The first thing which has to be said about our stay at The Cove Caravan Park, Point Sampson, is that it was fun. We met some terrific folk, had several great happy hours, made some running repairs and saw a great deal of this part of the world.
The Cove is different. Unlike many parks in which we have stayed this is relatively new and 'purpose built' for the environment.
We had been told it was close to the water, and as we approached the entrance and office, this was clearly apparent.
The park office is well set out indeed. It includes a cafe from which our hosts dispensed very good food at most reasonable prices. My one indulgence, a lunch time hamburger (yes, and chips!), was as good as I have eaten, and a mere $10. This is a modest price anywhere, but for WA is bordered on miraculous. We did see many of the locals take up the breakfast option on numerous mornings.
Beach wear, grocery items, souvenirs
and a good range of fishing gear is all on display.
But for us, the piece de resistance was the bar mat on the office counter. Let me now warn you all, dear readers, that for the first time the MobileMarshies blog is going into 'X' rated territory.
Before we venture into the 'adult rated' section, I must briefly set the scene. As you may be aware, the Pilbara was home for many years to the famous wandering red heeler which, after the death of its owner, hitched rides on trains, buses and cars all over the countryside. 'Red Dog' has become a real symbol of the area in the same vein as 'The Dog on The Tuckerbox' near Gundagai. Red Dog is immortalised in bronze on the outskirts of Dampier. For those of you familiar with his story, you will recall he became great mates with the ferocious cat which lived in the same caravan park as he, but only after they had fought a few monumental battles.
This is what greeted us when we approached the office counter at The Cove,
a bar mat which shows the cat giving Red Dog his comeuppance in very blunt terms.
The wall sticker equivalent now adorns a van locker door. As crude as it is, we both agreed this was one of the funniest things we had come across. We did note that the counter bar mat disappeared a few days after our arrival....the managers had decided that folk with our sense of humour may well be in the minority, and the busy season was about to begin.
For me in particular, this set the Point Sampson scene. I was still laughing as we drove in past the first row of sites
and set up on ours. Here you can see just how different these are to most parks....full cement pads with red gravel vehicle aprons.
There are strips of lawn behind each row of sites and some shade. This park was designed to cope with the fact that water is a scarce commodity in Point Sampson.
Another point of difference here comes in the shape of anchor rings on all slabs. Whilst I am sure these would be of great value in cyclonic conditions, they did present a mooring challenge in that they have the potential to inflict significant tyre damage. Our movement onto our slab was most cautious.
Our immediate neighbour, a permanent, had made good use of his.
Point Sampson can be windy. Our good friends the Vogts, with whom we had planned to say here last year before we were offered the job in Carnarvon, were quick to tell us that it did blow. Fortunately the days were relatively calm during our stay, but it did hoot in overnight. One soon learns here that awnings come in at dusk if a good night's sleep is on the agenda.
There are two amenities block here, one of which was conveniently located right across the road from our site. They are very good....clean, spacious, plenty of hooks and a good strong shower.
This is but the beginning. A stroll to the other end of the block brings one to this door. Your eyes are not deceiving you....a kid free adults room no less. What a seriously good idea this is.
And the interior lives up to its name. A library, good seating, a soccer game table
a dart board, and, through the doorway
the theatre room, complete with a large screen
and elevated lounge seating. Here guests can watch normal television programmes or their own DVDs in real style and comfort. We had planned a night with our 'Eagles' DVD, but the hectic social whirl of the park put paid to that idea. There is a kiddies' equivalent, but I forgot to photograph it.
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Next to this marvellous park amenity is the equally good camp kitchen
where the cooking facilities are complemented by more than adequate dining seating, all spotlessly clean.
One of two guest BBQs is located under cover at the end of this building,
whilst the second, an brick outdoor affair, stood on the edge of the large lawned area just beyond the 'happy hour' seats and tables.
In the row beyond ours, the en suite sites were yet to be occupied....as we had planned, we were here just before the start of the two to three month 'silly season', when any without an advance booking will have great difficulty getting in.
At the end of this row are the few park permanents, most of whom work at the nearby Cape Lambert ore loading facility,
whilst in the opposite direction is yet another The Cove innovative idea, a fully equipped car wash bay with the fish cleaning station adjoining.
One of our newly acquired park mates made good use of this area on more than one occasion. Greg managed some good catches of trevally on several days....fish he later cooked and shared with several of us at happy hour....what a champion.
Beyond this excellent facility are some of the park cabins
and at this end of the park, the covered childresns' playground and a second amenities block. Another thing we noted and applauded in this park was the fact that new arrivals with children in tow were sited at this end of the park where the playground was easily accessible and, more importantly from our perspective, those of us at the other end of the park did not have to share the inevitable early morning noise of excited children.
Mind you, we did make our own racket most afternoons. The central location of the community seating area did much to encourage folk to congregate socially. We took full advantage at gatherings small (note the plates....delicious fish nibbles)
and large. Here we encountered several who had shared the park with us at Coral Bay, and we have subsequently caught up with many we met here as we have moved further north. We are all heading in the same general direction!
It was not all beer and skittles here at The Cove....there was some serious work to be done. In the course of one happy hour I was bemoaning the fact that our 12 volt lead had come to grief some weeks previously at the Billabong Roadhouse (thank you....it was before our big night!) "Not a problem", was the immediate response from our back neighbour. "We'll fix that tomorrow".
Les is, amongst other things, a skilled auto electrician, and like so many of his kind, travels with all sorts of kit and caboodle. And true to his word he was on the job the very next day, with wonderful results.
But wait, there is more. I also happened to mention the great idea I had picked up from the redoubtable Bruce at Horrocks Beach, that of connecting an Anderson plug to the compressor leads so as to be able to plug it in directly to the fitting at the rear of the cruiser rather than having to attach clips to the battery. This set up make life particularly easy when inflating the rear coil airbags.
"Easy fixed", said Les. And blow me down, he even carried the right plug. This was a job where I was able to provide some assistance, but once this initial stage had been completed, I was banished.
Unless he needs a second pair of hands Les prefers to work alone. I left him to it.
And again he shined. A complete success. As I wandered back to pick up my newly adapted piece of kit, Liz, who had come with me, noticed Les's cap. She insisted I put it on.
I'm not sure she was being entirely kind....I'm only grumpy when provoked...by idiots!
We were well and truly settled into The Cove. Good amenity, good service, good mates, good views and good fun.
But now we have to get busy...there is much to be seen. The town of Point Sampson itself, and nearby Karratha, Dampier, Roebourne, Wickham, Cossack and Cape Lambert all await our attention.
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