Barn Hill Station

We arrive at Barn Hill station after 9 km of bulldust, to stay a couple of nights on our way to Eighty-mile beach. We decide to go unpowered as those sites (if you can call them that) have the best positions with water views and nearest the beach entry. Barn Hill station is set upon the red rock cliff face of a beautiful wilderness beach. There is blissfully nothing here except sand, shells, rocks, red dirt and as Pip so nicely remind the other travellers of their vintage “old grey nomads” a bit more red dirt (my feet are a constant shade of orange) and of course colourful sunsets. It is lovely here in this no frills park, the loo and shower doesn’t even have a roof which is lovely in the evening watching the stars from the pedestal but a bit warm during the day J. (still cant believe its winter here the days are just as warm as a scorcher in Brissy in the middle of summer. The nights however are absolutely perfect sleeping weather)

We have decided to stay here for 7 nights so we have plenty of time to walk on the beach, bask in the rock pools at low tide, fish (not much here though) kick the soccer ball, throw the Frisbee and generally do … not too much at all. The nearest shop is 135km north or 220km south, which does pose a small problem FOOD!! We haven’t decided whether we start eating beans, rice and pasta for dinner or if we should take a trip 135km to the shop……. I vote beans!

Beans it is agrees Mike and Pip, not really wanting to spend a morning in the car if you could spend it lazing here in stead. We all find out that the office, which looks more like a tin shed, has milk, bread (if your quick as it sells out with the first 20 customers and there are at least that in the first half hour of opening) ice cream and wait for it ½ kilo packs of frozen mince. We have now the makings for great spag bol!!! We also find out that on a Sunday evening, they serve a roast meal on the grassy area outside the office. $15 a head 3 courses “ooh lalaaa”… we are onto that one, of course its BYO tables, chairs, light, plates, bowls, cutlery, bread and condiments so we don’t get out of the washing up L. It will be great though as we have meet some top people here and look forward to all getting together for a chat.  We have met a really cool couple, David and Rachael from NZ who are travelling with their son, 5 yr old, Beautiful George.

Pip and George making castles

Pip and he have had a ball rescuing pigeons’ constructing plans for building bird traps and of course building the best sand castles and generally just being kids. Unfortunately they are heading north so Pip must part ways with George but perhaps we will swap emails and see how each others adventure evolves.   

Well it is now Sunday and tomorrow we depart for Port Smith for 4 days. Apparently there is good mud crabbing that way so we are off to try our luck.  We have a few of the couples we met here all going along too so we will all catch up again there. You meet so many nice people its kind of sad to say good-bye but the ones who are travelling in the same direction you usually bump into again, and again and sometimes again…..

Before we sign off today I want to say GOOD LUCK to our mate Neil who will be riding to support cancer research, he has worked hard to get sponsors to enable him to ride. He needed to raise at least $2000 in donations to the cancer fund to ride and he tells me “he is in the race” champion job Neilo! Neil rides on the 20^th and 21^st of August with a peloton of other cool people doing the same for cancer research.  Best of luck mate we will be thinking of youJJJJ.

 TTFN Lis Mike N Pip

yes another sunset View from the Kitchen

Pip and the STAR

View from Pippas bed