Derby to Broome

We got an early start again (we can hardly wait to get back home and sleep in) and were in Broome by 10:30. We had a bundle of mail waiting for us, and Joy could connect to the internet via her phone for the first time since Katherine (is that really only nine days ago?) After setting up and paying the outstanding bills, we went to explore Broome. Our first stop was Cable Beach. It's just over the sand dunes from the caravan park. We can certainly understand why sun lovers like it here. Next we went to Gantheaume Point, the tip of the peninsula where the lighthouse stands. The aboriginal people hold this to be a very sacred site, the place where aboriginal people were first created, and where their spirits return after death to await rebirth. It is certainly a most incredible place. We took lots of photos, but none capture it well. At very low tide dinosaur prints can be seen on the exposed rock, with a cast on display at the top of the rocks. We then drove to the other side of the peninsula to the wharf, smaller than we expected. Next stop was Chinatown, and the new shopping area nearby. We went into Paspaley's to look at the pearls. The pearls are so large that they look like fake pearls, but the $64,000 price tag on the pearl necklace in the photo indicates that they are real. The salesperson told us that Australia produces the best pearls in the world. The oysters are farmed, and pearls are harvested every two years. Finally, back to our caravan, with a stop at the Japanese cemetery, a reminder of the Japanese divers and other workers who contributed to the pearling industry here in the past. The cemetery has been restored recently, thanks to a generous private donation.

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Broome to Cape Leveque

We left our caravan in Broome and drove to Cape Leveque, the north west point on the Australian continent. Until today Barrie considered that the worst road he had ever driven on was the Tanami Road out of Halls Creek. Despite the poor road Musso isn't anywhere near as dusty as it was after the Tanimi Road. The road up was sandy, very wide in parts, and quite narrow and with very high edges in other sections. We are staying the night here in a unit, the most basic of the serviced accommodation, is one of three in the same building. We have a room that has a queen bed and two single beds, a fridge, a table with tea and coffee, and a large box on the floor containing cutlery, plastic crockery and some basic cooking utensils, and no key to lock the door. Outside under shade cloth is a plastic dining setting and a gas barbecue. The top of the range accommodation is the safari tents, high up with views over the water and their own bathrooms — at $200 a night, more than double what we are paying. At the bottom are palm frond Beach Shelters facing onto the beach, bring your own everything.

After arriving we walked down to Western Beach, the best place to watch the sun set we were told. We then walked around the Cape. There is an island just offshore at the extremity, but that area is sacred to the local aborigines and off limits. From the swimming beach on the eastern side we walked as close to the north west extremity of the mainland so Joy could have her photo taken at this 'extremity'. It's hot up here, so after walking back to our unit we were ready for a swim. The beach is beautiful. However, once in the water we discovered that rocks are a hazard when taking a dip. The sunset, supposedly spectacular, was far less impressive than many we see at home. Sunsets need clouds or smoke and neither were present.

In caravan parks people walk to the amenities block in their night attire, with or without dressing gowns. In Derby we were fascinated to watch a man with a slow, stately walk head off on a particularly long walk for his shower dressed only in a towel. Barrie obviously was impressed (or maybe it was going for his shower after the swim and forgetting to take his clothes with him) as he returned to the unit wrapped only in his towel (sorry, no photo).

Cape Leveque to Broome

We enjoyed our visit to Cape Leveque. However, we were disappointed in what we found there, perhaps our expectations were too high. It had been described to us at Mataranka as 'the most beautiful spot on earth'. We have seen better. It is the most remote spot we have visited (200 km on an unsealed road) and this appeals to many who visit it. Driving back we both concentrated on the road. Even Joy watches the road constantly when she is likely to be thrown about by a hole or a hump.

We had planned to visit a couple of the aboriginal communities on the way back to Broome, but they were closed today (Saturday). We tend not to think about what day it is when making our plans for sightseeing. We arrived back in time to visit the Telecentre and to do a bit of shopping. Today is Broome Cup day, and some businesses normally open were closed or closed early. Barrie admired a couple of old pearling luggers while Joy was in the Telecentre (another where it's possible to plug in her own laptop).

We revisited Gantheaume Point (through the traffic trying to park outside the race course) to see if we could better capture the feel of this special place with our cameras. We took lots of photos, there's plenty to choose from.

Clouds during the day promised a lovely sunset from Cable Beach this evening. Unfortunately, by sunset there was not a cloud in the sky, and the sunset was very similar to last night's.

