Last stop before we arrive in Broome and hand the camper back. We travelled about 470 km from Karratha today, and in advance, decided to only stay one day here, instead arriving in Broome one day earlier than planned, to get ready for the next phase of our holiday through the Gibb River Road and the Kimberley.

Nevertheless, Eighty Mile Beach is stunning, even though the 10 km drive in on dirt was jarring and risked breakage inside the van. We need to travel very carefully as we exit tomorrow, to survive our last (minor) off-sealed-road travel. The camper has been good but not built for the dirt roads at all. In any case, this beach area is renowned for fishing at high tide and 4WD and quad-bike riding along the very extensive beach, as images below will show. The tide just goes out and out and out, and the beach extends in both directions as far as the eye can see.

My only minor quarrel with the camp here (maybe old man’s syndrome) is the prevalence of quad bikes around the camp during the day, which I feel do spoil the otherwise quiet ambience of this place. Alternatively, for some people the novelty is fun, so I shall just practice tolerance. Having said that, maybe coming from the nanny state, I do wonder whether at some stage the unregulated use of quad bikes in this area and particularly on the beach at speed (with no roll bars or helmets) could lead to some inevitable accidents in the future. I hope not but seeing a young man hoon up the sand this evening did concern me. I will contemplate my response but perhaps I just need to pull my head in.

Before I present today’s images, I must mention the ‘highway one’ runway for emergency landing for the Flying Doctors we encountered yesterday. Very cool, as a widened section  ready for a safe landing of one of their planes, somewhere south of Karratha. We did debate whether that was an emergency for the plane or for a patient and concluded the latter.

Up until today, road trains only comprised a maximum of three wagons. Today north of Karratha, we have stepped up to four wagons. Thankfully, none going our way, at least that we encountered. Many heading in the direction of both Newman and Tom Price, via the inland road, into the heart of the Pilbara mining district.

Again lovely scenery for those so inclined, that changed from arid, to flat, to undulating, with rocky outcrops, to lush in parts, and so on. In any case, it kept us interested.

Roads from Perth to our current destination, and on the coast roads too, have been very well paved, and very smooth. Very impressed with the maintenance program given the big wet that is experienced in these parts. Indeed we commented that we have not yet encountered any damaged shoulders on these roads that have been all too apparent in parts of country Victoria highways in recent years. Clearly they are doing something right here in WA.

The start of the train coming into Port Hedland, you just may need to zoom in.

And the back end of the same train.

Yes, time to get off the road and let this crew through. They took up all of the road and thankfully we had some space to follow those in front and evade this mechanical monster and its entourage.

Next four images are Eighty Mile Beach, earlier as the tide was starting to turn, and later as the tide was still going out all the way past sunset. A very impressive, expansive and attractive beach. However, sadly not so amenable to swimming, with nasties in the water much of the year, and some sharks in the region too I believe.