Pilbara Trip

Sunday 15th April 

Well we were packed and ready to go.  First stop Denham, Shark Bay.  I hadn't been there since I was 11 years old and keen to know how it had changed.  It is only about 4-5 hours from Northampton so it was a nice leisurely drive up. We were in the Blue Dolphin Caravan Park and set up with our new awning up just after lunch.

We chilled for the rest of the day/evening in anticipation of a busy couple of days.

Monday 16th April

We got up and decided to drive around Denham and see if I remembered anything from my childhood.  We met a few of the locals (left pic.).  Unfortunately the old school I used to go to had been demolished, but the picture on the right is where it used to be.  I'm pretty sure I picked out the street we used to live on (Brockman Road) but I couldn't be completely certain on the exact house.

We then ventured further out of town.

First we drove to a beautiful place called Fowlers Camp. Saw some more emu's (I've never seen such a more intensely populated area of emu's... they are everywhere) and enjoyed the spectacular views.

We ended up at beautiful Shell Beach.  I remember being here in 1981 and enjoying the feel of the shells crunch under by feet.  It was great being able to relive those memories today.

The weather was glorious and it was just the perfect day in every sense of the word.

Later that day we went down for a fish at the jetty in town.  Unfortunately we didn't catch anything but that didn't seem to matter to either of us with the views we had while sitting there.

We ended the day chatting and having cuppa's with friends back at our caravan.

Tuesday 17th April 

We were up at the crack of dawn this morning to begin a big trek to "Steep Point".  We were going in a convoy with about 8 other vehicles so was anticipating it to be a good day....and we weren't disappointed.

There was one exception....the roads in and out would have to of been the worst corrugated roads Martin and I had experienced EVER, and they went for kilometre after kilometre.  This was a small blimp on what was otherwise a fantastic day.  Here are a few memories from the day.

We got home tired but content after being on the road for about 12 hours.  Had some dinner, watched a bit of a movie to wind down... but were soon asleep.

Wednesday 18th April

After such a big day four wheel driving yesterday we decided on a quiet morning. We had a bit of a sleep in, then while I cleaned up the caravan, Martin cleaned up the car and assessed the damage after driving on those corrugated tracks. Thankfully other than a broken side mirror nothing more to report. Martin went into town to get a few supplies. Then we decided on a drive to do our last bit of site seeing before we left Denham. We went to Whalebone Bay....

 And Eagle Bluff..... Both were spectacular.

This was our first attempt of a panoramic picture.

Thursday 19^th May

Today was another long day in the car. We left Denham just after 6am and headed towards Meekatharra. The rain had started the night before and it was still drizzling when we left. We got to the Overlander Roadhouse and had some breaky and then decided we were going to take the Butchers Track as a cut through. It was a bit of a risk because of the rain and risked having to turn around if it was impassible in spots. Thankfully we got through and had to make the call whether to use another cut through track or travel back to Mullewa. As it turned out it was a good job we didn't take the cut through track as the weather got worse. The road to Mullewa was the wettest we've ever travelled and we were contemplating whether to wait it out or turn around at a couple of areas where the water had gone completely over the road. We met a nice local coming the other way who told us we were passed the worse and had a couple of water crossings to go and we should be right....so we ended up continuing and got to our destination.

We met up with our friends at their camp spot between Cue and Meekatharra at about 5.30pm. Set up the van and thankfully nothing was wet in the caravan after going through so much water. We did knock something on the step though as we were coming into the camp area, so that will need a fix up job when we get home. After a quick chat with our friends and dinner we were soon in bed after the big day.

Friday 20^th May

In comparison to yesterday the weather was beautiful this morning when we woke up. Today was the first day of prospecting for the trip. Martin went for a big walk and explored the area and got 1 (0.91gm) nugget for his efforts. I stayed closer to camp and after doing a bit of a clean up around the caravan went out and did a bit of prospecting. Unfortunately I was having a few “opportunities” with my machine so ended up back at the caravan without any nuggets. :-( We met up with the lease holders from next door and they invited us over to their lease to prospect so I think we'll be doing that tomorrow.
We ended the day with dinner around the camp fire and chatting with a few drinks.

Saturday 21^st May

We woke up to a windy morning and headed to the next door lease to try our luck. I had a bit of a prospect without any luck and Martin went a little further out and no luck for him either. The wind started to pick up more by mid morning so Martin took me back to the caravan and put the awning down. I stayed close to camp and Martin went off again. Then the rain started coming down. It wasn't too long before Martin was back and we spent most of the afternoon indoors out of the rain watching movies. Its forecast to be better weather tomorrow so fingers crossed.