Broome to Sandfire Roadhouse

Sandfire Roadhouse is about midway between Broome and Port Hedland, and the first point to refill with fuel along the road. There's little to be said about the drive. It's flat and mostly straight. Some of it is grassland, some treed. Some trees, all the same type, were covered with what looked like debris from a flood, but as that seemed extremely unlikely we assume that it was another plant. When we phoned to make a booking we were told that they are never full here. There are about 12 powered sites, and five staying overnight tonight. Facilities could best be described as 'basic', but they are adequate. We arrived about lunch time so had plenty of time to rest, relax and do a load of washing. Wandering around are a number of geese with some fluffy yellow goslings and peacocks (looks like an early morning tomorrow). Over the fence we can see ostriches, horses and a bull.

Filling the fuel tank to capacity with the large hoses used by the road train drivers can be difficult. Today, the rapid fall to half full suggested that the tank had not been filled completely. We watched as the needle fell into the red, and decided that when the bottom of the needle touched the bottom of the red we would have to stop and put in fuel from our jerrycans. We arrived at the roadhouse just before that occurred. Barrie then pumped (with the regular hose) 70.48 litres into Musso's tank, which has a capacity of 70 litres.

We had driven over a small dead kangaroo on the road, and heard it hit the underside. When we set up we discovered that it had pulled the water outlet down and this had rubbed on the road along the way. The sullage bucket now sits under the van instead of to the side until we buy a new hose (hopefully tomorrow).

Sandfire Roadhouse to Port Hedland

Today has been different! For the first time since leaving home we drove most of the journey under a cloudy sky. We even had to use the windscreen wipers for a few swipes. In addition, the wind picked up, one of the very few days we have had any wind, and we had to drive straight into a strong headwind which slowed us down a bit. As the afternoon progressed the sky became greyer and the wind increased. A cold front with a smattering of rain and a lot of wind passed through. After a short interval of calm, it started to rain steadily. We had been hoping to arrive home without seeing any rain or adverse wind during our holiday, but today, more than two months into the holiday, has put an end to that hope.

Once again, the road was flat and mainly straight. Occasionally we saw rock formations rising out of the plain reminding us that we are entering the Pilbara. One stretch had several varieties of flowering plants, nothing spectacular from the road. Just as we decided to stop and take a closer look next time we saw a particular red flowering bush, the flowers went away.

 It's amazing how you don't miss things until you see them again. Things such as a house beside the road and powerlines running across the countryside.

Some of the buildings associated with a large mining port could be seen more than 20 km away from the town. The large numbers of road trains driving around the town we have not seen elsewhere. The entry to Port Hedland reminded us of Geelong — a saltworks with evaporation pools and a mound of white salt. Nearby were a couple of Sturt Desert Peas. Our van's waterworks is now fixed.

Port Hedland

Musso was due for another service and Barrie took it in this morning. The left hand front suspension stabiliser bar has been broken and can't be fixed easily, so must wait until we return home. Otherwise, everything seems to be okay despite some of the rough terrain to which it has been subjected recently. Joy used the time to defrost the fridge, clean over the carpet and other household chores.

We drove around the town and visited the port and the town's observation tower. Everything in this town seems to be stained red. At the dock a number of ships were being loaded with iron ore, and two graders were working industriously on a large pile of salt. Out to sea six ships were waiting to enter the port. Five have been waiting at least since last night.

The observation tower gives a good view across Port Hedland in all directions. The stairs become steeper as you climb up. The last flight is a ladder, straight up. Neither of us wanted to climb that high. We visited the nearby art gallery, displaying work by local artists, passing the old Methodist Church and adjoining minister's residence, circa 1908 and very red. We looked at the tiger ironstone gallery, but resisted the temptation to buy. Barrie's very good at resisting temptation to spend money. Finally, we visited Pretty Pool, a tidal inlet near our caravan park.

When planning this trip we were aware that one of the sights to see in Broome is the Staircase to the Moon, a natural phenomenon that occurs over three nights around the full moon in the winter months. We were sorry that we were not able to include that in our schedule, particularly as we watched the moon becoming fuller while we were in Broome and realised that we were missing it by only a couple of days. We discovered that Port Hedland also has a Staircase to the Moon, and tonight is the first night of three, with the beach adjacent to the caravan park being an ideal spot to view the 'Staircase'. The phenomenon occurs when the moon reflects off mudflats, giving the appearance of steps leading up to the moon.

