Lap Around Australia Eighty Mile Beach/ Sandfire

Eighty Mile beach and Sandfire Roadhouse

We were sad to be leaving Broome. We had a brilliant time there, made even more special by having Jess stay with us. We packed up and got on our way by 0830 and we headed south towards Eighty Mile Beach, which is about 370 km south between Broome and Port Headland. It was very flat all the way, the initial journey going through the Roebuck plains and we were cruising along making very good time. We pulled over at a rest stop to have morning tea and also decant some petrol from one of our jerry cans into the tank as there is no petrol available until Sandfire Roadhouse. We're talking here of that 370 km between servos!

Back on the road again, we were feeling refreshed and relaxed when suddenly ... BANG!  (No, no. Barb means BANG!). We both thought it sounded like a gunshot, but quickly realised a tyre had blown. We immediately pulled off the road and just made it to the verge which was fortunately both wide and firmly packed dirt, before the whole rig would move no more.

When John got out to see what had happened we were gobsmacked to see that the driver's side caravan tyre had literally exploded and was in shreds, with sharp metal wire protruding everywhere. There were bits of our tyre all over the road. Barb picked that up with heavy gloves on so it didn't damage someone else's tyres.

Out came the orange safety cones (those things have come in handy!). Barb stood guard on the road while John got out his tool kit and got the spare wheel off the back of the van. A few cars whizzed past us, but eventually a man in a black 4WD heading in the opposite direction to us and with his teenage son in the car pulled over to ask if we were okay or would we like some help. Barb (hey, and John!) quickly said yes, knowing that she had no strength in her hands to help John .... you can't be too proud to knock back help when it's offered.

The man (we think his name was Phil and his son Jacob) was absolutely wonderful! He assisted John and made quick work of the task. He even gave us a pair of heavy gloves as well as using his socket spanner for the wheel brace. (Ours had fallen off somewhere in the boot of the caravan and we only located it later). We thanked him and offered a cold drink which he declined, wanting to get on his way. It was after all Father's Day and I guess he was on a special outing with his son. What a lovely person. It restores your faith in the goodness of strangers.

We got underway again and drove the 140 km to Sandfire Roadhouse, which is on the highway. We decided to stay for two nights here rather than risk taking the caravan down ten kilometres of dirt track to the Eighty Mile Beach caravan park as we'd previously planned. We thought it unwise without a spare tyre to do that. Luckily the Sandfire Roadhouse has a small caravan park attached - it is fairly basic but clean. The best part is we could drive through, so no tricky backing involved.

We quickly set up camp and noticed that there were several peacocks, peahens and chooks strolling through the campsite. Oh, and they had a camel in a yard at the back too. It did mean we had to keep the doors closed at all times in case we got a  visit from the peacocks or chooks inside. There is power, water and clean amenities here as well as phone coverage, so we are not too badly off. Also the servo is rather quaint with an outside bar area decorated by (?stolen) road signs and baseball caps.

In the morning we unhitched the car and drove the 55 km from Sandfire to Eighty Mile Beach without the van. We had to take care with livestock ambling along the roadside. We've noticed that the cattle can be a bit unpredictable and suddenly decide to cross the road right in front of you.

The dirt track off the highway was not TOO bad! Under normal circumstances I think our van could've handled it. Not the worst corrugations we've driven on by far. And I'm so glad we went there. It was breathtaking to see the turquoise water come into view over the unspoilt sand dunes! We parked up and didn't drive right onto the beach as a lot of 4WDs were doing (we can't afford salt water damage or sand filled wheel bearings).

We walked down onto the beach and it was so beautiful! Miles and miles of white sand and bleached shells and tranquil turquoise ocean. There were lots of people fishing right off the beach too. We spoke to some, and they were catching a nice feed of bluefin.

We didn't swim in the water although it looked very inviting. Sharks and stingers could be there. Instead, after walking along the beach picking up some shells, we went into the caravan park reception and store to get something to eat and drink. The caravan park looks lovely! Nice shady spots and large grassy sites. We peeked at the amenities block and that looked clean and nice as well.

We sat on the verandah of the store overlooking the well kept gardens and a yellow throated miner bird amused us with his antics while we had lunch. It would definitely be a great place to stay, and we're glad we at least got to see it even if we couldn't get the van there.

 

We are back at Sandfire Roadhouse tonight. John has rung the Bridgestone tyre place in Port Headland and we are booked in to get two new tyres put on the van on Wednesday afternoon. We feel we need to do this to be comfortable heading into Karanjini National Park, which is where we want to go next.

The caravan park has filled up here at Sandfire while we were away. The motorhome that pulled in behind our caravan has a lovely couple, Bev and Colin from Perth who we've chatted to all afternoon. You meet some lovely folk on the road!