Wickham / Point Samson - A BCA stop

On Sunday morning we went to church and met Richard and Tracy Goscombe and joined in the Wickham Community Church where we met some fantastic people.  After church we drove to Boat Beach and had a fish and chips lunch at the yacht club.  The kids played in a splash pool that was there and we chatted with some of the people from the church.

The kids splashing around while we ate lunch after Church

  On the way back to the caravan park, Richard took us to a lookout and gave us a good overview of the area.

The Mason Family at the top of the lookout Richard took us to

We had organised (though BCA) to meet the Goscombes and see if there was anything that they needed help with, so on Monday Mike went over to their house and got a list of things that could be done (ranging from IT work to gardening work).  Mike spent all day at the house looking at various IT things around the house and the church office and started to improve/fix a few things.  Liz and the kids stayed around the Caravan Park and did lots of schoolwork and then went for a swim in the afternoon.    That afternoon we got a phone call from Cath and Dean Guse telling us that they would be coming to Point Samson (where we were staying), so once the kids were settled that evening we had a good catchup over a cuppa (because we hadn’t seen them since Geraldton).

On Tuesday we piled into the car and went over to the Goscombe’s to attack some of the gardening work.  The kids helped a little, but were more content playing with the two cats and chatting with Josh Goscombe (who was great with the kids).  Liz and Mike did lots of weeding, mowing, raking and sweeping (and Mike did a little bit more IT work). 

Liz doing some raking at the Goscombe's house

Mike enjoying some weeding

That afternoon, we saw that Kev and Sonia (another couple we have bumped into along our travels) had also pulled into the caravan park at Point Samson.  A bit later on, we got ready to go and see the Staircase to the Moon which can be seen from a few points in the area.  The Guse Family joined us and we went to the Cossack Lookout to watch the moon rise at about 8pm.  We saw the staircase (an optical illusion of the Moon’s reflection over the mudflats at low tide) and it was actually very impressive, it really did look like a staircase leading up to the moon (not that the photos do it justice!).

The Staircase to the moon - Cossack

The sun Rising over the water at Point Samson

Wednesday morning was a really early start for us because we needed to be in Karratha at 8am so that Bruiser could be inspected for registration.  We got to the rego inspection place about 7:50pm and started the inspection.  The inspector found that Natalie’s seat belt was not catching and so Bruiser failed the inspection.  After a few phone calls and a bit of running around, we sourced a new seat belt mechanism from a wrecker.  Mike stripped it off the old Landcruiser ready to install in Bruiser.  Mike dropped Liz and the kids at the shopping centre and then installed the seatbelt, took the car back to the inspector and got all the papers fixed up.  We also had to get a leaking tyre fixed while we were in Karratha, so we dropped the tyre at a tyre place and they fixed the slow leak (a piece of wire through the tyre).  We also needed to pickup some IT equipment to install on Richard’s computer. After we’d done everything in Karratha that we needed to do it was about 3pm, so we drove back to Point Samson, had showers and got ready to go to dinner at the Goscombe’s house.  We had a lovely BBQ dinner with Richard, Tracy, Josh and Sarah.  We really enjoyed getting to know them and chatting over a great feed.  Josh and Sarah kindly entertained our kids and everyone had a great night.

Our setup at Point Samson

On Thursday, Mike went back to the Goscombe’s on his own to continue the IT work (which involved fixing the household network, upgrading firmware of some devices, upgrading 3 PC’s to Windows 7 and migrating all the data to the right PC’s, fixing printers, connecting TV’s, and all sorts of other bits and pieces.  It was quite tiring, but Mike loved the challenge of getting his hands dirty in some IT again (as it had been a while!).  Liz and the Kids did some school in the morning, and then spent the day around the caravan.  It was pretty hot so they didn’t do too much that day – not to mention that our old air conditioner finally died so it was no use at all).  On Thursday night, Mike had to miss skyping into Prayer Group because he went to Biblestudy in Wickham with Richard and a few folk from the church.  It was a great night, the people were really lovely and Rich led a great biblestudy on prayer.

On Friday morning, Mike went back to Richard and Tracy’s house to finish the IT work that needed completing.  It was another long day to get all the things that needed to be done finished, but by the end of the day everything was in great shape for the church PC’s and the household IT.  Liz and the kids stayed at the caravan and did some school, bought an ice cream, played at the park and went for a walk to the beach via the general store.  That evening, Mike went back to Richard’s to explain all the IT work that had been done and how to use it all.

Natalie, Josh and Sam splashing in the water while out for a walk

Mike decided to give the Goscombe’s a break from his presence on Saturday, so we had a lazy morning and then did a few things around the local area.  We went to the Roebourne visitor’s centre (which is the Old Roebourne Gaol and has some fascinating artifacts from the Gaol and the local area).  The kids were shouted ice creams by Michelle from church, who was working at the centre that day, so we looked around and watch a bit of the DVD that was showing highlights of the surrounding areas. 

The Roebourne Visitor's centre (Old Roebourne Gaol)

After we left Roebourne, we drove to the ghost town of Cossack (the first port in WA’s North coast).  There isn’t much out there anymore, but the courthouse and Post office were still standing and there were some ruins of a few other old buildings, but mostly it was just a ghost town.  We had a good drive around and went to look at settlers beach.  We also went back to the place we had watched the staircase to the moon so we could see the landscape in daylight.  It was a great view of the area.

The old School building at Cossack

A Boab Tree we came across in Cossack

Looking over Cossack

Natalie at the lookout where we watched the Staircase to the moon

On Sunday morning, we went to church again in the community hall where it runs each Sunday Morning.  The kids went to kids church, and we enjoyed good fellowship and teaching.  We went back to the caravan park for lunch and had a quiet afternoon around the caravan.  When we first arrived in Wickham (the previous Sunday) we heard that ‘BBQ Church’ was on the next Sunday, so we decided to extend our stay in Wickham so that we could go to BBQ Church (and help out if we could) .  BBQ Church is run once a month on a Sunday afternoon in a park in Wickham.  A free BBQ is served up to anyone who attends.  Lots of the local neighbourhood (mostly of Aboriginal origin) turn up to BBQ church; and there were about 100-125 people there (including kids).  Everyone has a free feed, enjoys free live music, and hears a short talk given by Richard.  The week we were there, there was also a tribute to 2 Aboriginal Elders who had died recently.  There were lots of kids around and our kids enjoyed playing with some of the locals.  During the week, we had been contacted by a lady who works with ABC Radio, and she wanted to interview us.  She was at BBQ church and we had a quick 10 minute interview (which we presume was aired during the next week).  BBQ church was a great experience and we enjoyed the night.  It was quite late by the time we left, and the kids were exhausted, but it was well worth it.

BBQ Church - Wickham

Richard and Josh Goscombe getting the kids engaged in a few songs

Natalie sitting on Sarah's Lap with Josh and Nina (a new friend) behind

We left Point Samson on Monday morning and drove to Karratha for a couple of nights.

Our stop in Wickham was really busy, but really good fun.  We always love our BCA stops where we get to connect with some locals and meet some great people.  The Goscombe’s really do a great job in what is quite a difficult area and we hope that we have helped them a little bit so that they can continue to focus on the ministry they are doing.

The Mason's with Richard, Tracy and Josh Goscombe