Sunday 22^nd May

 Just as forecast we woke up to a chilly but fine morning. I decided to get straight into prospecting as soon as I finished breaky and covered as much as I could of the camp area. Unfortunately still no luck. I took these pictures of the camp site while I was waiting for the others to return.

Martin had better luck this morning and returned with a .52 grammer :-) We had some lunch then Martin went out again. I had a bit more of a go around camp but still nothing for me.


We ended the day around the camp fire. It was a beautiful full moon.

Monday 23^rd May

We got up this morning and started packing up and getting ready to leave our friends to catch up with some others. We said our good byes to them and the people who's lease was next door, and headed towards Meekatharra to restock and touch base with family back at Perth. Martin got an email from the people were were supposed to be catching up with in Wiluna in a couple of days and said there was a change of plans and that they were in a different location.
Martin estimated we would be their by night fall.

So we travelled east again until we got to Leinster and then headed out the back on a dirt track. The sun was going down quick and we were now not going to make the camp before dark. We didn't realise at that stage just how long we had to go.

We reached a gate off the main track where our map was telling us to go through. In hindsight this is where we should of stopped for the night but hindsight is a wonderful thing isn't it :-)
We continued through the gate and down the fence line tracks and through cocky gates. Over big rocks and through boggy sand tracks. We pushed and pushed through tracks that were way too much for our little caravan. At one stage we got slightly bogged and Martin had to put our tyres down a bit to get through. It was way passed dark and it was evident that we still had some way to go so we decided to pull over at the side of the track and have some dinner and a cuppa and decide what to do next.

The decision was to stay there the night. So we literally fell in to bed and decided to continue our journey in the morning.

Tuesday 24^th May

Martin was up early the next morning and keen to get going. We packed up the caravan and headed towards the “camp” on the map that our friends had given us. Again on narrow tracks and with not much evidence of many vehicles being there before. We went over creek crossings, along wire fences (which ripped out the 240v plug Martin put in previously) and after several hours finally reached what was supposed to be where they were camped....according to the map. But there was no sign of anyone...anywhere. We beeped the horn, because even if they were a couple of kilometres away they would of heard us. Martin got out of the car and went for a wander to see if he could find any sign of a camp site. But there was nothing. Martin came back and we then needed to decide do we stay there for a couple of days or do we just turn around and try and find another way back to some sort of major road/track and back into a town...any town.
There were some grey clouds coming over so that pretty much made our decision. If we got much rain we would be here for who knows how long. Martin found a spot to turn around and we headed back past the creek crossing and back to what closely resembled a track a few kilometres back.
We were surprised to pass a few vehicles and were given brief instructions on where to go the opposite way we'd just travelled to get back to Laverton. We were happy to be anywhere except the way we had just gone. So we followed our small track back to a large major gravel track. Yippee!!

As is seemed we were over the worst of it we decided to stop for a cuppa and something to eat. Martin had a chance to asses the damage. Thankfully nothing that wasn't fixable. Once we were done Martin helped me back in the car and off we went. It turns out we were about 80kms our of Laverton. I've never been so pleased to see a town after what we'd just been through.

We pulled into the fuel station to refuel and when Martin got back into the car he just looked at me and said “we've had a woopsy”. I laughed and asked what he'd meant. Apparently we'd just drove the last 80kms on a gravel road with the door of the caravan latched open and somewhere along the line one of our spare caravan tyres had disappeared. Thankfully other than a caravan now full of red dust nothing else had fallen out. All in all we were very lucky and had a bit of a laugh about it.

We tried locating a new tyre without any luck and then decided to head through to Leonora to find somewhere to camp for the night.
We found a spot just out of Leonora. Set up camp. Rang our friends we had left what seemed like weeks ago and filled them in with our adventures over the last couple of days. We decided to meet back up with them north of Meekatharra tomorrow. I put some dinner on and weren't long out of bed.

