Josh was up before 6am this
morning and pulled out his tools along with his phone to watch YouTube as he
tried to fix our car problem. He did so
awesome, that after a short time he was able to pull off the tyre and fix it
good enough to get us through the national park and into a bigger town such as
Karratha to buy and replace the necessary parts. This meant that we could leave with the Woods
and Harvey family’s this morning bound for Millstream Chichester National Park. We thought we were quite a bit behind our
travelling friends due to getting stuck on the wrong side of a railway line
while a mine train of 236 carriages passed – twice! However, when we pulled into our first
meeting point of Hamersley Gorge, only the Woods family was there. The Harvey’s had taken a wrong turn and were now
a small way behind us. We headed into
the gorge and Samuel left them a note chalked on the footpath as to where to
find us. We weren’t too far in when they
caught up with us, right before we reached a lovely small pool area which was
perfect for a swim. It was only quite a
small pool but I’m sure had we all have tried, we all would have fit in at the
one time but with very limited room. It
wouldn’t have been easy as we’d all be splashing around in search of a scrap of
rock to hang onto seeing as though it was deep and we couldn’t find the
bottom. The kids (and some big kids)figured
this was the perfect place to jump off a ledge above the pool, all except for
Sami who got to the top and figured it was too high and wouldn’t take the leap
of faith. No peer pressure could talk
her into it – go Sami! After getting
back to the cars we headed again towards the N.P. passing lots of purple Mulla
Mulla flowers and also the first of the Sturt Desert Peas – such an odd looking
flower. We pulled up at the entrance
station intending to camp at the Murlamunyjunha Crossing Pool Campground but
then realised that caravans were not allowed to camp there so we turned back
and headed to Miliyanha Campground right near to the Millstream Homestead
Visitor Centre. Upon grabbing a site and
setting up camp we gathered at the camp kitchen area for a chat while the kids
pulled out their paper aeroplanes again and amused themselves. Susan and Mick even went to the effort of
making pancakes for dessert for everyone – yummo!
The following day we had a bit of
a sleep in and lazy morning before walking to the unstaffed Homestead for a
look around. It’s a lovely old stone building
with a cool shaded veranda. Inside were
some artefacts from its era and loads of information about the homestead. The first pastoral lease in this area was
granted in 1866 to graze sheep. The
original homestead was built in 1898 but destroyed by a cyclone in 1908,
however, the kitchen and station hands quarters still remain here now. This new homestead was built in 1914 and
changed hands many times over the years.
In the early 1980’s, this station was bought by the WA State Government
to manage the water reserve for Karratha and the homestead was established as a
visitor centre in 1990, and here we are now.
Once we complete the 1km loop walk around the homestead, we returned to
our campsites and hopped into our cars to head to the Crossing Pool campground
for a swim in the Fortescue River. There
was a ladder into the river and the water was cold but with a few warm
patches. It’s a lovely wide river and
lovely to cool down in but the water wasn’t as clear as the water running
through where the homestead is. After a
refreshing swim, and the kids had a game of volleyball, we packed and went to
our next stop at the Nhanggangunha Deep Reach Pool. This is not a camping area but there were a
few shaded tables and chairs and a lovely wide stepped entrance into the river
so us adults sat on the steps while the kids had a ball jumping into the water
and seaweed. It was a bit cool for my
liking. Susan had brought along some
cakes for afternoon tea so nobody was in a hurry to leave this relaxing
place. On the way back to camp, we
stopped at a lookout over the Fortescue River, the only downfall to stopping
was that the kids had stepped on a few spinifex and now had sore feet, but the
views outdid that small fact. Back at
camp, we got cleaned up and ready for dinner back at the camp kitchen, perfect
spot for us all to get together, especially good when Mandie brought out a
little night cap to finish off the perfect day.
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