Cape Keraudren is a magic little place at the south western end of Eighty Mile Beach. It would make a great stopping off place on the Broome-Port Hedland drive, but is not known by most people. It is a Council run Nature Reserve and provides spectacular van or camp places right on the water. If only we had known that before we set off.
We visited the Cape on 07 August 2018
Kerry’s snippets in fuchsia
Getting There
Broome > Pardoo Roadhouse (459) > South Hedland (151km) – total ~ 610kms
Day 1 – 06 August – to Pardoo Roadhouse
We got away from Broome at 8 after a disturbed night caused by some very strong winds. The awning was getting a beating and I had to get up and take in down. So the early start we wanted, as it is a good haul to Pardoo Roadhouse, didn’t quite happen.
We had thought about going to Eighty Mile Beach van park, but decided against this as we had heard it got very packed, and there was not much else there except fishing. As well, we wanted to see Cape Keraudren, which was close to the Pardoo roadhouse.
Before we left, we emptied our toilet cassette and filled it with cassette cleaner. That would get shaken around and work its magic on the drive down, when I could again clean it out and put in the normal chemicals.
It is a good road, wide and flat, but the landscape presents a pretty ordinary picture. It is very flat mostly with low vegetation, often just grasslands. We stopped for a break at the Goldwire 24hr rest area and it was quite busy. Clearly many people had stayed at least one night. We passed 2 cyclists doing it tough.
We got some lunch at Sandfire Roadhouse, which had long queues for fuel. We had checked out our FuelMap app and found that diesel was cheaper at Pardoo. Further on we saw a long line of cattle churning up the dust, being mustered by a helicopter.
At the Pardoo Roadhouse we decided to book for 1 night and see what happens. We had thought we may stay for 2 nights and go out to the Cape on the second day. The van park is OK – drive through sites for the early birds such as us. Late comers have to fit in behind. We had seen on Wiki that there were a few bad reviews especially regarding the toilets and showers. There are about 5 or 6 combined toilet/showers in the ablutions block. They were far from pristine, but they did not worry us at all and nobody else complained that we heard. We shower in Mobi and use the park toilets as much as possible. I had read some really bad reviews on Wikicamps regarding the toilets and showers, but they were perfectly fine. Just a little dated and the showers (which we didn’t use anyway) had some old rust stains. Pretty much like an older house with an old bathroom would have.
I spent a few hours writing up the post for our brilliant Kimberley cruise – so hard to get a very hands on and busy week into a single post, especially with all the photos and videos. Kerry got a patchy Telstra reception but there was nothing for Optus.
Later we went to the shop to get a hamburger for dinner – we were both tired and ready for an early night. Not the best Aussie hamburger – no beetroot and instead there was shredded carrot. These places will have to learn that there is no substitute for a good Aussie burger, and train their overseas staff in this basic skill! Who in their right mind would put a HEAP of grated carrot on a hamburger in Australia? However, the staff in the roadhouse were helpful and friendly – didn’t mind us checking out late as we wanted to go to “The Cape”
Day 2 – 07 August – Cape Keraudren & South Hedland
We had decided to get up early and go out to Cape Keraudren, then get back and hitch up Mobi for the short drive to South Headland. We reckoned we could get out of the Roadhouse by 10.30 at the latest.
Cape Keraudren is a Coastal Reserve renowned for fishing, crabbing and simply getting away from it all. The reserve is an area of approximately 4,800 hectares and was vested to the Shire of East Pilbara in 1985. On tis western most side, it is the start of Eighty Mile Beach
It is a low-key recreational area and disturbance to the environment has been kept to a minimum. Visitors are asked to follow a few basic rules, including no dogs. There is no electricity and the closest water supply is at Pardoo Roadhouse.
The turnoff to Cape Keraudren is only a few hundred meters from the Roadhouse. The road is about 13km in and about 10km of that is bitumen. Near the start of the dirt road – which is pretty good, we stop at the ranger’s station to leave our entry fee. It is not staffed and we leave our $12 fee in an envelope in a box.
On the way in we saw what looked like salt flats.
We first went to the eastern side of the reserve where a small creek discharges to the ocean. This is also the western end of Eighty Mile Beach. It is low tide so there is not much water in the creek, but there are a couple of vans parked along the banks.
