We awoke to a lovely day – sunny with just a slight breeze… the view out our bedroom windows was second to none!!

There were a few spots we had decided to explore today that were north of Cleaverville starting with Point Samson where apparently there were a couple of good beaches for swimming.

On the way out to the point, we passed a lot of mining activities as Port Walcott was located at the end of Cape Lambert…

The town of Wickham was also on the way out – they had a great entry to the town with a large mining tipper on show…

The area is sparse and dry with intermittent clay pans and salt deposits as well as mangrove areas….

We arrived at Point Samson and checked out the main beach first – the wind by this time was up a bit and the water was murky and choppy – not inviting for a swim… and I was feeling half-baked with the cold even with Codral on board…

The very lengthy jetty at Port Walcott was clearly visible with multiple container ships lined up to be loaded with iron ore…

We drove around to Honeymoon Cove which was reportedly a great swimming spot….

….again it was windblown and not particularly inviting although Gordie and Trev jumped in for a quick swim… they then caught up with a local bloke who said he used to swim there all the time – until he hit his head on a rock when diving in!!!

Gordie took advantage of the free shower….

The rocks were very striated with multiple colours around the cove – really interesting to look at…

The gulls took advantage of prime positions on the rocks…

Out to see we could see a lighthouse on an island…

We had a quick look at the boat ramp at Point Samson then drove back along the cape to turn out to Cossack – an historical town that is no longer inhabited.

Cossack was named after the HMS Cossack in 1873 (It was previously known as Tien Tsin) – the town was the birthplace of the WA pearling industry until it was moved to Broome in 1886. After the pearling moved to Broome and the decline of the gold rush the population of Cossack dwindled… it was not suitable as a port for the larger ships and thus the jetty ay Point Samson was built.

There was a gaol there which is still standing today…

as well as the post office and telegraph office…

the Customs and Bond Store near the boat ramp…

and a few other buildings which have been restored with the assistance of Hamersley mining and the government.

In 1913 the area had a leprosarium established on the other side of the river to Cossack to cope with a leprosy outbreak. This was closed in the 1930’s when the last of the patients were moved to Darwin.

There was a small community in Cossack until the late 1940’s when it was finally abandoned. Much of the area is heritage listed and there are plans to continue the restoration of this lovely historic site.

We drove up to the Reader Head Lookout from where we looked down on Settler’s Beach which looked beautiful…

Across the water we could see the small island with the lighthouse on it that we saw from Point Samson… you could see the abandoned lighthouse cottage on the island…The island was Jarman Island and the lighthouse was the 7^th to be built along the WA coastline. It was built with prison labour using preformed cast iron sections shipped from England in 1888.

After spending some time looking around to find a coffee shop… none to be found… we went back to camp for a late lunch and relaxing afternoon… the beach area is very interesting with the rocks a real conglomerate type – a mix of shells, pebbles, petrified wood all compressed into rock formations… the tide went out a long way and the sun set quickly… the end to another beautiful day in WA….

We had a walk down on the rocks, relaxed and watched another beautiful WA sunset….