Port Hedland to Karratha

This morning was cool enough for many people in the caravan park to be wearing something warm over their summer clothing. As the day has progressed, the temperature has increased, although the strong breeze is cool.

Once again, the road was flat and the countryside very dry, in places grassless also. We saw several clumps of Sturt Desert Peas alongside the road, amazed that such beautiful flowers grow in such harsh terrain. Hills broke the flatness from time to time. Seen from a distance these were a beautiful mauve with darker patches. Closer, the darker patches were seen to be dark red boulders. The boulders indicate that this area of Australia is more weathered than the solid rock hills of the Kimberley.

Once settled at Karratha we drove back through Roebourne and towards the coast. We couldn't resist the 'world renowned' fish and chips at 'the most popular fish and chip shop in WA', Moby's Kitchen at Point Samson. The fish was nice and the setting, a cool veranda overlooking the sea, was very pleasant. From Point Samson the Cape Lambert iron ore ship loading jetty can be seen. On the main road we had to wait for a trainload of iron ore to pass, fortunately not long despite the length of the train.

We visited Cossack, a small abandoned town that has had many of its buildings beautifully restored. It was the original home of the WA pearling fleet. However, overfishing of the pearling grounds and a series of cyclones in the late 1800s caused the pearling fleet to move to Broome. Going back for another look at Roebourne, we found several beautiful old sandstone buildings there also. Established in 1866, it is the oldest town between Geraldton and Darwin.

The Burrup Peninsula, just a few kilometres along the road from here, also has a Staircase to the Moon.

Karratha (Dampier and the Burrup Peninsula)

What an incredible place! When we checked into the Karratha caravan park the receptionist said that Dampier was worth a visit. She said that when we saw it we wouldn't wonder why the housing expansion required for the industries at Dampier caused the creation of Karratha, but rather how they managed to build any houses at Dampier at all.

Dampier is home to three large industrial projects: Dampier Salt Works, Hamersley Iron and Woodside Liquefied Natural Gas. Driving to Dampier, the highway and the railway run between Dampier Salt's evaporation pans. From the lookout approaching Dampier it is possible to see the extent of these evaporation pans. They cover a huge area.

Dampier has been built on red boulders. Everywhere there are piles of these boulders. The whole of the Burrup Peninsula also is covered with boulders. Dampier has a huge harbour area for the shipment of Iron Ore. We saw two trains passing one another, one bring ore in, the other returning for more. The laden train had three engines pulling it, the other had two. Both had scores of trucks behind them. Hamersley runs tours of their facility, but the two for today were fully booked.

We drove along the Burrup Peninsula to Woodside's installation. Their Visitor Centre plays a half hour video describing the building of the offshore platforms and the processing plant to extract the by products from the gas and the cooling and storage processes. We were awe struck by the planning that would have been required to coordinate the construction of this facility (at a cost of $12 billion).

Driving back along the Peninsula we took a side road to Hearson's Cove, a popular swimming beach. No one was prepared to brave the water with the strong easterly wind stirring it up. We drove along a track looking for aboriginal rock carvings that apparently are plentiful in the area, but turned back due to lack of specific directions and declining road conditions. On two occasions we saw kangaroos hopping past, and were amazed by their gracefulness and their ability to hop from rock to rock up the hills. Desert Peas are everywhere. We also saw Mulla Mulla, a plant we have seen on the side of the road on many occasions, some wattle and a blue flower for which we can find no name.

Karratha to Nanutarra

Another straight, flat stretch of road today. The terrain varied from totally flat to Pilbara hills all around. The hills are beautiful from a distance, when they appear purple.

There were more dead kangaroos on the road than we have been seeing. A salutary reminder of the need to maintain vigilance when driving is the little white commemorative crosses along the roadside. We see these most days. Today we saw at least five, including two pairs. On the flat roads out here the only apparent explanations for road deaths are inattention and the kangaroos and cattle that cross the road.

The parking area at the Nanutarra roadhouse at lunch time illustrated the high proportion of caravans among the travellers on the road.

We walked down to the Ashburton River, one of the few Pilbara rivers that flow all year. It's quite a pretty picnic spot, and used by travellers who want to stop for a meal break but don't want to use roadhouse facilities.

