Wake up this morning, was a mob of cattle in the camp at Stirling Range. A cattle truck had rolled just before we camped there, letting loose 40 cattle. Some were killed, a couple have died from eating the poisonous plants in the park and the rangers are trying to round up the rest. The smell of water in the camp ground tanks attracted them into the camp very early. We have seen one or two, but they have obviously been finding each other and this morning there was a group of about 15. We were up very late, so it was around 8am before we finally got moving. After packing up we headed over to Fitzgerald National Park to Hamersley Inlet for our next camp. We headed north, then east and then south and came down to the coast by the back door. Our trip from Stirling Range was north to Borden, East to Ongerup, then onto Jerramungup and then to Fitzgerald (a locality) 17 kilometres past Fitzgerald we turned south into Fitzgerald National Park. Once we left Stirling Range National Park, we were in much open and drier land. It is mainly sheep, wheat and gypsum. The tree started to thin out and we were entering more desert like conditions. Without off road gear, you arrive at Hamersley Inlet by going to Ravensthorpe and down to Hopetoun – we saved a fair bit of mileage by being able to use the dirt road straight down, although there were sections that were a little rough.
The bottlebrush at our lunch spot, were very different to anything else that we have seen. The bushes had very small leaves and spare flowers. The structure was of desert type plants. There were a lot of bird calls, but we couldn’t see them. Everything was only about 1.5 metres high. The soil is very sandy.
There was a natural sandstone barrier forming the waterhole. With the cloud cover it was noticeably cooler once we turned south.
The inlet is not open to the ocean, but with heavy rain, the sand bar is washing away about once every ten years. We were hesitant to head to the coast because of the high wind. It is forecast 47 kilometres an hour tomorrow, however this camp is protected from the beach, so we hope that we are not boarding the SS Camper Trailer here.
Everything is very new, so the camping area has had a very recent upgrade. The sites are $10 per night. All are levelled and terraced.
When we got to the camp ground, no one was there, so we had the pick of the sites. We had barely positioned the trailer, when two other vans arrived. One left and the others are staying the night. We had a nice chat with them. There are plenty of birds here, but plenty of cover, so although we can hear them, they are difficult to see. There is a houseboat based on the inlet which you can hire. We haven’t seen it as yet. The water is shallow and the salinity level rises in the dry season. White sand borders it, but it is not appealing to swim in as it looks stagnant. We are going to put the kayak in and have a go fishing.
Some of the decorative images laser cut from stainless steel.
It seems strange that it is called an inlet when 90% of the time there is no access to the ocean, it is more like a coastal lake.
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