Wednesday 25^th May

Martin was up early again and tried his luck with the detector. He found an ordinary teaspoon for his efforts. The rain was coming down slightly so we had some breaky and packed up camp. We had some things to do at the Mining Department in Leonora, got some more fuel and then headed back on the long drive back towards where we had been only a few days before.
We did go a different way though which was nice seeing some new scenery and Martin liked some of the areas we passed and said he'd like to check some of them out at a later date.
Finally pulled in to Meekatharra just before dark and got some supplies and fuel. We were supposed to fill up our water tank as well but that got missed....but we have plenty on reserve so we should be fine for a few days.
We travelled the 120km's north of Meekatharra that we needed to to meet up with our friends. Just as we were pulling into the track where we were meeting them Martin came across a “not so friendly” guy telling us to stay off his lease OR ELSE. After Martin explaining that we were not going near his lease and had no interest in going near it, he was still not very friendly so Martin just got in the car and we finally met up with our friends and they led us back to where they were camped.
We filled them in with some of our adventures and then set up camp and put some dinner on. We decided to even watch a movie tonight.

Thursday 26^th May

It was so nice waking up this morning knowing we did not have to rush off anywhere. We spent the morning setting up camp properly , hanging out the washing, having a well needed shower, giving the van a well needed clean and Martin did a few fix-up jobs on the caravan.
Then he went off detecting while I did some more cleaning up and just chilled at the caravan for a while.
Martin came back for a break with a nugget. And then went out again and got another 2 for a total days weight of .9gms for the day.

After lunch I went out with June and got 2 nuggets and then went out again with Martin when he got back from his afternoon prospect and got another 2 nuggets for a total of .41gms for the day. A PB for me for amount of nuggets found in a day. :-)

Friday 27^th May

Today I spent most of the day at the caravan while Martin went out prospecting. He wanted to use the SDC on a spot he felt was going to be good. And it was :-) He got his personal best of amount of nuggets for the day. He got 44 nuggets which weighed just over 10 grams. I got another 3 nuggets in the area I got my 4 from yesterday, when Martin got back later on in the afternoon. All in all a great gold prospecting day.

Saturday 28^th May

Another day in paradise and another morning for Martin prospecting. He tried a few new places and picked up a few more bits to add to the kitty.

Today I went over to Martin's patch with him and while he used his detector to get the deeper pieces I used mine to get the smaller top pieces. That was how it was supposed to work but unfortunately all I found was rubbish and soon ended up sitting back at the car waiting for Martin to do what he wanted to do for the morning.

After such a big day yesterday Martin had some down time in the afternoon and felt much better for the rest.

As we sat around the camp fire tonight we remembered we'd bought marshmallows. So we all enjoyed a couple of toasted ones. This was the resulting camp fire then next morning. :-) Another great night with friends.

Sunday 29^th May

Martin got up early this morning and decided to do some raking in the spot he'd been working. This potentially could result in more gold because it means the coil can get closer to the ground and thus closer to the gold if its there. It's a lot of work but thankfully it paid off and Martin got his personal best for amount of nuggets for the day....45 nuggets :-)

We had discussed last night about going into town today for supplies. Thankfully our friend remembered it was Sunday today so potentially things would not be open...as it turned out the main shopping centre was closed on Sunday so that was a lucky call. Its so easy to lose track of days out here.

Monday 30^th May

This morning Martin took a trip into Meekatharra to pick up some supplies. Newman was still a little way off and we want to make our way up there slowly and meet up with our friends that way in about a week. That meant more supplies to tide us over.
I was pleased because that meant I would get a go with the SDC while he was gone. So I got organised, walked over to where I was getting my nuggets and turned on the machine. Within 5 minutes I could hear what I was sure was another gold target....and then the light started flashing to say the battery was about to run out. We had forgot to put the charged batteries in the machine and they were in the car which was now probably half way to town :-(
Oh well....I made a mental note of where my target was and headed back to camp to wait for Martin.

When he returned early afternoon, we unpacked the supplies and he swapped the batteries. I went over to my target and sure enough there was a little nugget waiting for me. I then had a bit more of a wander and got a personal best of 5 nuggets for my efforts. Weighing just under .5gm total.

So when I got back (which was only about half an hour or so) Martin decided to go do a few hours in his “normal” spot and see if he can get a few nuggets before dark.

 I stayed back at camp and took these photos of camp and of the beautiful skyline as the sun was going down. Such lucky people we are to live in this great country.






When everyone got home, just on dark, Martin showed me the 10 extra nuggets (3.47gms) he got for his couple of hours detecting, and then the boys collected wood and revved up the camp fire again. We sat around chatting, having a few drinks and eating dinner and then all went back to our camp “homes” when the fire was dying down.

