Day 121. Beasley River Rest Area

BMX Bandit


This morning Scarlett was up bright and early and wanting to go straight outside to ride her bike. For the first time ever; she made her bed, dressed herself, had breakfast and brushed her teeth with no prompting from either Bec or myself. Before we knew it, she was off on her bike and off to see her friends; leaving Bec and myself behind to start the pack-up, and ready to move on to new discoveries.

Plague of Locusts - south of Exmouth

We soon had the van packed and hit the road, heading west towards Karajini National Park. No sooner had we left Exmouth and we ‘hit’ the first plague of locusts. There were millions of them. Each time we hit one it felt like the car shook from the impact, as they certainly packed a wallop. During our travels, we must of ‘hit’ at least another half dozen of these plagues. I’m dreading washing the car at the first opportunity.

Our hitch-hiker...

We stopped at Nanutarra Roadhouse to get some diesel ($1.85 ltr), and the kids had a ball removing all the locusts from the grill of the Pajero. There must have been dozens of the buggers splattered on the front. It certainly was a gruesome job removing all the bugs, but the kids loved it!

The kids 'helping' by cleaning off the grill and 'playing' with the dead locusts

We ended up stopping for the night at the Beasley River Rest Area – a free camp about 420kms from Exmouth. It was a good day’s drive, but it certainly was a long one. We passed through ever changing landscapes; from mallee scrub and rows of outback (red) sand dunes, through to iron ore mountain ranges and dry river beds. Our camp is located adjacent to a dry river bed, and other than the bull dust all over the place, it’s actually quite pretty.


Ashburton River crossing


The sunset through the trees and being surrounded by bush was a magical experience, and with all the Corella’s and Cockatoo’s making such a raucous as they bedded down for the night, it was a great way to be re-introduced back into the Australian outback; away from caravan parks and the town environment.

I love the bush!

Beasley River Rest Area

PS: Here is a beautiful photo of our daughter 'Scarlett'. At the time she was not aware that she had 'ash' on her face, and when she found she was horrified.

We couldn't stop laughing!

posted by Shane