Trip 8, day 9 – Shake rattle but luckily no roll

What a great, but long and rattly day!  Took a daytrip out to Steep Point today which is the western most tip of mainland Western Australia, followed by a drive along the Zuytdorp Cliffs.  First things first though.

Day trip started well with a quick run out to the Useless Loop Rd where we let the tyres down.  A short run down to Zuytdorp Point and the False Entrance Blowholes which unfortunately weren’t blowing today as the conditions were so nice (flat).  On the trip back to the T junction we passed another Goldstream camper which was great to see as this track was reasonable rough and it was nice to know that people felt confident taking their Goldy offroad.

From the T junction it was then north and onto some of the most corrugated track we’ve done.  The corrugations weren’t overly deep however they were perfectly formed and spaced to shake everything no matter what speed we tried.  We watched the UHF antenna literally shake itself in half, snapping of at the mid point.  Up and over the couple of soft sandhills/dunes without an issue and then a beautiful run along the beach on the inside gulf before we arrived at the rangers station.  With the rangers blessing we drove out to Steep Point for the obligatory photo and then lunch watching some rock fisherman not catch anything..  Conditions were lovely and the ocean was so clear you could see for metres down into the depths around the base of the cliffs.

From Steep Point we drove down (south) along the Zuytdorp Cliffs on a track that could easily be described as a goat track.  At some points the track literally disappears and the only indication that there is a track is that some of the heath seems lower/flatter than the surrounds.  Also, much of the track is VERY close to the cliff edge, at one point I swear we were only a cars width from a 50mtr drop into the ocean…  We didn’t see another person the entire loop from Steep Point back to the T junction however it was a great drive and lovely to experience this unique, wild and remote part of Australia.

Back to Hamelin Station for a well earned dinner and beer.  Whilst we were out all day and felt like we’d been driving for hours we only actually covered a total distance of about 150kms, it just much of it was done at 20km/hr (or less) due to the track conditions.  Whilst slow it did give us plenty of time to drink in the stunning views.

Yep, we were there… Steep Point!

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The drive along the beach towards the ranger station.  Look at that water and people’less beach…

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The limestone rock track along the Zuytdorp Cliffs

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I think this was the ‘Oven’ rock platform, a popular fishing location and where we had lunch.

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Our drive along the Zuytdorp Cliffs. Note how close the track gets to the cliff edge sometimes, and this wasn’t the worst spot.

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A very sad memorial from 1963 and a remarkable story of one guys survival floating in the boats fridge!!

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