Tuesday 31^st May

Martin was keen to get back to his spot and do some more raking. Our friends had decided to go further out and try some new spots. I stayed at camp and caught up on some sorting and updating the blog. The power in the batteries was running low so kept everything off so they had a chance to recharge.
Martin got back for morning tea with 11 nuggets (2.07gms) from his normal spot. The raking is hard work though and his wrist was feeling it. I went for a quick detect while Martin was back (Martin followed to help me dig), together we picked up a small nugget when Martin was swinging the detector on the way back as I was getting tired. Yay!

Here is the way we've travelled so far.... still not in the Pilbara yet though :-/

More nuggets for Martin this afternoon. And a quiet night for everyone.

Wednesday 1^st June

It was with some sadness that we said goodbye to our friends this morning as they set off further north. We had a pretty relaxing morning reflecting on what we've achieved so far and pretty much just taking in our surroundings. Eventually Martin decided to go for a detect and after trying a few new spots without success he went back to his patch and picked up another dozen or so nuggets to add to the kitty. I stayed close to camp and had a little bit of a detect but the ground was really noisy today, which made it hard to hear targets and as such didn't find anything this time round.
It felt different not having our neighbours camping across from us. And after a nice chat from Sarah on the phone we sat down for dinner and then a movie, before going to sleep.

Thursday 2^nd June

Martin went off this morning after breakfast to his usual spot and I went for a detect just near our camp. I came back with 3 nuggets for 0.4gms and when Martin came back just before 12noon he had 11 nuggets for 4.95gms. After a bit of a rest and some food and drink he went back out to do some more.
Martin helped me when he got back to get another couple of nuggets out of my patch which made 5 for the day.
After another successful afternoon for Martin, we discussed the impending rain forecast for our area and what that meant for us. We decided that rather than being stuck here (which may occur if it rains for the 4 days forecast) we would go to Newman caravan for a couple of days. We would do some car and caravan maintenance, cleanup, do some washing and basically “regroup” and get ready for the next half of our trip. We could then decide on our next plan of action.

Friday 3^rd June

So we got up and Martin went for a last detect at his patch and I had a last go in my patch. Martin came back with another couple to add to the kitty and with Martin's help I added another 2 to my collection which now totalled 25 nuggets. Yippee!!!
By the time Martin returned I had pretty much had the inside packed up and he started packing up the outside. It wasn't long before we were on the road . This had been a very successful stop with just shy of 2 ounces found between the two of us.

It was just over 300km's to Newman and after a stop at the Kumarina Roadhouse for a drink and munchies.....

and a quick cuppa at the side of the road about 50kms out of Newman we were there and checking into the Kalgan's Rest caravan park. YAY!!!! We're officially in the Pilbara.

We setup and then started the well needed cleanup of the red dust from both us and the caravan and the car. It felt so good to be really clean.  We ended the night with a few drinks outside under the awning, then dinner and a movie.

Saturday 4^th June

These little fellows welcomed us at breakfast this morning. :-) After breakfast we headed in to town to do some shopping. Martin dropped me back at the caravan to put things away while he went and chased down a replacement for that allusive spare tyre we left all those kilometres away near Laverton. Also some bits for his car to do a service.
On his return he did a few “fix up” jobs on the caravan and car and we then basically just caught up with emails etc. and discussed what our plans are for tomorrow and onwards. As yet we are undecided and still watching that rain which as yet has not eventuated.

Sunday 5^th June

We finally got the rain they've been forecasting last night which helped us make the decision to stay here for an extra couple of days, while it passes. Martin heard that one of the main highways we will be travelling on later on in our trip has been closed. Hopefully it will of dried out by the time we get there.
Martin went investigating some potential gold spots that didn't involve going down boggy tracks, with a guy he'd met in the caravan park who is interested in getting involved in gold prospecting. Unfortunately for both it didn't eventuate with any gold but they both had a good time. I stayed back at the caravan and caught up with some washing and just chillaxed.
We spent some of the night investigating further possible places online and catching up with emails, blog, banking etc. I can hear the rain coming down outside as I type this. Im glad we had our trusty caravan keeping us warm and dry :-)

Monday 6^th June

Martin ventured off again this morning with his new mate from a few campsites down to see if they could find some gold. They had quite an adventure.... but unfortunately no gold. Here is Martin's rendition of what happened.......

