Day 88 20th July 2014 Sunday. Kevin went off early for a long walk and I did 2 loads of washing in the parks machines. Cleaned my sneakers as they are covered in red dust from the mine visit. When Kevin got back he said he was heading to the Tavern to watch the footy. Port v Melbourne game. Mum, dad and I headed to a market we were told about and on the way we stopped at the Red Dog statue for photos. The market was very disappointing. Bought vanilla slice each. On the way back we stopped at the Dampier Salt Lookout which is nearly 30 km long and nearly as wide. We then went out Burrup Peninsular and to Hearsons Cove which is a beach area. We were told it is a good spot for whiting fishing. The drive to the beach was through the Murujuga National Park. It is amazing driving through the crumbling rock ranges and hills. It looks like the piles of rubble have been bulldozed into place by a gigantic dozer and left in piles. The tide was out when we got there and the water was about 1 km out. Mum and I walked out over the flat sandy area which had about 1” of water covering it to the water’s edge. From here we could look back across the ocean to Karratha in the distance. There were many people just wondering about on the flat sandy area. We drove back into Dampier and took the back streets past what appeared to be empty unit blocks. There were over 10 of them that are 3 storeys high and obviously have been used previously for miner accommodation. There were some inhabitants but very few. Stopped at the William Dampier Lookout which looks out at the Rio Tinto loading operations for iron ore and salt. When we got back I did a further load of washing. After lunch dad and I headed back to the palmed beach area we went to yesterday and went a little further along past the rocks. I got the first bite but was unable to land the fish. It got off but oh boy did the rod have a big bend in it. Dad soon followed up with a yellowfin bream. I got a Longtom which was 63cm long. It was a strange looking fish with a long slender body and jaws extending into a bill with sharp teeth. We threw him back, very evil looking fish. Dad got a further 2 bream and a golden trevally. Dads count 4 mine 0. Well there is always tomorrow. It started to drizzle on the way back from fishing and I hoped Kevin thought to bring the washing in. I finally got onto the Lighthouse Caravan Park in Exmouth to book the next leg of our journey. Kevin was happy about the footy result and says the experience at the Tavern was interesting. Appears that all the locals have lots of money to throw around. Beers were $9 pint and $5 softdrink. The girls swerving were very attractive and as the afternoon wore on they said they would strip to bikinis if there was enough money in the pot. Appears it was $20 per person. Kevin only contributed $5 as he is now a retiree. At 5.00pm Brad the local boat master game to the park and spoke with us about the history of the region. It was interesting and confirmed a lot of what we had already heard and seen at different towns previously. Dad cooked up the fish for tea. Was good with salad. Played midnight tonight.
