10 August 2013 – DeGrey River

We hesitated to pack up and leave Cape Keraudren this morning, the only thing to push us away being the spots that Josh and Sami endured yesterday.  We went in search of a place with fewer bugs.  As we drove back along the main road heading south, we noticed the landscape start to change a little.  We were going from fairly flat surroundings and began approaching a more rugged landscape of red mountains in the distance – we were approaching the Pilbara region!  We had another short drive today pulling up alongside DeGrey River.  Seeing as though we’d gotten there nice and early, we found a great spot that had a very short track to the river’s edge.  The first thing the girls wanted to do was go fishing so we took our chairs and gear straight to the water and threw the lines in.  There was quite a bit of weed where we started and Josh was a bit fed up with trying to save the kids’ lines so instead we took the rods further along to beneath the bridge and threw them at the pylons.  Sami was the only one to catch a fish of any sort, but even then, just as she was pulling it out of the water it came off the hook and swam for its life.  We tried our hardest all day but in the end caught nothing – but we did have a bit of fun trying.  After lunch and a short swim by both Josh and Sami, we were back at the river when our neighbours came to join us.  Ken and Heather were from Victoria and had done quite a bit of travelling themselves, so as usual it was great to swap life stories.  Heather was kind enough this afternoon to take both of the girls under her wing and teach them a bit of craft.  It took quite a while and they had sore hands by the end of it, but the result was a beautiful box for trinkets or jewellery which they made from folding 16 square sheets of paper.  It was really clever and very pretty.  After heading home for some dinner, Josh set up a lovely warm campfire just outside, sure to keep the bugs away tonight!