2006/08 Australia trip - Stokes Inlet |
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A hard frost was forecast for the rough desert country to the east of Hyden, so we opted for a longer drive down to the coast where it was likely to be warmer. Then we were off for what should have been a half day’s drive, if we hadn’t made all those stops for flowers. We were still in wheat and canola country, but there were more patches of barren land and some large salt lakes. The flowers were changing too as we moved south,
becoming even more colourful. I couldn’t resist putting another composite picture together. We also found a miniature version of those melons: these are called prickly paddy melons, less than an inch across and much more poisonous than their larger cousins.
We joined the Great Southern Highway at Ravensthorpe and now the flower watching became more difficult as the road was busy with great thundering road trains, most of them servicing the mines along the road. We turned off to go to the coast at Stokes national park, and, as we were all alone, we took the best campsite, located on the water’s edge at Stokes Inlet and 
surrounded by gnarled paper bark trees. I hoped it was high tide as we were only two feet from the water. Sandie went off looking for flowers, and found that they were different yet again. Just about every shrub seemed to be in flower, with overpowering scents and a constant hum from millions of bees and other insects. I’d hoped to be able to see the ocean but the trail along the beach to the coast was about waist deep in water.
We soon ran out of daylight and were setting up the camper when I heard a complaining hiss/croak behind me. It was a pelican 
who’d just glided over to see if we had any surplus fish. Right behind the pelican, a great yellow full moon was creeping up the sky, reflected in the inlet’s waters and mud flats. Although we’d missed the “Staircase to the Moon” back in Broome we had our version of it there in Stokes Inlet. It was one of those magical spots you find completely by accident.
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Stokes Inlet (0.37) |
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Thursday August 10th
We had a warm and humid night, parked there on the edge of Stokes Inlet. In the morning we had three silent pelicans gliding past us, and a cacophony from all the other birds: galahs, miner birds, ringnecks, some very noisy wattle birds perched on our roof, and swallows swooping through the toilets. It was such a great campsite it was tempting to stay, but we had to be moving on.
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