“Went out from Newman this morning to do some detecting down to an old alluvial dry blowing area I found on Google Earth. 22 km off the main road and then 5 more km down a washed out rutted-as-hell track and got there only just. Driving my NS modded 3.2. (Pajero) detected only for an hour and the rain came in and decided to get out whilst I could. Well it was a good decision, as it poured down,and first was a deep crossing with steep entry and exit to deal with, the Pajero did it effortlessly only to find the track washed out making me slide down the deep ruts, but she just kept going pulling me through. After a few close slippery calls I hit the main track out, that was flooded, but in 4H centre diff locked she drove over the slime and through even the wettest muddy patches imaginable. I must say I got fairly worried for a while there as it was all water over the track but sure enough the Pajero lived up to her reputation and got us to the bitumen safely. I wouldn’t of trusted many other vehicles to do what she did so when your life depends on a vehicle be very thoughtful of your choice.”

It certainly is a small world. While Martin was out this morning it turned out that one of the guys from last years DWAG Muster and his wife had turned up and was camped right next door. We chatted to them for a while under the awning on Martins return until the rain got too heavy and we both retreated into our respective camps.

I was pleased Martin got home safely after I heard about what they'd been through. He was surprised that the closer he got to the caravan park the dryer it got....but it wasn't long before the rain caught up and we packed up what needed to be, and got ready for a nice warm, dry night indoors catching up with computer “stuff” and watching a movie.

Tuesday 7^th June

Last night we had the heaviest rains we've had since being on the road this time round. I thought we were going to get stuck in the caravan park. But thankfully when we awoke it wasn't too bad. We did our normal pack up, and said our goodbyes to our new found friends, and headed towards our next destination, Tom Price, which was some 300 odd km's away. We drove through some gorgeous scenery,

..including through the Karijini National Park. I saw what Im pretty sure was a wild Dingo. We are planning on a few day trips in here while we're camped in Tom Price.

We stopped into a very nice Rest Spot at Mount Robinson for a cuppa and a break from driving for Martin.

Finally pulled into Tom Price about 2pm and searched down the caravan park which was a couple of kilometres out of town. It was very picturesque with large mountains surrounding us from all directions.

We set up camp then decided to do a drive into town to see what it was like and what was there.

I was very surprised and how nice and green it looked and seemed to have above and beyond the usual infrastructure of a country town. We dropped in on the Visitors Centre and treated ourselves with some memento’s. I bought myself a pair of iron ore earrings. I had no idea iron ore could look so good.

We stumbled across a fish van so decided to get some local (Exmouth) seafood. We just need to work out now how we're going to fit it into the caravan freezer :-/

Martin wasn't feeling the best tonight, and it was particularly cold, so we had an early night in bed.

Wednesday 8^th June

Martin was still not feeling the best this morning so we decided on a quiet morning at the van so that he could rest. It was well worth it because by early afternoon he was feeling much better. We decided to take a drive up to Mount Nameless which was not very far from the caravan park we are staying at. It is the second highest vehicle accessible mountain in Western Australia at 1128 metres above sea level.

The views were spectacular and unfortunately the pictures just don't do it justice but it was an amazing place to be.

We then went to the shops and picked up a few supplies and went back to the caravan for the rest of the day and night. Tonight was a very clear night and very cold.

Thursday 9^th June

Today was Karijini National Park day....YAY!!!! We had a great time and saw as much as I possible could. There were way to many pics taken to display or make a collage so so thought a video might be better. It was an early night to bed after such a big day. I was exhausted.

Friday 10^th June

We thought we would try our luck with some prospecting today. Martins mate had told him about a site he'd got gold before about 30km's out of town. So with instructions on the laptop and GPS ready we headed out. We travelled far down the track and saw some stunning scenery. That seems to be the normal around here. We stopped at several places where Martin thought they may of potential by unfortunately today was just not our day and there was no gold to be found. We had a good day out though.

Saturday 11^th June

Today is our last day in Tom Price Caravan Park. It was a lovely day and the sun was shining. Martin spent it servicing his car, cleaning it inside and out, and picking up some supplies from town before we go back into the outback. I spent it sorting through photos and updating the blog and basically just cleaning up inside the caravan.

Sunday 12^th June

We got up, had breakfast, packed up, then set off on our next leg of our trip. We left Tom Price and headed towards Paraburdoo.

We took of photo of this “Tonka” Truck on the way out.... they breed them big in these parts :-)

We hadn't been caught by a an iron ore train since we'd been on the road this trip and this morning we had to stop for two. One full....

And one empty......................