If Sandfire Roadhouse is 'basic but adequate', Nanutarra Roadhouse's caravan park has to be at least one level below this. For some reason, it is better patronised than Sandfire, and is full. The showers, three ladies' and four men's, are in very small cubicles. The shower areas themselves are screened by a shower curtain, the very small change area in front of each shower is open. Clearly, the management had had complaints from enough women to cause them to screened the whole shower area, at the far end of the 'amenities', with an additional curtain. However, none of the women here are prepared to shower with anyone else in the common (and very small) shower area. One woman described trying to move aside the outer curtain to investigate the showers and having it held very firmly in place by the woman behind it. Another woman, on seeing the area, decided to get up very early, before anyone else was around, to shower. The men's showers are all directly opposite the main door, without the benefit of an additional curtain, and any man undressing or dressing is on display to whomever might be entering, or walking past, whenever the outer door is opened. Floor covering is a couple of flattened cardboard boxes (fresh today). Having evaluated the area when we arrived, we showered mid-afternoon.

Nanutarra to Exmouth

There were two taps for the whole Nanutarra park, and our immediate neighbours, apparently not realising that this was the case, had attached their hose to one of them, as we discovered in the morning when Barrie went to refill the bucket.. This is the first time we have not had running water. About 4 am we heard someone wandering around outside. Checking through the window, we saw that several cattle were wandering around the caravan park. Shortly after, one bumped against our caravan. Just as well we knew what it was. This morning the cattle were still nearby, a big Brahmin bull grazing beside the road.

Another flat road today. In places it was quite green, something we have not seen for many weeks. However, most of the greenery was shrubs; there seemed to be very little for the wandering cattle to eat. There were a number of flowering shrubs, mainly wattle, on the side of the road, and some other flowers also. We passed more of the Pilbara hills, then left the Pilbara and entered the Gascoyne. Turning right, we drove along an excellent, and very quiet, road, then headed north to Exmouth. The northbound road was very barren. Termite mounds reappeared, looking like little minarets. We saw a flock of sheep, the first sheep we have seen for weeks.

Exmouth is the most distant (as the crow flies) point from home. From now on we will be getting closer to home each time we move. After depositing our caravan, we drove back down the road to Shothole Canyon Road, which winds through the bottom of a canyon whose cliffs show the effects of seismic explosive charges in the 1950s search for oil in the area. This was a very pretty drive, with a climb to lookout across the canyon at its end. Further down the main road we took the Charles Knife Canyon Road, also built for the 1950s oil exploration. This road runs along the top of the hills looking down into the canyons. There are spectacular views from several lookouts, down canyons and across to the sea. Some of the canyons reminded us of the US Grand Canyon.

Exmouth has a fishing industry. Twenty-four hours earlier, tonight's prawn dinner was still swimming in the ocean.

Exmouth

Today we followed the road to North West Cape, then down the west side of the peninsula to Yardie Creek. There are two national parks here, Ningaloo Marine Park, which encompasses a coral reef, and Cape Range National Park. There are beautiful beaches all the way along the coast, most with only one vehicle in the car park. We stopped first at Bundegi beach at the top of the Exmouth Gulf, the locals' swimming beach. We admired the view from the Vlamingh Head lighthouse, and walked on the beach below it. The rocks on the beach appeared to have the imprints of ancient sea creatures across them. The water all the way down the coast was a beautiful turquoise with a darker band and breakers further out indicating the presence of the reef.

A sign requested that we not feed the emus. We saw two of them along the road today. On two occasions we saw a kangaroo sitting on the road. On the second occasion, the kangaroo remained in the centre of the road as we approached. Fortunately, Barrie slowed right down, as it decided to hop across in front of us just as we reached it. There were a few Desert Peas along the road. These are different to the more common variety, in that they have a pale, rather than black, centre.

At Yardie Creek we took a walk along the top of the gorge to look down on a large pool and sandy beach at what appeared to be the end of the water. From the lookout, we clambered down to the water's edge, then climbed back further along. Joy was flattered by the young man whose girlfriend had given up well before the climb down, who complimented her on getting so far. He was the only person we met on the track who walked as far along the gorge as we did.

Driving back we stopped at Mangrove Bay and walked into the bird hide which overlooks a small wet area enclosed by mangroves. There were only a couple of birds to be seen today, although it must look spectacular in the summer when the birds return from their overseas holidays. There were a number of pelicans on the bay itself.

Our last stop for the day was at North West Cape. Offshore is the wreck of the Mildura, a cattle ship that sank in a 1907 cyclone.

