brand new road was opened, so you can now drive all the way along the coast. We were very thankful for this as it would have meant a lot more mileage and we would have missed out on some beautiful scenery. We chose to stay overnight at a beachside camp, Sandy Cape, which had two entry points. Unfortunately, the GPS advised us to take the northern entrance which turned out to be a narrow, windy, sandy track with thick bushes on either side. It soon became evident that we weren't going to make it through. With great difficulty and Nigel's frustration, we managed to turn around and head back to the main road and enter further back down the road by the southern entrance. This road was dirt and very corrugated so we got off to a bad start with this place. After about 6 kms we arrived at the camp site only to find it was overcrowded with caravans and campers and smelly toilets, which we could notice before we got near them. We managed to squeeze into a vacant spot as it was getting dark. There were 2 not very happy campers. Sandy Cape was the first place we didn't enjoy, which is pretty good considering all the places we have stayed.
After an overnight stay here we couldn't wait to get away so we left by 7.30am in order to have breakfast at the coastal town of Green Head further up the coast.
Green Head
We found a lovely grassy spot overlooking a delightful bay and stayed all morning enjoying the swimming at the beach. There were flushing toilets and fresh water showers on the shore.
Now there were 2 very happy campers.
Further up the coast we spent 2 nights at a free camp spot right on the beach at Cliff Head just south of Dongara but unfortunately the beach was covered in a thick layer of sea grass. Nice views, though overlooking the sea. There had been a fire which had come through here a few months ago so all the vegetation around us was black. Apparently, it was started by a lightning strike. Another picturesque spot on the coast was Port Denison/Dongarra where we had another breakfast overlooking the sea on another gorgeous day.
Ellendale Pool
Continuing north, we headed away from the coast to stay at a scenic water hole in the river called Ellendale Pool, 30 kms southeast of Geraldton as we were told this was a lovely spot. On our way we drove through the middle of a wind farm with 54 giant turbines. It was the first time we have seen up close a large windfarm.
Ellendale Pool is surrounded by giant gum trees and rocky cliffs and is a picnic and camping area. Unfortunately, the flies spoilt our time here so we only stayed 2 nights.
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| double click on photo to see the flies |
Some people don't seem to be bothered by all the flies but we can't stand having to keep brushing them away from around our faces while trying to talk. Carol wore her fly net for the second time on our travels. We managed to kayak down the short river having to stop every now and then to brush the flies away. Not pleasant. We walked up to the top of the cliff overlooking the campsite with Carol wearing her fly net all the way. There was a flushing toilet here and a charge of $5 a night by an honesty box. Very good value.
Geraldton 24 - 25 May
At this stage of the journey we realised how nice it was to leave our overnight stays early in the morning and drive to a spot where we could get a nice view and have breakfast overlooking the sea. As Ellendale Pool was so close this is what we did going on to our next destination, the City of Geraldton, on the coast.
We were looking forward to coming here as it was one of the ports of call on our Asian cruise two years previously almost to the day. We knew then that we would be coming back again one day while travelling the country in our caravan.The weather was the same too, cloudless blue sky and pleasantly warm. Shopping again and even MacDonalds for a lunch special and 50c ice cream. (Special treat). We always have a busy time while in a city as there is washing and shopping to be done to replenish our depleted supplies. As we didn't need to go into a caravan park here we decided to use the laundrette here to catch up on our washing.
Geraldton is 415 kms north of Perth and has a population of just over 40,000 and rapidly growing due to mining in the mid west region.
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| HMAS Sydney Memorial |
There are some very nice safe and sheltered beaches here, one being town beach where we had a lovely swim, the only ones in the water. The weather was glorious so we enjoyed a chicken and chips meal watching the sun setting over the horizon.
As we needed to spend 2 days in Geraldton we headed out 20kms to a camp site in the Chapman Valley for the night. The facilities which included a drop toilet and shelters over BBQ areas were made by prisioners doing community work and were very new. We thought that was a great idea using the men in this way. 
On our way back into Geraldton we stopped at Bunnings to get a gas bottle filled and bumped into Ron, the man we travelled with for a while back in early February and said goodbye to him in Broken Hill, NSW. We were amazed to meet him as we had no contact with him since that time. We may bump into him again perhaps down the track when we least expect it. The day was spent enjoying the township and going for a walk to view the town, beach and port facilities from the nearby hill.Sadly we had to leave Geraldton as we needed to move on. This town will become a major West Australian city in the years to come as more than $19 billion worth of projects are being planned or proposed for the Mid West in the next 5-7 years.
Next blog is Geraldton to Canarvon
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