20-Jul-2005
| We headed 250kms southwest from Barn Hill to a place called 80 Mile Beach. The journey took us along the edge of the Great Sandy Desert but on a nice bitumen road. 80 Mile Beach is just a caravan park sat behind the dunes of the beach. The nearest town is Port Headland some 230kms to the southwest or Broome about 300kms northeast so its in quite a remote location and a very popular stopover for people heading north and south in Western Australia. It's also a popular spot for fishermen. There was a 10km sand track that led into the caravan park and it was a bit like driving into an oasis because palm trees appeared as we got close. They had had some unseasonable rain before we arrived so the sand track had turned into a bright red mud track in places but it all dried out quickly. It's a nice friendly place with good facilities so we were in no hurry to leave, very relaxing. The navigator just might lose the map to get out of here and book in for a month or two. | ||
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The white sand beach just disappears into infinity over the horizon in each direction. We drove along it for about 15kms and it didn't change, the view ahead just stayed the same, a long beautiful stretch of sand and turquoise water. 80 Mile Beach |
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Bless her, she is still swatting for her exams. | |
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The beach is covered in shells of all descriptions so a popular pastime is collecting shells as the tide goes out, and it goes out a long way - about a kilometre on spring tides. The waters edge is at the top of the dark strip but at high water it will be up to the rocks just in front of the car. It was recommended that you drove just below the last high water line but it was very soft in places so we chose to stick to the tracks in the dry sand at the top of the beach. At least the car would not get flooded if we got bogged! 80 Mile Beach at low tide |
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