The others planned to leave before we normally have breakfast but Ruff Diamond has some problem with the air system so they were still there when we left.
We had to pick up the mail at Karratha so we headed for there. On the way back to Roebourne, we took a short detour to Cossack. This was once the most important place along this coast and it thrived for forty odd years from 1867. By 1910 it had its town status removed, presumably because its population had shrunk to near zero. Its buildings were mostly of stone and some have survived pretty well intact. It has been restored using labour from the local prison and is now a tourist attraction. It is an interesting place but has a lot of biting midges which leave one with an itch not to go back. As we left I took a photo of the ad for the local river cruise. This is on a small container and one can see the cyclone tiedowns which remind one that this part of the coast is at risk every year.
The road signs on the way to Karratha indicated a "Travel Stop" a few km past the turnoff to the town. It is an unusual sign so we decided to investigated before we went into the town. The sign referred not to a free camp but to the Karratha Roadhouse. We stopped to fill up with fuel and I enquired whether it would be OK to park in their back lot overnight. They said "Sure, all the caravan parks in town are full anyway". As we drove in towards Karratha, we came to the turnoff to Dampier.
Dampier is a very pretty town with a nice beach and harbour. We parked in the beach carpark to have lunch. As we were sitting there, I got a telephone call from Andrew Marney, a kiteflier friend from long ago. He had seen that we were in WA on my website and, being in Broome, gave me a call hoping to catch up. He lives in Eudlo in the Sunshine Coast hinterland so I said we's look him up when we get back to SE Queensland. A little later, Ray and Sandra from RDO dropped by in their car. They had booked in to the Karratha Caravan Park for a week and were checking out the area.
We drove around Karratha to get the geography firmly fixed in the mind. Karratha is a very strange place with a layout which defeats normal dead reckoning navigation. We finished up going along Mystery Road and finished up at the end of the road at a beach a few km out of town.
We tried to book into the Karratha Caravan Park but the office was shut. We tried another park but they were full. The third and last park in the town offered to take us for $23 per night but we decided to park up free at the roadhouse.
In return for free camping, we chose to eat in the roadhouse which turned out to be a decision of mixed benefit. There were only two other people there when we arrived and we ordered fish and chips. At least another dozen people came in while we waited for nearly an hour for our food. When it came, it was pretty good and much too much for either of us.
We decided to rest up here for a few days and booked into unpowered area of the Karratha Caravan Park. After settling in, we went into town in the little Motley to collect the mail and to shop. While we were in the shopping centre, we met three other motorhoming couples. One of them commented that he can go to the shopping centre at home, do all the shopping and meet no-one he knows. He travels to the other side of the continent, goes shopping in some new place, and often meets at least one person he knows.
The laundry in the caravan park was totally occupied so we went into town to find the laundrette. While we were in the shopping centre, I thought to go into Harvey World Travel. We booked Jean's ticket to fly to San Francisco leaving Adelaide on 8th December and returning to Sydney on 8th January.
The laundrette is signposted as it is hidden away in a mostly deserted shopping precinct in the middle of one of the residential areas. The charges were outrageous so we saved a bit by taking the clothes back to the caravan park to hang in the sun.
We went back into town to pay for the airline tickets and then went to the North West Shelf Gas Visitors Centre only to find it closed. Happily there were some motorhomers of our acquaintance having afternoon tea in the carpark so we joined them for a cup of coffee and a chat.
I had discovered that the Tourist Info Centre has internet facilities including a phone line so I decided to stay on another day so that I could do the email and website updates.
We went to the North West Shelf Visitors Centre which was interesting but I left feeling there was a lot I could have learned that was left unsaid.
We went into Dampier to do some grocery shopping and to have ham sangers at the beach. On the way back, we visited a place called Hearsons Cove, a local picnic spot. It is very pretty but at the end of a 5 km (3 mile) dirt road.