Lauren hits the road with her border collie puppy in tow

Kimberley ADVENTURE

PART 1

BY LAUREN DARGE

When you’re overdue for a break what else do you do but hitch up and hit the road? We took this trip in late 2021 with our border collie puppy in tow. We were fortunate throughout the trip to find friends or other travellers who were able to mind our dog the few times we did things that she wasn’t allowed to.

Departing Perth, we camped at Wooramal Roadhouse the first night and made pizza for dinner. As we had a big block of time off, we wanted to head north quickly - we can explore spots closer to Perth when we have shorter periods of time off. We started early the next morning, aiming for Onslow. You see all sorts of things in the middle of nowhere, like half a dozen historic 1930s cars just south of Nanutarra! We drove past Parry Range on the way and then arrived at Onslow in the mid-afternoon. We checked out the port and salt mine and then made our way just out of town to camp at the Ashburton River. We camped at Three Mile Camp, which was a lovely spot, but the mozzies were there in plague proportions, so we had an early night. The next morning, we explored the old Onslow townsite. The town was relocated after the old jetty was rendered unusable due to the silt build up from the flooded river and cyclone damage. From here we continued north and viewed Mesa A and Warrnambool mine on the way. We wanted to camp at Panna George in Fortescue, but a permit is required to access it, so we didn't as we hadn’t organised one. We checked out Pannawonica, the Fortescue River and Karratha as potential camp spots and ended up camping at Cleaverville, just north of Karratha. The Fortescue River spot was a bit close to the road and there were lots of river stones, and Karratha was booked out, so we moved on. Burgers were on the menu that night. Cleaverville was a glorious spot and we decided to stay a few nights. The next morning, we left camp and headed to Dampier, went for a walk along the coast and visited Red Dog. We had a look at Withnell Bay and drove into Murujuga

Camped at Cleaverville.

National Park. This park hosts the largest collection of Aboriginal rock art in the world. We checked out the North Shelf Visitor Centre and Hearson Cove, then made our way back to camp. We explored the area including having a look across at Dixon Island and went for a quick swim. Then we went back to camp to put the pork roast on. In the morning we cooked brekky and kept it warm in the Travel Buddy while we packed up camp. This turned out to be a great idea as we were able to make a speedy getaway and have our bacon and egg wraps on the road. Our new Yeti travel mugs also kept our coffee nice and hot for a good hour. Continuing our way north, we popped into Samson Point for a look and explored the Cossack Museum. We drove through Roebourne and arrived in Port Hedland early in the afternoon. We were lucky to be able to book in a few days before. The next morning, we went out for brekky with a school friend of mine and then spent the rest of the day relaxing, swimming in the pool, doing a bit of washing and planning the next part of the trip. We couldn’t believe how busy it was on the road. We knew it would be busy, but not this busy! Everywhere had been booked out and even the 24-hour rest stops looked like caravan parks! We spent the rest of the time in Port Hedland exploring the markets and the town. We headed out to the Finucane area which gives you a close look at the port. There’s also a boat ramp and beach access where we pulled two bogged cars out. They were glad to see us. We ended up airing back up while watching the tugs bring a ship into the port.

The first station stay

We travelled from Port Hedland to Barn Hill Station where we spent a few days relaxing, going for walks and swimming. They do Tai Chi every morning, have bowls competitions, a weekly band performance,

pizzas, barista coffee and delicious baked treats like cinnamon scrolls and vanilla slices as well as fresh baked bread. This is a spot we are keen to revisit. Departing Barn Hill for Derby, we stopped on the side of the road to pump some fuel into the car off the tank on the trailer and to put sausage rolls in the Travel Buddy. One of our best purchases for the trip! When we arrived in Derby we topped up on a few supplies, including dog poo bags (freezer bags did the job) and dropped the dog off at the kennels so we could go to the National Park the following day. The next morning we made an early start for Windjana Gorge. We made it there before 8.00am which meant we completed the 7km walk without too many other travellers. We spotted a few crocs having a swim and a lot sunning themselves on our walk out. We next headed to Tunnel Creek which was a great adventure. It was busier there but well worth the look. We spotted a few crocs on the way, and we had to swim to complete the walk! For the added challenge, the head torch ran out of power, and I left my glasses in the car, so I only had my prescription sunglasses, making it rather dark. After collecting the dog on our way back we took her for a run on the local footy oval and then chilled back at camp.

Beach at Barn Hill Station.

First half of the Gibb

We packed up early and hit the Gibb, stopping at the ever so slightly cheaper truck fuel stop in Derby. Part way along the road we had a wee stop and the dog met her first cow. She thought it was a large dog and barked. Bet she wouldn’t have been so brave if it was any closer! We saw Queen Victoria’s head in the Napier Ranges and then stopped in at Lennard Gorge, doing the 3km walk. We decided not to clamber down to the waterfall and had a quick dip on the way out. We checked out Bells Creek as a potential camp site, but it was too early in the day to

Adcock Gorge.

stay and it wasn’t that nice in the end as there wasn’t that much water. We visited Adcock Gorge and took the dog for a walk and went for a swim at the end. It was a lovely spot we had mostly to ourselves. We then headed out onto the Gibb and across the road to a clearing to camp for the night, cooking steak on the fire under a full moon. We decided on an early start to beat the crowds and headed to Bell Gorge (although we had to back track a little as we couldn’t camp at the gorge with the dog.) The walk was lovely, and we enjoyed the swim at the bottom of the falls. It only took us about two hours including the swim. Next, we made our way to Manning Gorge, paying our camp fees for the night at the Mt Barnett Roadhouse. After parking up and going for a swim, we decided that this spot was too nice, and we decided to stay another night. There’s also a nice little area where you can let the dog off to go for a swim. This was great and she enjoyed the run around, making a few doggy friends.

We spent the afternoon swimming and cooked ribs on the fire. We all got a huge fright when a cow wandered through our camp. We left the dog at camp to do the hike into the gorge and to the falls. This was a lovely spot. We spent some time exploring up the falls, jumping off the rocks (well just me!) and swimming. We started the next morning with a cooked breakfast, packed up and headed back to Galvins Gorge from the Manning Gorge campground, which wasn’t far at all. We did the short hike with the dog who had a great time. A nice couple looked after her while we went for a quick swim at the waterfall as she wasn’t so keen for a swim. Next, we visited Jigngarrin Gorge where we took the dog on another big walk and then clambered down to the bottom of the gorge for a swim. The dog was happy to get her feet wet here. Our adventures continue in the next issue.