After a quick “tour” of Paraburdoo and trying to work out which way we were supposed to be going we headed out again on the road towards Nanutarru. We stopped off at some scrapes which Martin though may look promising from Google Earth. We contemplated setting up camp there but decided against that and continue on to the intersection where we were to meet up with our friends in a couple of days.
It was just a spot at a rest spot next to the road so not at all secluded or that quiet with the fairly frequent traffic going by, but it will be fine for the next couple of night until we meet up with our friends on Tuesday.
We set up camp. Martin went for a quick detect in the general vicinity without any luck. I started getting dinner ready and organise things inside the caravan. I unfortunately had trouble falling asleep … not sure why....maybe because I was so used to the tranquillity of being in the middle of nowhere, or being in a caravan park which were generally pretty quiet at night as well. On a positive though it was a lot warmer here at night which was a welcome change to the cold night at Tom Price.

Monday 13^th June

We spent the morning around the campsite not doing much. In the afternoon Martin decided to go for a bit of an explore with the car. I stayed back at the caravan.

He didn't find any gold but he came across this cute little fellow and his Mum and Dad in his travels. I was disappointed I didn't see him.

When he got back it was pretty much time to settle in for the evening.

Tuesday 14^th June

We woke up with great anticipation in catching up with our friends which we had missed earlier in our holiday. It was a nice surprise to see them a couple of hours earlier than we were expecting them. After a cuppa and initial hellos Martin and I continued with the packing up of our caravan and then we followed them out to a sport out the back of Paraburdoo, down a gravel track, through creek beds and over hills, up and down steep inclines. After about an hour of travelling we finally got to our desired destination. Such a beautiful place. We are apparently in a volcano, with the hills around being the parameter of the volcano.
When we'd unhitched Martin got the detector out and found a small piece just outside where our caravan was set up. It was an encouraging sign for the days to come.
Unfortunately that wasn't the end of the driving though for our friend. He quickly unhitched his caravan and did a quick set up and then him and Martin headed back out to where we just were to wait for another couple who were also coming out to camp with us. It was dark before they all returned. It was a welcome site to see the car headlights coming through the hills.
We all said our hellos. Everyone got their drinks organised, after a long day in the car for most. Martin got the camp fire going and Phil got the BBQ got revved up. Me and Gale, who stayed back, had made the salads for everyone while we were waiting.
So after a late dinner and a bit of a catchup around the camp fire we all retreated back into our vans. Martin and I watched and movie. It was another cold night but thankfully I fell asleep ok.

Wednesday 15^th June

Martin was up before the sun got up this morning. He was keen to get that coil on the ground :-) He got the camp fire revved up and watched the sun come up. Such beautiful pictures. I was still tucked up nice and warm in bed.

 

The other two couples spent the morning finalising the set-ups of their caravans. I went for a little detect but didn't find anything. Martin went out for a detect also and didn't find anything either. The ground here is particularly noisy, probably due to the high water content. Hopefully that will improve the longer we're here without it raining.
I decided to just do “stuff” around the camp site (washing, dishes, relaxing) and Martin took my detector out to see if he could find something with that. Still no luck so he decided to go back to his. And FINALLY.....he was rewarded for his efforts with 2.8gms of gold. YAY!!! I went for a little go again myself when he returned and went over a spot one of our friends said he heard a target and had kindly left it for me. Sure enough there was a little nugget waiting for me to dig up. :-) So all in all a good day considering it was our real first day here.

We ended the day around the camp fire again and had the last of the pack of marshmallows that we had opened a couple of weeks ago. Yummy....roasted marshmallows!!!!

Thursday 16^th June

Today did not start well. Martin decided to have a shower. First it appeared there was a blockage in the pipes somewhere and then the water pump stopped working and at one point there was smoke coming from the batteries. Frustrations were running high but after a quick cuppa and breakfast break and a chance to step back and think Martin got it fixed (albeit a temporary fix for some of it) and we were able to have our showers this morning.

After losing a few hours stuffing around with the shower Martin went out a bit further from camp in the car and decided to do some raking at a spot he'd seen yesterday at a spot where apparently 600 ounces had previously been taken out. He was gone for most of the day and his efforts were duly rewarded with 21 pieces, weighing about 3.5gms.

I stayed back at the caravan and continued to have some issues with the fridge going out...which I was able to turn back on. Consequently it was going to be a bit of a “seafood basket” for dinner tonight with the seafood that had begun to thaw a little with the fridge not being on.
We all congregated around the camp fire again tonight and chatted and had a few drinks. Martin decided to go for a night detect because the ground noise should have been quieter because of it being cooler. He found 1 small bit.

