Suzanne & Nic Outback Caravan Trip 2025

 June 29th: Today we part ways with Craig and Jill, and we said goodbye over a coffee at the EcoRetreat! I admired the Spinifex all over again!  We set off full of promise to reach the Yannarie 24 hour stop on the way to Carnarvon before nightfall. We were about 110 km east of Nanutarra roadhouse and I was driving at only 85 km/ hour when I looked out the rear vision mirror and saw rubber stripping off what turned out to be the drivers side caravan tyre. I was able to pull off the road and the caravan remained very stable, however the tyre and the tyre rim was totally destroyed! We tried to change the tyre ourselves but the machine tightened wheel nuts were too difficult to undo and our jack proved to be totally inadequate! We tried to call for help but no phone reception so the recess emergency apps did not work. We tried to set up Starlink but our inverter didn’t like being shaken up and refused to turn on! A kind couple stopped but they had no tyre repair equipment but woul...

 June 28th: I got up early to look for spinifex pigeons and painted finches at Joffre gorge, but we did not have much luck seeing them, but were able to hear the finches. We saw the black faced cuckoo shrike. We went to Knox gorge with Craig and Jill. This turned out to be the only gorge walk we have been on so far that was  labelled level 5 for difficulty,  and it really was a level 5! We clambered down many steep ironstone rocks some in makeshift steps others not so discernible as actual steps, more little challenges! We reached the bottom of the gorge where there was a small lake with very blue water. In trees overhanging this water there were many bats hanging upside down in the branches. We then proceeded to the right along the valley floor across many loose rocks and crisscrossing the stream running the length of the gorge. On one part we had shuffle around on a narrow rock ledge finding hand holes to support our weight in the rocks above. We reached the end of the ...

 June 27th: Had a morning of admin stuff- Nic with end of financial year issues and I wrote a review for Live Ningaloo and then sorted out our itinerary and booked all camp sites until we reach Perth. We were told that Newman mine (BHP) is extending its autonomous operations over next 2 weeks so there are no mine tours being held, so we decided on a change of plan- we would head for Carnarvon and down coast to Perth. Coastal sites were heavily booked due to WA school holidays so we are including a number of farm stays. In the afternoon Nic and I walked the Kalamina Gorge which was a delightful walk beside a stream once you got down into the gorge via many stone steps, ending in the Rock arch pool.  We got home by 5.30pm and Jill had made salmon Pattie’s which we had with salad preceded by chips and gin and tonic with a bottle of Shiraz with the main course!  We then played scrabble in the caravan and very uncharacteristically I won! Rock arch pool   

 June 26th: Our campsite is so big that we wanted to invite Jill and Craig to share it with us, which we were able to arrange when they came to visit us in the morning. We then walked to Joffre look out 1 and Joffre Falls in the Gorge and then around to Joffre Lookout 2. We saw Spinifex pigeons, Australasian grebes in the pool in the gorge diving such that they looked a bit like platypuses, and painted finches. The iron in the walls of the gorge makes the rocks so hard and so red! Jill and Craig went to pick up their tent from Dales campground 40km away and bring it to ours. Nic and I did the Weano Lower Gorge Walk except for the handrail section to the waters edge. I cooked us all Vegie sauce with onions red capsicum zucchini mushrooms celery chick peas kidney beans and tomatoes with pasta and Parmesan and salad to accompany Snappy gum Joffre gorge Australasian Grebe Jill and Nic in Joffre gorge Spinifex pigeon Port Lincoln Australian Ringneck Lower Weano Gorge Oxer Lookout

 25th June: Left Cheela Plains and travelled to Tom Price, arriving at about 11.45am to allow time for a shop at Coles and we met up with Jill & Craig  prior to us all going on a Rio Tinto tour of their mine. The cut faces of iron ore hills which had been mined and continue to be mined are immense! Huge manually operated excavators load the iron ore into huge trucks and they take the ore of various grades to machines which fill the train wagons with ore and they are taken to Dampier and Cape Lambert by a diesel operated autonomous engine. The tour leader wasn’t great at explaining the various stages of the operation, but we certainly got the impression what a huge operation it was! We then headed for Karijini EcoRetreat where we were given a huge campsite- number 66 in Wattle Loop. Surroundings were just spinifex and snappy gums and termite mounds We had Shakshuka for dinner. Iron ore wagons Huge trucks cost $3,500,000 each with tyres costing $6500 70 miles conveyor belts ...