Exmouth to Coral Bay

A mere 150 km drive today, the early part back along the road we travelled two days ago. That section is very barren. Further along it became greener, but remained treeless and still with the minaret shaped termite mounds. Most of the way the road ran along the bottom of a shallow valley, further inhibiting the view.

We arrived in Coral Bay at 10, and had to wait until 11 to get into the caravan park (they did warn us, we forgot). Coral Bay is towards the southern end of the Ningaloo Marine Park. It consists of little more than two caravan parks and a small shopping centre. While waiting, we investigated snorkelling tours. Our caravan park offered one departing at 11:30, the last for the day, so, after being let in fifteen minutes early, we hurried to set up the van and walked next door to buy the last two seats on the boat, then down to the beach and onto our glass bottom boat.

Today was one of the highlights of our trip. The coral here is absolutely fantastic. It starts a few metres offshore and continues uninterrupted well out to sea. The water is shallow, and the boat glides just above the coral. The coral we saw at Green Island rates a very poor second compared with what we saw today. However, the marine life at Green Island was more spectacular.. After anchoring well offshore, on a sandy bottom, we were able to go snorkelling above the coral. The boat crew bring fish food, and there are plenty of fish, and plenty of varieties, to be seen. We saw several large clams, although not as big as the Green Island ones, also manta rays and sea slugs. Those on the boat ahead of us had seen a turtle. We had an hour for snorkelling, however most people found the water too cold to remain that long. With everyone else shivering on the boat after 45 minutes, Joy, the only one still in the water, climbed out also. On the way back we were shown a single, very large, coral estimated to be 1500 years old. At a third of the price of the Green Island tour, and given what we say, today's tour was exceptional value.

Coral Bay to Carnarvon

We were woken at 4 am by heavy rain. It didn't last long, but was repeated an hour later. There was a strong wind today as we travelled, mostly side on, but occasionally a headwind. Since arriving in Carnarvon we have experienced several showers, driven by very strong winds.

The first section of the road was a repeat of the featureless road down to Coral Bay. We did, however, see a group of five emus at the edge of the road and we crossed the Tropic of Capricorn. Back on the main highway we started to see patches of wildflowers, mainly white, yellow and purple. In places these carpet the edge of the road and back into the undergrowth.

Joy visited Carnarvon with three other girls some 35 years ago. At that time there was only one caravan park, and after looking at it they decided that they might not be safe there, and drove south to the first station property and asked if they could stay there. Today there are seven caravan parks in Carnarvon. We are staying in that same caravan park, vastly more attractive to visitors than it was 35 years ago. And we have an en suite due to a cancellation, what luxury!

After setting up, we drove to a cliff side area that has extensive blowholes. With the strong westerly wind, some of the sprays were very spectacular. On the way back Carnarvon we stopped to take photos of a banana plantation and the OTC satellite dish, a landmark that can be seen for miles but no longer in use. We hadn't seen any crops for several weeks (or is that several months, we lose track of time completely?). In Carnarvon we have seen bananas, mangos and various vegetables growing. Unfortunately, the fruit winery was closed so we weren't able to compare mango wine with other fruit wines.

We thought we would walk along the mile long jetty but it was closed today due to the strong winds.

Carnarvon to Hamelin Pool

The drive today was once again flat and featureless, particularly at the Carnarvon end. The road south was incredibly straight for 200 km, with very few curves. The only animals we saw today were goats, several small groups of them. One gave us a fright when it ran across in front of us before we were aware that it was there. At least it saw the need to run, unlike the cattle that amble across the road. We were passed (heading south like us) by two road trains and their support vehicles, each carrying a very large metal 'box', edges only, no enclosing sides. Another driver speculated over the CB that these had mistakenly been taken north and were being returned. As he said, they don't manufacture that sort of thing up north and ship it south. The carpets of wildflowers reappeared as we came further south. Along the road we were informed that we were leaving the North West.

When Joy phoned to confirm our three night reservation at Hamelin Pool the woman answering the phone suggested that three nights here may be more than we required. Hamelin Pool is at one of the old telegraph stations. We wondered if we might be booking into a park that was down a level from Nanutarra. We were very pleased when we arrived to be given a sheltered spot under a tree, with power (between 6:30 am and 10 pm) and running water (drinking water available from a tank — and not full of chemicals, better than most town water). The couple who run the park, tearooms and museum without assistance are just lovely, and provide excellent service. It's one of the nicest caravan parks we have been in.

