The flight from Newman to Perth took us over spinifex-covered red sandy landscape - lots of dots of colour like in Aboriginal art. The spinifex turns from yellow to green with rainfall. The photo doesn't do it justice but is a lovely memory for me. After the workshop I managed to catch up with Melanie in Perth. She took me to a German restaurant, hence the yummy wurst, sauerkraut and beer. She's decided to return to NZ at the end of the year, so this may be the last time I see her in WA.
Our beach walks are continuing, and we can even get out in the middle of the day at weekends because it's winter. Daytime temperatures have dropped to a dizzy late 20/early 30 degrees, and at night it's around the mid-teens. That's meant we can now use a thin duvet rather than a sheet. What a joy it is, being able to snuggle up to sleep! And it's only early winter, so there's potential for things to chill even more. The main downside is the shorter days. Our weekday walks have to happen pretty soon after I get home from work. Annoying bitey insects come and go, and that's frustrating as it's still a bit too warm to cover up in long sleeves. We took a walk along the Hedland beach alongside the port and watched the latest bulk iron-ore ship come in, escorted by tugboats. The route is tricky because of the reef, so they chopper out experienced ship pilots from Hedland to steer them in safely. Several huge ships come and go every day - a massive logistical operation.
There seem to be less corals at this time of year. Most are only visible at very low tide, so maybe it's more a case of timing. For some reason, orange is the new black on the beach right now, even the starfish are sporting this season's colour. Cemetery Beach is a good place to find them all, mainly because it's very accessible and a lovely walk whatever the tide is doing. Octopus Soccer is still a thing, with one particularly high scoring game ending at 14:9 - to me! I was way ahead for ages, then Peter had a sudden rush at the end. Not enough alas, eh Peter? As it's my blog, I don't have to point out how unusual that is...
One of our Pretty Pool beach walks at low tide was particularly special. We'd seen a large group (100's) of crabs once before in our very early days, and assumed it was a usual event. But we didn't see it again until this walk, and this time it was millions of crabs making their way out further to the sea. Walking along the sandy beach at low tide, we were suddenly aware that the ground was rippling. At first, we thought it was us disturbing the crabs, but then realised that they were scampering everywhere all over the beach, as far as the eye could see. No idea what we were witnessing. There are reports of a mystery crab migration off WA's Shark Bay (possibly swimming out of the bay to less salty water to breed), but otherwise Google isn't telling us more. It seems that much of crab culture is as yet unknown, but hopefully one day we'll find out what that was about.
Peter's still fishing a few times a week, and also catching. Mostly he catches at Finucane but sometimes he's lucky at Cemetery Beach. Tides, timing and wind combinations seem to make all the difference to success. The filleted fish is a Tusk fish, aka Bluebone. Peter's very good at filleting these days, and delish fish features heavily in our diet.
This month my work road tripping has also taken me to Marble Bar and Nullagine. Both small towns have Nursing Posts rather than health centres. They're staffed by a single registered nurse who runs daily clinics and is also on call 24/7. Each site has an ambulance that the nurse can use. They should be supported by an enrolled nurse, but this is a bit hit and miss as skilled staff are not easy to find. A doctor from the Royal Flying Doctors Service (RFDS) flies in to run a weekly clinic on both sites. It's incredibly high skills and commitment territory for these amazing nurses. Nullagine is a further 112kms from Marble bar, along a heavily corrugated and rough dirt road - bra tightening definitely a necessity! The lovely Vangie accommodated Sonja (Regional Nurse Educator) and me in her Nullagine home as the only other accommodation option wasn't available. She and her dogs Charlie and Noonoo provided totally awesome hospitality and even a sunrise tour of the surrounds which was surprisingly green and serene.
Marble Bar, allegedly Australia's hottest town, was our next destination. In January this year, Marble Bar ended a 26-day straight stretch of maximums over 43 degrees. In 1923 and 1924 it recorded the longest heatwave - 160 days over 37.7 degrees. Happily, it's winter and the day temperatures currently are similar to Hedland, and cooler overnight (yay!!). We stayed in the iconic Iron Clad Hotel where we could enjoy the only bar in town. Both Nullagine and Marble Bar were previously much bigger towns thanks to gold discovered in them thar hills in the 1890's. Prospecting continues to be an actual thing that has quite a significant following, and there's still a working gold mine. There are a few geological and scenic places around Marble Bar that I'd love to return to explore one day, including the huge deposits of jasper crossing the local river that were mistakenly believed to be marble back in the day, hence the town name. We'll have to squeeze in a weekend in the roof top tent before Peter heads back to NZ.
This inland trip was made more special because I managed to score a flight home with the RFDS doctor in this tiny plane. Just a half hour flight, low enough to get fabulous views of the land. Big swathes of iron ore deposits are clearly visible from the sky, along with several dry, tree-lined riverbeds. The Hedland salt lakes soon came into view, and we flew right over the port before landing.
Another poor photo that serves as a reminder that we have been a bit social this month. This was the stage for the Red Country Music Festival that was held in South Hedland at the weekend. It was a day event with an impressive number of bands lined up. The main draw card was Lee Kernaghan, Australian country music legend honoured in recognition of his support for rural and regional Australia. Most of the crowd were familiar with his most famous tracks like 'Boys from the Bush' and 'The Outback Club'. All the other bands were good too. Great to have live music opportunities in such a remote place. Everything outdoors seems to happen in these few winter months, and there are heaps of campervan visitors to Hedland making the most of the social events and pleasant temperatures.
Another month rolls by, and we've been looking ahead to our next holiday to Broome. We've booked a campsite for a couple of nights before checking into more solid accommodation when Clare and Roy arrive. I'd have loved to get to the Bungle Bungles but that won't happen as there are too many logistics that take up heaps of time and money. It's a shame but there's so much to see and you just can't do everything. We're also counting down to Peter's return to Onamalutu in August. One thing's for sure, he's gonna need plenty of firewood and warm clothes!
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