17 July 2026
From Broome we drove to 80 Mile Beach and whilst I didn’t measure it I did enjoy a long bike ride on the firm sand at low tide.
I have gone on about emptiness before and so it continues. The drive from Broome to 80 Mile Beach is about 382 kms and there is just one roadhouse over that whole distance. Even worse, and this might be hard to accept, they only offer instant coffee!
You drive all day and see the odd car and a few road trains and then you drive down a dirt road and there is this oasis of green, filled with campers. Where do they all come from?
From 80 Mile Beach to Marble Bar a distance of 358 kms there was again just one roadhouse. Out here you have to be mindful of the range you can cover with the fuel in your tank.
We visited Marble Bar, the town that holds the record for being the hottest town in Australia. This is a place you visit in winter and never summer. The other claim for Marble Bar is that it is the centre of the East Pilbara Shire which is the largest shire in the world. The East Pilbara Shire is larger than all of Germany but with a population of just 10,000 people, Germany 83 million.
From Marble Bar we drove to Tom Price. This was a day of 392 kms which included about 75 km of dirt road. There was again one roadhouse on this route, the Auski Roadhouse. Auski is a major stop for mining and associated vehicles so the coffee was good as was the sausage rolls. Auski is located on the Great Northern Road, a major route from the mine sites to the coast.
Next it’s Karijini National Park and Tom Price.
A Traveller's Tale 