← PreviousBroome, an almost self-sufficient town in the middle of nowhereOur first stop was the spot where we'd missed the sunset the night before. We'd thought it must be very beautiful by day with the red rock and the turquoise water, and we weren't wrong.
We set off again for a very long drive towards Port Hedland, where we'd spend the night. Halfway, we stopped at a seafront beach to eat our sandwiches. That's when something unlikely happened. A couple were fishing, and a flock of seagulls was lying in wait for the fish. One bird, dumber than the others, decided to eat the bait straight off the hook and got stuck! The poor man did his best to free the gull, which was thrashing about in every direction, and when he finally managed it, the poor bird was dead. He tried to revive it by putting it in the water, but there was nothing more he could do.
On that sad note we got back on the road and finally reached our destination, just as well, because there were only three litres of petrol left in the tank. We'd come close to disaster! We found a free shower at a petrol station, then went to eat in a pub full of miners. It was "cheap Tuesday" and the place was packed. We had a burger and a beer, then went to find a quiet spot to park for the night.
Around six in the morning, rain woke us abruptly. It drummed insistently on the car and we had no choice but to open our eyes. And since we were up, we might as well hit the road, especially as it would take four hours to reach our next destination: Karijini National Park. At 10 am we reached the vast park and started the first walk. It led to a huge natural pool fed by a waterfall sliding over the rock. It was very pretty and we swam to cool off. As usual it was intensely hot, but more bearable than in the north of the country.
We went back to the car and went to see other viewpoints. We drove to the start of a walk leading to two sublime viewpoints over the gorges. The light was so bright that the camera went haywire. We finished our walks in the park with a descent into an incredible gorge.
In places the path was no more than a metre wide and we were almost walking in the water. At the end, a large circular pool was hollowed out of the rock, sheltered from the sun. It was an extraordinary sight. There we met two French travellers and shared some of our experiences. They were heading north while we were going south.
We left Karijini for Tom Price, where we'd spend the night. Like many towns in Western Australia, it only existed thanks to mining, and accommodation prices reflected that. You had to reckon on at least 200 dollars to sleep in a low-end motel. Needless to say, sleeping in the car was the obvious choice. We grabbed a bite in a strangely laid-out pub with music far too loud and, as on many nights, parked at the end of a cul-de-sac.
Our choice of spot had been a very good one. At the end of a cul-de-sac with big earth dunes on either side, it had been quiet. We woke around 7 am and dashed to Coles to buy breakfast before quickly setting off again. We'd barely left when we were faced with a problem. A big dirt road lay ahead and the GPS advised us to take it. After turning the map every which way, we realised we didn't have much choice if we didn't want to lose too much time. Getting back on the tarmac meant a five-hour delay and four hundred extra kilometres on the clock. So we took the dirt road, hoping it wouldn't be too long and, above all, that we wouldn't lose a tyre in the middle of nowhere.
After about fifty kilometres the tarmac returned, to our great relief, and we could continue more peacefully. After six hours of driving we reached our destination: Exmouth. We booked a bed in a backpackers' dorm and relaxed by the pool until evening. We found on TripAdvisor that a nice Italian restaurant was near the hotel and decided to try it. It was indeed excellent, and we went back to bed with full stomachs. We were supposed to be sleeping in a four-bed dorm, but there were only two of us. So we had a peaceful, quiet night, even if it was in bunk beds.
The alarm went off around eight and we got ready to visit Cape Range National Park, a seaside national park with breathtaking beaches. Well, that's what we'd read in the guides, and we couldn't wait to see it with our own eyes. We stopped first at Turquoise Bay. Cassandre had a whale of a time snorkelling in turquoise water so beautiful you'd think it had been photoshopped. You could position yourself in one spot and let the current carry you gently while admiring the fish. There were all kinds, and she had a feast for the eyes, especially in the very colourful corals.
After a few hours, we went to visit another beach and settled at a rest area to eat. But it was so windy that we had to resort to tricks to heat our pasta. Seeing us struggle, a retired couple from Brittany came over and struck up a conversation. They were touring the west coast of Australia for three months in a rented campervan, and they had cold beers in the fridge. They invited us for a drink and we gladly accepted. After a friendly chat, we went to Sandy Bay. It was a long beach of fine sand with the same turquoise water as before. A real postcard scene. We tried a bit of snorkelling, but the area was rather empty.
We went looking for another spot a few kilometres away. We came across a deserted beach with a sort of beach bed available. Without a second thought, we settled on it, and Cassandre dashed into the water to look at fish with the GoPro. I was very surprised to see her come back barely fifteen minutes later, but she had a good reason: she'd just come face to face with a shark! A small shark, admittedly, but a shark all the same! In the footage she'd filmed, you could instantly feel the panic when the predator came into the frame. She'd got out of the water fast, and we didn't set foot in it again there. We lounged on the bed for a while afterwards. I read while she recovered from the shock. We went back around 6 pm, and after a quick shower we returned to the excellent Italian restaurant from the night before.