Everywhere we are walking on small seashells. In places they are up to 10 metres deep, and in the past have been cut out in blocks and used for building. These days blocks are cut only to repair existing buildings.

We wondered just where the 'Hamelin Pool' was. We discovered it is the bottom end of Shark Bay. A sandbar higher up the bay prevents the water moving freely, and evaporation gives the Hamelin Pool a very high salt content, too high for most marine life. As a consequence, bacteria normally eaten by other life forms are able to survive and form 'stromatolites' — clumps of living bacteria that can be either flat and spongy or similar to rocks. These grow very slowly and the damage done by wagon wheels over a century ago can still be seen across them.

Hamelin Pool (Steep Point)

Steep Point is the most westerly point on the Australian mainland. It is accessible only by 4WD, however the road in is very good at the moment. For the final 30 km of the 150 km journey the tyre pressure must be reduced to 20 psi as it is very sandy (fines apply).

In the caravan park we were fortunate to meet Bill and Shirley who planned to go to Steep Point today also. We drove in tandem and were able to take each others' photos when we reached the 'Most Westerly' sign. Given our inexperience with 4WDing and our low suspension it was reassuring to have someone watching over us. We had expected the road to be reasonably busy, but saw less than a dozen cars for the day, plus a number of campers along the beach.

Most of the terrain is low bush. We passed through three station properties but didn't see any animals. Signs told us not to shoot the goats. At one point we could see massive sand dunes. The first section of the road was wide, straight and smooth. After turning off that it reduced to one car width in places, with plenty of turns. After letting down our tyres we drove to the ranger station which had a phone booth outside. Joy wanted to make an 'I'm phoning from the most westerly phone in Australia' call. There was a Telstra truck there, and the phone was being replaced. The Telstra guy let Joy phone from the mobile in his truck (still the most westerly phone in Australia).

Close to Steep Point we were driving virtually along the beach. There are places for campers along there, a lovely spot to camp, although a bit open given the rising wind and threatening rain. Beyond the campers the road moved away from the beach and we started to climb. By the time we reached Steep Point we were on top of high, rocky cliffs. Across from the point is Dirk Hartog Island. As we arrived a pod of whales was passing down below. Of the four extremities of Australia, Joy now has only Wilsons Promontory to visit — which Bill tells her is a mere half day walk beyond the 20 km walk down to the lighthouse.

On the way back we visited the Zuytdorp Cliffs, and blowholes which would be spectacular if they were blowing. All we experienced was a fine mist. The blowholes are two large holes in the car park at the top of cliffs, narrowing as they go down, no fences, no warnings. It wouldn't be difficult for someone to drive into one, or walk into one, if they were not watching.

We arrived back at Hamelin to find that a tour group of Murdoch University exchange students had arrived and set up camp — all around Bill and Shirley's tent. However, the weather was so wild by then that the students were moved into the kitchen and shed for the night. Bill and Shirley had a couple of tent poles bent by gusts of strong winds.

Hamelin Pool (Monkey Mia, Denham and Shell Beach)

Today has been very windy with some showers — not what we've come to expect for our holidays. Our caravan is very well sheltered here and we didn't notice the bad weather overnight.

We drove up to Monkey Mia this morning. There are a large number of dolphins in the area, and one group of about seven come to the shore to interact with the rangers and the visitors. The dolphins are fed three times each day, between 8 and 1 with the first feeding at 8 and the other two depending on when the dolphins decide to visit again. As it was a 142 km drive, plus a stop at Denham for fuel, we decided not to try to be there for the 8 am feeding. We arrived a little after 9 and were fortunate that the dolphins were visiting at that time. After fifteen minutes of watching them as we stood knee deep in cold water the rangers decided to feed the dolphins. Buckets of fish were brought and spectators were selected to feed a fish to a dolphin. Yes, that is Joy feeding a dolphin. Also on the beach were some very cold pelicans. They frequent the area because the dolphins hunt fish there and sometimes the pelicans can get the fish first.

We drove back to Denham, a pretty little seaside town that was not looking its holiday best in today's weather. The Anglican church is built from shell blocks. Heading further south, we were reminded once more that we were leaving the North West — no wonder it is so cold. We stopped at Shell Beach, with its wide (and deep) expanse of shells. Here our luck with the weather ran out. Just as Barrie was taking Joy's photo at the water's edge a shower passed through. By the time we made our way back across the the very wide beach we were quite wet and ready for the warmth of our van.

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