and pray that there's intelligent life somewhere out in space
After pushing the button on the last post I received this …
This is the road to the Broome Bird Observatory and that’s the warden checking the depth to which it’s flooded. It would indeed be a great adventure and yes it would be illegal. There are big penalties for driving on closed roads. To get to that point from the highway may well have taken you through worse!
The forecast for the next few days is warm and dry. It will soon reopen but it will still be an adventure – 4WD only for a while.
Next stop after the coast was Northam home of the sublime Mute Swan …
and also the decision point. Two roads lead from Perth to Broome, an inland route 1970km or a coastal route 2368km.
The inland route has the advantage of being 400km shorter and in the event of a cyclone there would be a greater chance of the caravan staying on the ground. We’d have chosen the shorter route but it was closed by flood.
In particular, the Fortescue River near Newman was close to setting new records. The coastal route was open but what falls inland then sets off towards the sea. We decided to put in a couple of very long days in order to get north of the Fortescue and the De Grey.
There is a roadhouse overlooking the Fortescue River and we stopped for a yarn. A young lady working there had been looking for the water coming down for a couple of days but not a trickle so far. A local elder was of the view that the desert would swallow it all on the way and there’d be little or none to see. It just hadn’t rained for long enough. A trucky taking a break had caught the arrival of a flood in 2021 and recalled how impressive it was on that occasion. When we crossed the bridge there were just a few puddles to be seen.
On the second long day we crossed the De Grey. It too was underwhelming. That night we stopped at the Sandfire Roadhouse. Home of the ridiculous Peafowl.
Last night we slept in our own bed. It was a bit on the warm side!
… and before the next one.
As the water receded the debris lodged in the fences became apparent …
With one exception the fences at right angles to the direction of flow were no longer standing. I’ve spent a couple of days removing most of them. This morning I got around to pulling the rubbish off those that are still standing …
Curled up in the debris was this little guy who wasn’t too happy to be pulled out …
After we’d burned the rubbish Gayle headed for the shops to restock the pantry while the dog and I revisited a few of the places I’d photographed the other day …
The road crew are hard at work repairing the guard rail.
The weather forecast for tomorrow is most interesting.
bobmcgee 