We went on to the beach and the rocky outcrop. The access to the main beach is blocked off from driving as there are turtle nests in the area – walking is OK. So we walked over the rocks and Kerry started doing her favourite thing – strolling the beach and collecting shells. But here there is also a lot of coral remnants on the beach, including some that form a lovely little bowl.
I finally dragged Kerry away from the shell collection. and we explored other parts of the Cape. About half way around there is a track up to a headland, providing spectacular views to the north-east. The rock is mostly what was once coral – tough and spiky. Enjoying these brilliant views are a number of vans – an amazing place to camp.
Further around to the cape proper to the west, there are heaps of vans in a large open area. There are drop pit toilets at this area, which are well kept. The views and rock formations are brilliant and in the low tide we can see a reef exposed just offshore. What a great place to spend a few days if you can.
In that wonderful thing called hindsight, if we had known about Cape Keraudren we would definitely have stayed there for a couple of days. Oh well!
We went back to the Roadhouse and filled up with diesel. As the fill neared its end I was kicking myself. We are going to be in Port Headland in 160km, and here am I pumping nearly 3/4 of a tank of high cost fuel ($1.799). Pretty silly. We did see that the fuel economy on the trip down and been massively reduced due to the strong winds. The drive from Broom was for 495kms at 21.55L/100km, while the short 160km drive to South Hedland was our worst ever at 23.92/100k.
The drive to South Hedland, where our booked van park is located – the first one Kerry had tried was booked out – was pretty boring. We found some new podcasts. But about half way along we did come to a rocky ridge, but quickly leave that behind. We saw another cyclist.
We were at the Blackrock Caravan Park which is in South Hedland, some 15km from Port Hedland. It took us a while to work out that Port Headland is just the main port area. The people seem to live both close to the port and along the northern waterfront, as well as in satellite suburbs, such as South Hedland.
The van park is pretty good but is mostly a one-nighter – people come in, don’t un-hitch, and are gone early next day. The sites are small and while we can drive through, as we were again the early birds, we have to take Mobi further forward than we would have liked to keep her in about half the length of the site. The front of the A-frame is very close to the road. Where will we park The Cruiser?
In the afternoon I completed the Kimberley Cruise blog and posted that. Then more caravans arrived and the space was closing in rapidly. A motor home came in next to us and we could park The Cruiser next to Mobi and not interfere with them.
Shortly after that, a very big motorhome pulled up behind us (front in, rather than reversing in). This is so totally the wrong way around, I thought he must be crazy. Normally vans park so that the awning side is towards the non-awning side of the van next door, not facing their awning. He was out of the van scratching his head and I suggested that it may be better to reverse in so everyone could maintain their privacy. He started ranting that we had taken up half his site. I asked him to take it up with Management as they knew how big we were and we couldn’t move any further forward or we would be on the road. His wife was nice and I had a quick chat to her…. don’t envy her married to this man though. They moved their van somewhere else shortly afterwards.
Day 3 – 08 August – South Hedland
Overnight, we decided to stay here another day and go through exactly what we wanted to do in the coming weeks. It was clear that we needed to book ahead, as the van parks in the key spots were getting booked out.
Karijini NP is the problem. How do we get to it and out again? We could go south directly from South Hedland on bitumen, then turn around and retrace our steps. Or we could go in via Tom Price from the west coast – a longer route. Or we could go to Millstream NP and then continue on the service road to Karijini – but this is a rough dirt road of over 200km and we were not sure it was all open. We went with the first option – but it took a while to work it out. Then Kerry booked our dates at Point Samson and Karratha. Lots to think about on these trips!
We went into Port Headland to see what it is all about. It seems a long drive in (15km). We passed massive mountains of salt – yes, salt. Unlike many towns, there are very few buildings or built up areas on the drive in. We got to the old quarter and there was not much happening. We walked to the foreshore, looking across to a couple of massive ore carriers in the port. We watched another ship come in to collect a load. This was quite interesting for me – seeing 4 tugs steering this massive ship into port.
We then walked around the area but there is not much to look at. We drove around the northern foreshore but there is not much there. So if you like big ships, this is the place for you. If not, then there is no real need to come here.
To see photos of this post click here