May 21 - Week 7 & 8 Tom Price and more
Hello Fam and Friends,
Myth #4 - everything is bigger in
WA. True! Trucks, takeaway coffee cups,
pub meals, mines and the distances.
Our trip to Tom Price was on a good road, although we did need to pull over once for a wide load, 8.3metres.
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| VERY wide load |
We arrived in Tom Price Friday 15th May for 7 nights as there was much to see. I had tried to book into the campground at Karajini National Park, but completely booked out everywhere I tried, so we have been doing day trips out to the various gorges. We had had a longer than normal drive, 300Kms + by the time we pulled into the CP. We were in a very critical situation - no red wine - so off to find the pub, duly located. We were tired, so we opted for a counter meal. What a good call that was….sat in the outdoor area, great meal and watched the footy and shared a table with Courtney, Peter and Zoey (yes, spelling is correct), working via University of WA. They were working at Hamersley Station on an ag research project to do with plants/cattle/methane and also looking into alternative uses of spinifex. Spinifex is EVERYWHERE and the aboriginal people crush it and extract a glue-like sap used to seal their baskets and other uses. It is being looked at a rubber alternative.
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| Spinifex |
Sunday was cleaning/washing day and a rest day off the road. That evening we drove up a very rough 4X4 track to the top of Mount Nameless, an elevation of around 1100 metres, quite a high point for the middle of the desert, to view the sunset. The view was spectacular extending for miles to the north and west, and to south we were overlooking the Rio Tinto iron ore mine, which was a pretty big operation.
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| West from Mt Nameless |
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| Mount Nameless sunset |
Monday, we drove out to Hamersely Gorge. Truly beautiful. Took our picnic lunch and climbed over the rocks to a spot by the swimming hole and enjoyed the day. Perfect weather, about 29 degrees, so not too hot, but not hot enough for me to have a dip. A road train passing us on the way out managed to throw a stone onto our windscreen, so that has a major crack and will be repaired in Broome early June.
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| Hamersley Gorge |
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| Hamersley Gorge |
Coming back from the gorge, an ore train was beside us so we stopped and watched it pass, all 2.5 kms.
That evening we drove up to Mount Nameless again for some more photos. Chatting to a young couple & family who said they had been travelling with a family from Mansfield - what a coincidence - Steve and Kelly Klingsporn (Purcell), part of Noel’s extended family from Merrijig.
Tuesday we were a bit lazy again -
grocery and hardware shopping, I found the beautician for a bit of maintenance.
Thank heavens she had a good supply of
wax!! Noel had a few repairs/general
maintenance (not on himself).
Wednesday afternoon we took the tour of the Rio Tinto iron ore mine only a few kilometres out from
town. The tour was well worth it,
informative and interesting. Western Australia
is such a large State, they seem to be digging up areas totalling the size of
Tasmania - I’ll have to research if that is an actual stat. The iron ore in the open cut mine is clearly
visible as they cut down, just huge areas of high-grade ore waiting to be dug
up and shipped to China. The ore is
crushed and freighted to Port Hedland in trains pulled by 3 locomotives
(diesel/electric), 240 ore bins totalling 2.5 kms in length and computer driven
from Rio’s HQ in Perth.
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| Rio Tinto ore pit, dark colour is 61% or greater iron ore |
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| Scale is huge, see previous post with Noel by truck at Newman |
We had some lovely neighbours at the CP, Heather and Bluey, who came from Albury and were so very well travelled; this made for interesting and at times, funny, stories. Noel changed a few gears with Blue…..once a truck drive, always a truck driver.
Thursday we travelled out to Hancock Gorge and Joffre Falls in Karajini National Park. Unfortunately I gave incorrect directions to my driver!!! (I know, hard to admit, LOL) and we added about 70kms of dirt road to our day.
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| Hancock Gorge |
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| Joffre Falls |
Friday, car wash day….big job let
me tell you. The red dust seeps through
every nook and cranny. Haven’t bothered
with washing the van - too big a job and frankly, water is so precious out here
I would feel like a criminal. As we were
packing up and leaving next day we headed off to the pub for another meal and
watched the footy. Aaaagghhhh, the
simple pleasures, and the meals were great.
