Wednesday 18 December 2013

A Drive Down the Fortescue River { The Wrong Way }



Our bumpy car has been on a hiatus. Too hot to be taken out on the road for any type of adventure, it has languished in the drive. Taken out only for the occasional small trip around town. Not quite what it is meant for.

A spontaneous call over the weekend, ended all that. And took us on a drive in the wrong direction (further away from civilisation than we intended) down the Fortescue River.

A mostly dry and sandy riverbed made for surprising fun. We took the mountainous way to reach the river, which was typically scenic and stunning. A reminder that despite the mundane of town, that we are lucky to be surrounded by such beautiful scenery. And to also have this opportunity to live here, and be able to enjoy and do things that we would never have experienced otherwise. This, is partly what we moved here for. An adventure. Albeit a red one.

 
 
A love heart in the sky! ( Please excuse the dirty windscreen! )
 
 
The wet season has arrived here, and while nowhere near enough rain to fill the river, small waterholes have formed in and along the riverbeds. A perfect spot to enjoy the peace, rest and wet the feet. Or if you're young enough to still get away with running around nudie rudie style, then you can cool yourself off completely.


Driving onto the riverbed.

 
 
 
The smiley faced man who may, or may not have wanted to go left.
 

 
 
Without a road sign in sight, and the evening approaching faster than we realised, it was time to make a decision. Do we go left or do we go right down the river, back to the Great Northern Highway and home. We took the left, a scenic drive yes, but the wrong choice. One which we realised after a good while. A U-turn. And then a faster drive home than the one we made to arrive at our afternoon waterhole. It all left the car a little quiet. It was a rather fast and bumpy drive. Nobody wants to 4WD in the dark. Or get bogged.


 
 
 
Funny how a toddler can pick up on everything left unsaid. The mood of the car told her that we were lost. And she was a little concerned. No we weren't lost at all. We just took the long way home was all.

That we did.

12 comments:

  1. Hello! I'm just popping over from Elaina at A little bit country, your photos are beautiful, I will be back to read some more. Happy Christmas. xx

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    1. Thanks Amy for stopping by,
      Will visit your blog also! x

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  2. Superbe ces photos un rêve. J'adore celle ou vous êtes tous les 4

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    1. Merci Jacinta. Nous avons rarement prendre une photo de nous quatre, normalement l'un de nous est derrière la caméra. Nous devrions prendre plus. Joyeux Noël à vous et votre famille pour la semaine prochaine xxx

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  3. what a beautiful story. you live in a beautiful part of our country, and your words and pictures capture it wonderfully. the tannin-coloured water from the leaves and red sand is glorious.
    i must admit, today i wish i was young enough to run about 'nudie rudie' - it's going to be 37 in hobart!
    have a wonderful pilbara christmas e XX

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    1. I did see that Elizabeth. That is a Hot day for Hobart. Hope you survive it!

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  4. Hi there - thank you so much for your lovely comment on my blog, so nice of you.

    Wow, your photos of your local landscape are pretty amazing. I'm struck by the wildness and huge spaces of your part of the world - it's nothing like what we have here in the UK. It's incredibly beautiful too, and you've captured that so well. And the earth really is red!

    Gillian x

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    1. Thanks for stopping by Gillian.
      As beautiful as it is, I do miss the green of home xx

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  5. Just discovered your blog. It's so nice to see your perspective on living in the middle of our beautiful country! A pretty amazing day out from the looks of it!

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    1. Thank you Andrea. So many adventures to be had in this part of the world x

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  6. You wouldn't want to take too long to discover you'd made a wrong turn in the Pilbara! What beautiful scenery, but I know how deadly it can be!!

    Thanks for stopping by my blog. It's nice to meet you. Merry Christmas to your family and see you in the new year! x

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  7. Aww! I'm loving your photos Carla! Glad you had a beautiful trip. This blog is going to be beautiful for your girls to look back on one day :)

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