From Karijini we headed north to pick up the coast at Port Headland where we stocked up with provisions and spent the night. The next day we drove on to Eighty Mile Beach where we spent a few days.

80-Mile Beach

 

The campsite at Eighty Mile Beach was wiped out by a cyclone in 2009 but it has been completely restored. It is located on the edge of a long (80 mile) beach of white sand.

Sea Snake

 

 

Whilst driving along the beach we saw what looked like a dead snake quite a long way from the water's edge.   It was a sea snake and it wasn't dead although it didn't look too happy!

Sea snake rescue

 

 

We decided to rescue it and with the aid of a shovel, carried it back to the sea where it swam off. I am sure it was thinking 'mmm, nice tasty ankle!'   About 500mtrs further on there was another stranded snake so we rescued that one as well.

Our hunter gatherer

 

Our next stop after Eighty Mile Beach was Broome. Creek Walker No2 had several unsuccessful attempts at fishing on Eighty Mile Beach so decided to treat himself to a fishing trip and came back with 4 fish which kept us fed for a couple of days

Catapillar Chain

 

We spent a day driving up a track that followed the coast. We spotted a trail of   caterpillars crossing the track all following one another head to tail. Unfortunately I think we ran over the leader and they were a bit confused!

Cliffs near James Price Point

 

 

There were some great views where the red soil met the white sand and turquoise ocean.

Driving off the beach

 

The track got very narrow the further we went and at one stage a bull ran out across the track just in front of us. As the tide was out we decided to drive back along the beach but there was an interesting climb up the cliffs at the far end.

Cable Beach Sunset

 

 

We spent a couple of relaxing days on Cable Beach. It was good to get in for a swim but a couple of salt water crocs had been spotted in the area and a fisherman had been bitten so there weren't many people in the water. Cable Beach is famous for its sunsets so here is one of the navigator's photos.

Chores on the beachKeeping the car clean

 

Some of us didn't have time to enjoy the sunset and had to get on with our chores!

 Boab Prison Tree

 

The next stop on our travels was Derby. Derby is famous for its very high tides (11 mtrs) and its Boab Tree prison. I am sure there are loads of other things it's famous for but that will do for now. Here is the Prison Tree.

 We had to decide whether to head for the Gibb River Road or stay on the bitumen and take the Gibb River Road on our return from Darwin. The road had only recently been opened after the unusually long wet season but we heard that several of the side tracks were still closed. The Information Centre advised us that the side tracks were starting to open but some would remain closed for some while as there had been extensive damage to the roads. We decided to go for the Gibb River Road. We also decided to buy a couple of 20ltr fuel containers as the first place that we could refuel was right at the limit of our range and if the road was rough we would be using more fuel.