Cape Keraudren (cont) – 80 Mile Beach - Barn Hill Station

Cape Keraudren was just fantastic.  It’s just a dot on the map, but another popular fishing spot with a maximum 3 month stay. 

Our campsite had a fantastic view, but of course the best view comes at a price, and this time it was the wind, which didn’t let up the whole time we were there. 

There were only 4 well spread out campsites, and our nearest neighbours kept very much to themselves, but after 2 days the wife wandered over with some fish fillets and a quick chat, so our sandwich was discarded for a delicious lunch of Blue Nosed Salmon. 

The tide was around 6 metres, so when it went out, it really went out!  We had a huge area to explore in front of our van, so wandered down to see what we could find in the rock pools.  Coral, sea anemones, sea slugs, starfish, and ... blue ringed octopus!  We couldn’t believe our eyes when we discovered one of these deadly little creatures scurrying under a coral shelf. 

When we found a second octopus he was obviously annoyed as his iridescent blue rings flared up as he stood his ground and looked like he was going to launch himself out of the water.  These guys have enough poison in them to kill 26 humans.  Once bitten you’re paralysed then dead in minutes, unless you’re lucky enough to have someone nearby to give you artificial respiration for hours on end – a daunting physical prospect - until you’re able to breathe again on your own.

Next afternoon we went back to hunt blue ringed octopus so we could get a better photo, but found none, other than a regular variety which squirted his black ink in disgust and took off.  2 guys were fishing off the rocks, hauling in one fish after the other so we went over to have a look, wondering at the same time if there were at all concerned about the blue ringed octopus which were surely lurking nearby. 

One of them offered us a Blue Nose salmon, but not knowing where to start with the preparation, we chose the easy alternative of steak for dinner.  We thanked him, and then wandered off to watch our neighbour reeling in his catches, expertly slitting their throat and tossing them into an ever increasing pool of blood.  He also asked us if we’d like a fish, and offered to fillet it for us.  The bag limit is 4 per person, and meant that he could keep fishing, because he had somebody else to catch fish for.

A short while after returning to our van our salmon was delivered, with the fillets neatly packaged into 2 plastic Glad ziplock bags.

Alan is prone to anything that bites and had been attacked by midges on the first day.  I soon discovered that I should have stuck with doing my exercises in the van.  Instead I laid outside on a blanket, and my neck, arms and legs were also covered in bites.  Apparently midges and sandflies don’t like Vitamin B1 which we’ve been taking for about a month now and obviously hasn’t worked, and Alan is experimenting with an assortment of lotions to try and find the best one for our next attack.

After 3 windy days and nights, and many itchy bites later, we moved a few kms up the road to 80 Mile Beach.  The wind was still blowing, but at least the caravan park was quite protected.

80 Mile Beach Caravan Park is a Grey Nomad paradise.  We hadn’t even unhitched the van and we were shaking hands with Roy and Marg behind us and Darryl next door.  That afternoon everybody wandered up with chairs and drinks to the main lawn area, where we joined a rowdy group and all enjoyed a $6 hamburger for dinner.

Chatting with the neighbours took on a whole new dimension here.  If the men weren’t fishing they were standing around discussing vans and cars, always happy to solve any problems - including a big one we had when our power plug disintegrated and we had no brakes on the van.

Morning tea ran into lunchtime, and afternoon tea ran into sunset drinks.  One interesting story we heard was a guy telling us about his roller hockey days when he represented Australia in a world championship competition in Japan back in 1952!!

There’s a bit of competition early each morning as the women head down to the beach to see what beautiful shells the tide has turned up overnight.  Their days are spent creating windchimes which hang from their caravans, tinkling and dancing in the wind. 

2 nights was all we needed, although others settle into the 80 mile beach lifestyle for months.  There were handshakes and hugs all round when we left, and arrangements made with Marg and Roy to catch up for a drink at our next stop – Barn Hill Station – a cattle property up the highway, also on the ocean.   

We had great memories of our last visit here 7 years ago, but after the sensational camping at Cape Keraudren, Barn Hill seemed a little bit lacking so shortened our stay to 4 days.  Hundreds of grey nomads descend here each winter, even though they have to take the (always) spotlessly clean caravan 10 km on a corrugated dirt road.  They set up for months at a time and while away the days fishing (of course) and partaking in other activities.  Anyone for lawn bowls?  What about the lemon butter making competition?  Grab 2 lemons out of the bucket and try to cook up a better batch than your neighbour. 

We chose a non-powered site with ocean views as the powered sites are all buried amongst trees and are only 4 amp – only enough to run your fridge and lights and a few small appliances.  Despite our concern, a $300 boat pump ordered from Perth had actually arrived in the mail, and Alan’s new plug for the car/van ordered from Autopro Broome and due to be mailed, had been picked up by a kind fellow camper on his way to Barn Hill.

After setting up along the cliff with nice ocean views, we took a walk to see what was going on around the park.  Just up from us there was a caravan in the only site with sweeping views up the white sandy beach over the red cliffs - the best location in all of Barn Hill.  When we saw the van pull out the next morning, action stations were employed and I raced up with the table and chairs to secure our new area.  It was only 7.30 am, and already people had started to arrive from their previous destinations and were driving around looking for somewhere to camp.  Alan readied the car and van and we got to our new spot before breakfast.

We tracked down Roy and Marg who decided to move from their ‘powered’ site to up near us, and we spent each afternoon with them talking and laughing, watching the sun set over the ocean. 

Our days were spent wandering up and down the beach for miles, looking at our beautiful view, and trying to escape the wind.

Before leaving we arranged to meet Roy and Marg in Broome for lunch at Matso’s Brewery overlooking Roebuck Bay.