DAY 94 – HEADING FURTHER SOUTH – PORT GREGORY, NORTHAMPTON AND INTO GERALDTON…
Our intended
destination today was Geraldton, albeit with a few route diversions and
stop-offs along the way to see some interesting sights. We got underway early
from Wagoe Beach and headed off south towards Port Gregory.
Port Gregory is a
picturesque fishing village encircled by five kilometres of exposed reef. It
was originally established to serve the Geraldine lead mine and whalers, but it
really wasn't suitable for large vessels. What really piqued our interest was
the nearby Pink Lake. The pink colouring is due to the presence of a
carotenoid-producing algae, dunaliella salina, a
source of beta-carotene Vitamin A.
The lagoon contains the world's largest
microalgae production plant and a commercial supply of brine shrimp used by
prawn and fish farmers.
Our first sighting of the Pink Lake |
Water collected still has a tinge of pink in it. |
The lake (or
Hutt Lagoon) is huge and we could catch glimpses of pink water from a long way
off. Finally we came to a suitable viewing point big enough to accommodate our
three vans and cars so that we could take some photos. It is indeed PINK! We
even got an empty water bottle and filled it with water and you could see it
was pink. We have kept it as a souvenir
to take home and share with our grand daughter.
Our vans parked at the beachfront in Port Gregory |
Ian and Kathy |
Steve and I |
Us girls |
We drove all the way into town, stopping off
to buy postcards from the one small general store and service station we saw.
Then we parked at the town beach to admire the view. It is very pretty, but
also very small and didn't seem to be overrun with tourists like Kalbarri. What! Not seem to be overrun? It was deserted!
A little way
out of Port Gregory are the ruins of Lynton Station, home to the
Governor's mansion and convict ruins which is currently undergoing restoration
work. We didn't stop here, but did take some photos from the car. Just beyond here where the road starts to
climb some gentle hills we got called up
on the UHF by Barb to advise us that they were experiencing car trouble and
would stop for a while and let things cook down, and then try to proceed
again.
Apparently they were struggling
to get up the hill and their Jackaroo was not changing gears properly on the hills
and was not running well. The Check Transmission
warning light had come on
.
They had
to pull over a second time and we also
pulled over to wait for them. After a while they tried to get going again, but
the warning light came on once again.
John knew that it was going to be a long slow trip into Northampton as
he could only drive in first gear at about 25kph. He sent the rest of us into Northampton
to at least find a mechanic who might be
able to look at their car for them...
It was a very slow journey for them, made
slower by frequently pulling off the road to let other drivers past. Luckily
there were no big trucks and it wasn't super busy. Steve had asked a local for advice about
mechanics in town and he relayed that information to Barb and they drove
straight there. The man sucked his teeth when John described the problem and
suggested they call RAC and get towed to Geraldton, as he thought it was a gear
box problem requiring specialist work.
Meanwhile
whilst we waited , we enjoyed morning tea in a park behind the main street of
town. Northampton is a bit of a
historical town with some lovely buildings.
We sat in the park until we saw John and Barb limp into town, and whilst
they were dealing with their car problems with the mechanic, we went for a walk
to the Information Centre in town, and then a walk down the main street.
We ended up at a wonderful little café called
“The Shearing Shed” for lunch. They do
home made pies and vanilla slices are their speciality. We figured they must be pretty good as they
were very busy with people coming and going the whole time we were there. We were not disappointed, our lunch was tasty
and received 5 stars from us.
As John and
Barb had to wait for the RAC to come and tow them back into Geraldton, they
advised us to continue through as we all had bookings at the Belair Caravan
Park in Geraldton for that night.
We
decided to take the scenic route into Geraldton through the Chapman
Valley. We arrived at Belair and were checking in just as John and Barb arrived with their
Jackaroo tied down on the tray of a tow
truck with their van behind.
John and Barb's car and van arrive at the Belair Caravan Park like this. |
With the
massive cost of replacing the gearbox in their Jackaroo, John and Barb are no longer going to fly home
in mid-November with the view of resuming their trip in the new year. Instead they will drive home by the most
direct route – a mere 4000km – and explore the sourth west of WA another time.
They still intend to arrive home in Maleny in mid November.
We are so
sad that their journey has come to an end like this and we are going to miss
them dreadfully. Still I am so thankful
and feel so blessed that we have been able to take this holiday with two of my
closest friends and I will always be grateful for this.
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