We then snuggled up in bed and watched a movie. I was relieved that it wasn't as cold as it had been.

Friday 17^th June

Martin went in to Paraburdoo this morning nice and early to get some more fuel, water and supplies. I stayed back and got things sorted at the caravan. I had a productive morning making the pizza dough for dinner tonight and even went for a prospect and found my first real “sun baker” nugget. It was a lovely clear signal and I only moved a few top rocks and there it was just sitting on top of the soil. I was very excited.

When Martin returned we put away the shopping and then Martin was keen to go out and get the coil on the ground. He went back to his “patch” and came back with 20 odd nuggets.

We decided to cook the pizzas in the camp oven, and what a great idea that turned out to be. Without doubt the best pizza's we have ever made.

Saturday 18^th June

It's hard to believe there is only 1 week left of our adventure, and what an adventure it's been so far. Like always, after breakfast Martin was keen to get out detecting. Back to his patch where he is now confident he can pick up a nice palm full of nuggets in a morning or so.
Everyone else got organised and went their prospective ways to find that elusive nugget or patch.
A few nuggets were found and true to Martin's previous form he came back about lunch time with a handful of little nuggets. He had a bit of a rest and then he took me to a new place just up the hill from where we were camping. I managed to find another two nuggets to add to my collection.
When we got back to camp Martin decided to go out and check out some new ground. That was short lived because he couldn't find his GPS. After a search in the caravan and car he assumed that it must be up where he was this morning... or on the track somewhere between camp and that spot. So off he went to look for it. He didn't return until a few hours later so I assumed he'd found it...and he had. He then decided to go with Plan A and check out that new spot he found. That unfortunately didn't eventuate with any gold.

Our friends we're camping with have friends in Paraburdoo who came over tonight to have dinner and drinks with us all. While dinner was being cooked Martin went out for a night detect...unfortunately no gold was found. We had a roast dinner cooked in the camp ovens. It was absolutely amazing, the extra flavour from cooking on the fire is just awesome.

It was a great night, with lots of laughs, with great food and great company. I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

Sunday 19^th June

It was a long morning. It started at 3am with Martin getting up and having to put away the awning because of the wind was blowing it around. He stayed up and had a cup of tea after that and then I laid awake for a while before getting a little bit more sleep.

As always Martin was out prospecting straight after breakfast. He came back mid morning and asked if I'd like to come over and look for some nuggets in a new patch he had just found which was fairly level. When we had got over there there were about 6 little piles of rocks where he had got signals and thought I might like to detect them so he can help me dig them up. Sure enough each little pile produced a nugget... I continued to find my own nuggets and found a further 17. Martin found a further 27 nuggets for the day. The weight tally between the both of us was a good 2/3 of ounce for this area, with still a few days detecting to go before we were on our way.

The fridge was starting to play up again and was turning off more and more regularly.
After dinner Martin and Phil went for a night detect, and got a good handful for his efforts. I started to watch a movie but I was just so tired after such an early start that I ended up having an early night.

Monday 20^th June

I felt much better this morning after a good nights sleep. With the problems that we continue to have with our fridge Phil offered to put his generator on so that we could run our fridge on 240V for a while to get the freezer all frozen again.

Martin went back to his new patch, everyone else went in their cars in search of new land. It was discovered that their detectors weren't picking up the small pieces that our SDC is picking up which means they need to find somewhere where there are bigger bits that their detectors will pick up.
Martin came back mid morning with another 10 nuggets and came and pick me up to go for another detect in his patch. Again when I had got there there were little piles of rocks around where he head got good signals with the high possibility of gold. I went through all his piles with a few which were false signals and also found a few of my own. I ended up with 12 nuggets for about an hour or so's work.

We came back to camp, at which stage everyone else was returning also, and swapped stories about our mornings. We had some lunch, then Martin went out behind our camp to see if he could find any other nuggets, maybe a little bigger than the tiny ones we'd been finding. Not that we're complaining :-)

When Martin got back that afternoon we discussed the obvious clouds coming over and what that meant for our departure day. It was originally going to be Wednesday but with what seemed like impending rain we decided to make the call and leave tomorrow.

We spent our last night around the camp fire admiring the full moon.

Tuesday 21^st of June, 2016

Martin got up early again this morning and got these magical pictures as the sun was coming up.

