DAY 58 Pilbara – Kimberley Trip
BEAGLE BAY
Finally made our way out of Broome feeling well prepared. We decided to go to Cape Leveque and then on the way back to go to Quandong Point. We sort of knew what to expect with the road as we had seen it from the air. (See photo in previous blog in relation to Horizontal Falls).
The advisory for the road is that it is for 4WDs only and caravans should not be taken along it. Hubby is running the new tyres at 80 psi on bitumen and 70 or just below off road. It is a sandy road that in places was very corrugated. The car got a good shake up. A few comments were made about the engine temperature, oil pressure and fuel gages not showing correctly. Several drawers did not want to stay shut at one stage. They were our saving grace as at that point in time a hose broke. Hubby noticed oil begin to come out from the same tube that had been fixed at Yardie Creek. So on came the work clothes and he attended to the problem. I suggested he catch the leaking oil and gave him some containers for the task. However, after fixing it whilst the steering was okay he realised we had no brakes or more correctly virtually no brakes. He went under the car AGAIN and saw that there was still oil leaking from the so called fixed hose. He assumed that the brake failure was due to the oil leak. It proved to be incorrect. I will explain later.
As he didn’t want to be laying on the hot, hot sand trying to work out the problem we decided to keep going. So we drove the rest of the way to Beagle Bay (about 20km) at no more than 30 km per hour on a sandy road. Just before Beagle Bay the road is finally sealed. We limped into Beagle Bay and parked at the visitor car park by the church just before 5.00pm and then rushed to change as we expected that there would be a Mass at 5.00pm. We walked to the church but not a person in sight. The Sacred Hear Church built in 1917 is absolutely amazing. The altar is made out of pearl shells.
The stained glass windows are framed in pearl shells. The two side altars and baptismal font have pearl shells. (I can’t get the photos to be rotated the right way for the blog.) The floor has pearl shells inlaid as a border.
Well there was no Mass. So hubby went for a wander and met Mark. He found out that Mass had been cancelled as there was a big funeral at Lombadina and most of the Beagle Bay community of about 300 had gone to it. He was also told that the priests do not like anyone camping here so we were invited to bring our Oka around to the side of Mark’s residence. Mark and his family made us very welcome. They invited us in and offered us the use of shower, toilet and power.
After setting up hubby dived under the car again. He traced back from the leaking piping to find the culprit for our problem. The bolt holding the front wheel brake hose was loose and the brake oil had escaped. So he duly addressed the problem but was still concerned on how to bleed the brakes with no suitable equipment.
After a quick dinner we joined our hosts on their verandah for a very pleasant and interesting evening. Mark and his son both love to play the guitar and sing – must be their Maori background. They invited hubby to bring his accordion. What a mixture of music – Maori, 60s Lithuanian and 50’s. I had a chat with Mark’s wife and mother-in-law who was visiting from Esperance.
A very delightful evening.
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