Day 8 Point Samson to Fortescue River 154.9 kms

I think Annie enjoyed writing the blog yesterday. I hope some of the others might take up the offer at least once in the trip. Thanks Annie, I enjoyed reading it.
We changed our destination for today. A couple of days ago we heard that they had re-opened the Fortesque Roadhouse to the public. We were originally going to camp on the side of the river again but a shower is preferred over a bush dinner. The rivers edge is also pretty rocky and last time it was found to be a bit uncomfortable.
I was hoping to ride at least to Roeburne today but Collis put a stop to that saying it would be too busy and therefore too dangerous for an inexperienced rider. Lucky I didn't ride as the wind was blowing the wrong way again and it was pretty tough going.
Once they turned right towards Carnarvon the wind was coming up behind and pushing them down the highway. It was like this most of the day. Morning tea was at a roadhouse just outside Karratha. Joan started the day with an upset tummy and had to stop a number of times due to cramps but soldiered on and was feeling much better by morning tea time. Poor old Annie has ended up with the head cold that has been slowly going around over the last month. She looks horrified when I suggested she has a day in the truck.

Lunch was at Devils River and when we arrived there we discovered Collis had once again left the road sign at the morning tea stop. To head back we had to unload all the food boxes, the eskis, chairs and disconnect the trailer so he could drive back 45kms. I stayed behind on the river bed with the riders while they had their lunch and waited for Collis to return. I decided if he didn't come back then I had plenty to eat and drink, I could empty the trailer out and sleep in that and I'm sure someone would have come looking for me by the morning. Anyway he returned just as Mark was about to leave so Mark helped us load up the truck again and reconnect the trailer before he left.
As stated the wind stayed in their favour for the rest of the day. The scenery altered slightly as we followed a range of rocky outcrops for most of the day. I like the scenery around here with the red coloured rock covered by the different greens of the grass. Everyone was into camp by 3 pm and we had green soft grass to camp on. Bonus!!