It wasn't long before I was up and had breakfast organising and started to pack up the inside while Martin was busy packing up the outside.
The friends we were with had originally decided to stay another week but they too decided to pack up this morning so as not to get stuck so far off the beaten track. So it was all systems go for everyone as we packed up our camps.
By just after 9am we were all packed and ready to convoy the long hour and half drive out of here and back on to the main road. (Albeit gravel)

Once we were on the main road we said our goodbyes and we went left and they went right. We had had a great time together.

So we were now heading towards Karratha.

We saw on the map that we could take a RIO TINTO access road as a short cut so decided to do so. We read the signs that we needed a permit but decided to take our chances and just go through. It turned out to be a silly move because sure enough we were stopped and had to go back a couple of kilometres and complete an online training module which then gave us our permit to drive on the road. We had lunch and a cuppa while Martin completed the training. Eventually we were back on the road.

It was not the best of gravel roads but it saved us several kilometres and by late afternoon we were pulling in to Karratha and trying to track down the Caravan Park. We got set up and started the usual set up and charging of laptops etc.
That night I got in touch with family and organised a catchup BBQ on Thursday night while will be fun.

Wednesday 22^nd June

Martin went in search of a mate he has in Karratha while I stayed back at the caravan park. The rain seems to of followed us and what was a warm night last night has turned into a drizzly morning. When Martin had returned from his catchup (and got his car checked after going over all those tracks.....and got a few parts for the SDC that had broken along the way), we had lunch and then decided to go on a bit of a venture around.

First we went to Dampier. We stopped in at the information bay and Martin found the statue of a celebrity of one of his favourite films "Red Dog" and had to get a photo with him.

 

Then checked out the coast. It was nice being down at the ocean after being inland for all those weeks.

Then through Roebourne and Wickham to get to Point Samson....

The rain had really settled in for the night by the time we got home.

Thursday 23^rd June

Tonight we are catching up with my cousin so after breakfast Martin went to the shops and got some supplies for a BBQ. Not long after getting back we got a call from the friends we had spent time with in Denham all those weeks ago. They were also in Karratha and wanted to know if we were keen to go do some detecting with them.

Well of course the answer was yes so we packed the detectors in the car and headed to the spot where we'd agreed to meet.

They took us out to a spot where someone had recently found 60 ounces. It was a bit too rocky for me so I did a little bit of detecting on the track and found a tiny piece of lead and then went back to the car. Martin ventured a bit further and picked up a couple of small pieces which was good.
We had a cuppa and a chat with our friends, Martin went for another quick detect and then it was time for us to say our goodbyes for a second time so that Martin and I could go and get ready for the BBQ.

We had a great night catching up with family. Great hosts, great food and drinks, and lots of laughs, stories and reminiscing of times gone by.
We were both tired by the time we got back to the caravan.

Friday 24^th June

This morning we woke and and packed up knowing we were now heading towards home. It was a bit bitter sweet. We left the caravan park at about 9am and heading south to what at this stage was an unknown destination.

Basically the plan was to drive until Martin wanted to stop for the day. So we drove and drove, and took breaks when Martin needed them.

When we got to the intersection where you turn off to Coral Bay and Exmouth the main highway was closed so we had no choice but to head down the road towards these place. I looked on the map and realised that we were going to be about 13km from Coral Bay when we were at that intersection. It was about 3pm at this stage and was nearing the time when we would be starting to decide where we were going to stay for the night. It was an easy decision really to turn into Coral Bay. Neither of us had been there before and heard lots about it.

So we went the 13kms down the road. I was amazed at how many people were there considering it was not school holidays and the weather was still very average with the rain still falling every now and again. The two caravan parks both looked packed but Martin went into the first one and asked if they had any bays for 1 night. Lucky for us they were able to fit us in to an unpowered bay right at the back.

So we quickly dropped off the van and went for a drive around to investigate. We were fast running out of light. Martin grabbed his fishing rod, bought some bait at the local shop and we soon found the boat ramp which seemed as good a place as any to chuck in a line. We stayed there for a little while but nothing was biting so we packed up, did some more driving around and then went back to the van for dinner.

Tonight was our last night of our holiday, we finished it off with a movie.

Saturday 25^th June

I cooked up a big cooked breakfast this morning in anticipation of a big day in the car. I wasn't wrong. We were in the car about 8 and a half hours. Took several breaks along the way. But finally pulled into home at about 5.30pm.

Here is the second part of our travels.

It was a wonderful 6 weeks, about 7600 kilometres travelled, and we've made memories we will remember for ever, I’m sure.