COVID lockdown countdown

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The last blog was just before the lockdown, so I decided to tell you about our adventure when the lockdown actually happened 😉

In Perth I picked up my partner from the airport and we spent a few days preparing for the looming lockdown. Sure enough, only a few days later they announced that the borders of the different regions in Western Australia will close in three days (on the 1^st of April 2020)!

My partner works in the Pilbara region so we had to find somewhere I could stay within the Pilbara away from towns, so we could enjoy some freedom. My partner had the marvellous idea to head to Eighty Mile Beach.

We usually take the scenic route along the North West Coastal Highway, but through the country its shorter, plus we didn’t trust the lockdown date. Highly assume, they didn’t want people to travel hundreds of kilometres before they shut the border. So we took the back way along the Great Northern Highway.

We got takeaway dinner as we wanted to get as far as quick as possible. We camped somewhere off the road in the bush and dared to have a little camp fire. We felt a bit like out laws, haha.

The next day we made it close to Karijini National Park, where we found a gravel road that led to a beautiful clearing. Not long after we set up camp, another car turned up and we were afraid it might be the owner of the land telling us off. You see, we were a bit on tender hooks. Turned out to be some travelers, checking out the random turn offs, just like us.

We were on the road very early. In South Hedland – the last town before Eighty Mile Beach – we stocked up on fresh food. We got ourselves a fan, as it was still wet season and we were camping in a tent. When we finally got to the entrance of Eighty Mile Beach Caravan Park, the gate was shut. We called the number on the sign and spent the last nervous minutes of the trip waiting for them to pick up. They let us in, the very last people to get through theses gates for two months!

Just in time to set up camp and watch the 1^st of many sunsets at Eighty Mile.

We made it!!

The first two days we spent more or less at the inlet 10km north of the caravan park. My partner caught baitfish with the throw net, and we fished in the inlet and at the mouth of it. We mainly got sawfish and shovelnose. While it was a bit frustrating for my partner, as they are protected and therefore couldn’t be our dinner, it was very exciting for me as I’ve never seen them before.

We crabbed with crab nets and gave it a try walking up the inlet at low tide with a crab hook. We didn’t catch any.

We got settled in at camp, met our fellow lockdown campers, fed the pigeons and enjoyed the water sprinkler as much as the birds in the heat.

Next, we explored the section south of the rocks and went for a long walk. (in the early morning, before the heat sets in) Only on very low tides you can get around the rocks in a vehicle and then you still drive over saltwater.

I was amazed by the ornamental looking shapes of tiny sand balls, made by crabs. The crabs dig through the sand and filter out their food. Leftover sand is rolled into a ball and brought to the surface. It looks amazing.

The afternoon we spent fishing and caught two different rays – a Stingray and a Honeycomb Stingray with beautiful spots. And a shovelnose. The sunset was stunning.

On the last day with my partner before I had to drop him off at work in Port Hedland we went for a fish and watched the sunset. Knowing the whole world is in lockdown and we were there, enjoying freedom made us feel so incredibly lucky!

More 80ty mile adventures to come!

Bear with me, we are moving and I start a new job in a couple days, will do my best. Thanks for checking in!

Explored in March 2020, written September 2025