Cape Peron WA, Woodman Point WA, WWII, Bunkers, Munitions dump

Cape Peron WA, Woodman Point WA April 30, 2015
First off today was the mucky business of getting some replacement tyres for the Ford. All I will say is good on Beaurepaires, who responded first and had by far the best price.

We went exploring after that, over to the Rockingham foreshore which has been all tarted up with cafes and apartments and boardwalks and things, quite pleasant actually, and then around to Point Peron where we took some snaps from the lookout suspended over the cliff face. It's interesting in that the whole place was flooded after the ice ages and since then the water has receded, leaving islands and sand dunes building up all over the place. Rockingham is build on one of those sand-dunes, as is everything else on the west coast.

Point Peron WA

Point Peron WA

Point Peron WA

Jutting out from the coast just up the road, is a really long bridge that runs out to Garden Island, which is where HMAS Sterling, the biggest Navy base in Australia is located.

Back at the van park, I went exploring the Woodman Point National park, which is all around us. I am struggling to find any definitive history, except that the first building was a quarantine station built in 1890 and used as such on and off until 1980. It may have also been used as a POW camp during the wars. There is plenty of evidence that the area was used as a munitions (bombs, bullets, explosives and the like) for many years as well, but also ending in 1980, which is when the Sterling Naval base came into operation, and had its own munitions dump. There are at least 3 railway lines running into it, and there are the remains of at least 10 bunkers and store rooms. The bunkers appear to be solidified sandbags all stacked nicely and Bristol fashion as you would expect from an Army type place, and inside the bunker is (or was in most cases) a store room. I guess the idea was that if one of the store rooms blew up, the bunker walls would contain the blast and prevent blowing the whole place up! Here are some pics:

Bunker. Woodman National Park WA

remains of railway carriage. Woodman National Park WA

Bunker. Woodman National Park WA

Bunker. Woodman National Park WA

End of the line. Woodman National Park WA

Headquarters! Woodman National Park WA

There are two bunkers you walk past along one road and then you come to a fence. On the other side of the fence is another bunker, except this one has been done up and turned into the games room in the van park. Kinda nice, i reckon

Bunker, aka Games room. Woodman Point Caravan Park WA