Beacon | Cue | Mount Augustus | Gascoyne Junction | Carnarvon | Kalbarri
Normally we would be shearing at this time of year, but because we’d got out of sheep, we were free to travel, anywhere. With the destination unknown at the time of leaving, we made a quick decision to turn right at the farm gate. This meant that the road trip would take us to the north of the state.
It was the colours that drew me back; the intensity of the blue skies, red dirt, and green trees.
It’s almost 20 years since we were in this part of the world. We took our daughters on a trip to the Kimberleys. Other than the distance involved, I recall feeling wanting to go back there one day. I am not certain if that was connected to a sense of place, or if it was simply the fact of being on holiday with my family.
This time, in total we drove for 2 500 kilometres, much of it towing a caravan. Apart from a 4-hour drive between Meekatharra, Mt Augustus, and Gascoyne Junction, the roads were sealed.
For the most part, we stayed in caravan parks, with the exception of two nights where we chose to park at a beach, and one night in the bush. The bush camp is located 30km north of the Beacon Townsite. Billiburning Reserve has pleasant picnic and camping facilities with tables, fire pits and a toilet. Lucky Bay is a beautiful coastal campground 40 km south of Kalbarri.
Not being a sophisticated camper, I dreaded the idea of sleeping on the beach with no access to a shower. It became easier though because I knew that I could go for a swim in the fresh salty water. Trying hard not to become a creature of habit and in my endeavour to live a little, the ‘no shower’ idea was simply not an issue. I discovered Baby Wipes a few years ago and now carry them as a holiday essential.
The two caravan parks that stand out as memorable for me were the Gascoyne Junction Holiday Park and the Dalwallinu Caravan Park. I say that because the owners/managers could not have done more to make our time in the park comfortable. Credit where it is due.
Although rumours in the city indicated that accommodation was at its peak in the northwest, we found it easy to book at the last minute. Mount Magnet (the middle of nowhere) was the only town without accommodation.
We travelled through the old, gold-rich, mining towns of Cue, Mount Magnet and Meekatharra. In Cue, we discovered Big Bell, an abandoned town that once contained 10,000 residents. The remains of the grand hotel still stand.
The town now boasts about 200 residents. It wasn’t a cheap place. I paid $10 for 50 tea bags. The caravan park was humming, but the streets were quiet. I could sense the history of the town as I cycled through it, seeing the abandoned, once-grand buildings. The Cue CRC contains the most interesting and comprehensive collection of historical photos of the town in its heyday.
Big Bell’s abandoned and derelict hotel.
Reaching the summit of mount augustus
Our destination quickly became Mount Augustus, a rock widely claimed to be the world’s largest monolith, although this hasn’t been geologically substantiated.
It is more than twice the size of Uluru (Ayers Rock), and of course, we climbed it, taking 7 hours to reach the summit.
Sad to say but just this week, three people lost their lives here. It is one of the most remote places in the state. In fact, it would be impossible to climb to the summit in the warmer weather. We struggled in temperatures in the low 20s.
We stayed two nights at the Mount Augustus Tourist Park before heading westwards towards the coast. It had rained on the last night so we had to take a detour on our towards Gascoyne Junction because the roads had been closed. Distances here are extremely vast. It took us most of the day to get to Gascoyne Junction, stopping only for lunch at Rocky Pool.
See images below.
