The most unexpected moments occur when you have room in your schedule for spontaneity. These days, people tend to leave no "wiggle room" in their lives for these unexpected detours that could turn out for the better. You never know what those detours may lead to; you could land your dream job, meet your future wife, try a new food, or simply have one of those magic moments that will stay in your memory forever. I always leave that proverbial wiggle room, and something cool happened the other day. Stephen (Steve), his best friend Russell, and Russell's girlfriend, Suzi just finished a drive along the Gibb River Road. Throughout this journey I've made it a specific point to start from or be dropped at roadhouses so I have easy access to water, food, toilets, etc. but this particular time I was at a corner where there was nothing. Steve stopped to picked me up and then we were on our way west. I told myself that if I didn't get another lift within a half hour that I was going to go back toward Broome and pitch my tent, but it turned out I was completing another large chunk of the journey. The three of them are driving two vehicles and communicate via CB radio. They were off to Dampier, and Russell said I could stay with them for a couple of days.
Steve was intrigued when I told him about my quest to find a geocache in every shire in Australia. The largest shire in the country is East Pilbara, and we did a five-minute stop in one area just over the shire border. As always I enjoy showing people what caches are and the art of the game. My original plan was to be dropped at the turnoff to Karijini National Park, but Dampier is further west. You certainly don't come to northern WA for the towns. Kununurra, Broome, and Port Hedland are all lacking in historic buildings found in many other towns but what they lack in that, they make up for in the surrounding areas. We ended up not getting into Dampier until very late the other evening.
The real attractions are what's around the towns. I planned on leaving for Karijini this morning but Russell decided on a fishing and boating excursion in the Dampier Archipelago, so I opted to join them. We loaded up Russell's motorized boat with fishing gear, drinks, sandwiches, pies, and good times and set out on the water on this beautiful day. Though it was gorgeous and sunny, the seas were very choppy. All phones and electronic gear had to be put away to keep them from the salty sea mist. We pulled into a relatively calm alcove for a swim.
Eaglehawk Island is the smallest, most far-flung island in the archipelago, and is home to a massive shipwreck that's mostly above the water. The No. 20 McDermott Derrick barge was on a mooring during Cyclone Orson in 1989 when the force of the cyclone broke the mooring.
The ship was damaged beyond repair and has been sitting here rusting for the past 30 years. People occasionally climb up onto the ship but I wouldn't want to risk injury or tetanus. It's one of those days, however, that I wish I brought Juliett for a flyover.
Our final stop of the day was Tidepole Island, known locally has Sam's Island.
As an immigrant from Serbia, Sam retired to the island after a work accident. He built a small house out of stone and simple materials and would frequently entertain guests and visitors after the rung a large bell signalling their arrival. Suzi would pose majestically for me with the sunset.
Her silhouette is just as amazing as the sunset. Ladies and sunsets are two of my favourite subjects to photograph, so why not combine the two? Daylight would eventually run out on us and we had to do the rest of the evening at Russell's home.
My big journey to Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands is in only 11 days, so I'll definitely be setting out for Karijini tomorrow. I'm amazed at how this journey has turned out. The Bungle Bungles and Karijini were on my radar to begin with but I've also discovered the Grotto, the Quarry, the Great Wall, the area around Broome, and the Dampier Archipelago all due to the people I've met and by leaving room in my schedule for spontaneity. A fabulous outing it was today, and a big shout-out to Steve, Russell, and Suzi for making this journey such a blast.
