Sat 3rd Jul '21 - Day 22

Point Quobba to Northampton

We wake up and have breakfast in the van overlooking the ocean which is as good a way to start the day as any. With a day on the road ahead Seb and I walk along the dusty track past the campervans and caravans and behind the tin sheds that are embedded in the rising sand dunes. These would be a genuine rustic getaway. Sienna and Kate then walk up the headland to allow Sienna to shake her sillies out that seemingly have built up.

By 9:15am we’re pulling away and back on the road in land to join the freeway South, firstly down to Carnarvon – the satellites from the Space museum visible from over 20km away over the flat lands containing field upon field of crops. Seb finally falls asleep and, having given Sienna a Chupa Chup lolly to keep her quiet we gain an extra 75km on our first leg of the day to Overlander service station. Some fuel for the van and sausage rolls for us.

From there, we plug in a DVD for the kids to watch – A Bugs Life – which buys us some peace to reach Galena Bridge, a 24hr rest stop aside a river. The roughly trodden car park is filled with vehicles mostly heading in the opposite direction and here the kids meet a friendly dachshund whilst we brew and coffee and tea and discover this area was used in mining back in the 1950’s for iron ore, with a railway to Perth and the first smelting chimney in WA to then reduce travel time.

It’s a brief 40 minutes under grey skies to our next destination, Northampton. We’re welcomed with a sign informing us of the upcoming Annual Quilt Airing.

True Blue Campsite is our end point; small campsite with 30 sites based around a central kitchen and shower block. The site office is a reconditioned rail carriage. The campsite is fully booked out tonight as Perth has reopened its city borders after the latest Covid-induced lockdown, allowing people to escape North.

We wander through the one street town and realise that everything has shut or shuts at 4pm, including the only IGA supermarket. We resort to walking through the drive-thru bottle shop for a drink this evening.  Back at the camp site the kids are entertained with a treasure hunt around the site and are rewarded with a small chocolate bar.