Saturday was a big pack up
morning, but we are now in the routine of who does what, when and how, so
things are running quite smoothly. I would have to say this activity does
bring out the worst in both of us if we are not synchronised! I have discussed this with my fellow female travellers,
and it seems to be a common condition. I
compare it to working in the cattle yards, my mild-mannered husband would turn
into the German commandant in a B Grade war movie.
We probably didn’t get to see
all that we had planned. We are
beginning to realise that we just can’t see everything, that we can’t be
driving constantly, setting up/pulling down, and that we have time to read,
etc. Some days the back aches or knees
hurt, headache, or the full moon sends one of us a bit mad. I am taking hundreds of photos which all need
to be sorted and filed, and I have a blog to write. We are so used to having a long list of
chores to do on the farm, there were always 2 new ones for every one completed. Having NFA challenges these past lifestyles
both mentally and physically - we seem to be in charge of our life rather than
life being in charge of us.
Saturday 22nd we
drove east out of Karajini NP only 140km to FC at the Albert Tognolini rest
area, off the Great Northern Highway (GNH).
Quite a few people camped/caravanning here with plenty of space for us
to all spread out and enjoy the experience.
Sitting high above the gorge, the view was beautiful with lots of
wildflowers and interesting shrubs to be found on my walks, so lots of
photos. Took the drone (now named Harry) for a fly into
the gorge.
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| Albert Tognolini lookout |
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| Munjina gorge |
Heading north the next day, stopped at Auski Roadhouse at the corner of the GNH and Wittenoom Road. Busy here with road trains and travellers north and south bound. Bit of a goldmine if you can live through the summer months!
Travelling 100km north, we turned east to Marble Bar. There was a significant change in the country after leaving Auski. The mulga scrub that we had seen for thousands of miles disappeared and was replaced with grasslands. There were signs of cattle grazing with fencing, grids and carcasses on the sides of the road. The mountain range was also quite different, not with the previous Pilbara red tessellated rock, but rather a dark black/grey round rock across the top of the ridges, and only spinifex clinging to the sides.
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| Road to Marble Bar |
We camped the night on the Coongan River, just 18km short of Marble Bar. Of the 143km only about 50km were dirt and there are works afoot to seal this stretch. Roadmaking here would present its challenges. There are large flood ways and looking at the map this region is one huge floodplain in the rainy season. The Strelly, Coongan, Shaw and DeGrey Rivers all flowing to the Indian Ocean via a delta north of Port Hedland.
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| Coongan River |
At Marble Bar we met up with Hazel and Murray again. Hazel was working at the roadhouse as staff had walked out and Murray declared Hazel was a chef and could fill in until someone else arrived! It would take a fair bit of incentive to stay and work in Marble Bay for the medium/long term - it’s a long way to anywhere and the most expensive outpost we have travelled through. This had been another location on my bucket list, so I can tick that off. I was incredibly disappointed that the two days we were there it was overcast with a few spots of rain!! Not what I expected from the brochures, LOL. The 24th, Monday, we drove out to Jasper Rocks/Marble Bar Pools to see an amazing rock formation which is a must see. The jasper has been exposed by a massive geological eruption and I have not seen anything so beautiful in its raw state. If you throw water over the rock it brings out the 'polished' colour.
Fossickers search in the area for many semiprecious stones - jasper, amber, emerald, amethyst to name a few.
We went to the Info Centre, as always people are so very helpful and proud of their town. There was a lovely poem which I have reproduced, without permission from the writer, but I do acknowledge, as I know not who 'DW' is.
Pilbara Memories
Above my head a cross of stars,
Beneath my feet the marble bars,
The wild corellas rise in flight
High above these rocks of red and white.
Above my head the burning sun,
Beneath my feet the golden seams run,
Men, - long gone, worked and toiled,
Digging for gold in this rich, red soil.
Above my head the storm clouds peep,
Beneath my feet the mud now seeps,
The wet has come to the vast North West,
Nought to do, but eat and sleep.
Above my head, blue, brilliant skies,
Beneath my feet, green grasses rise,
This desert now blooms as the rose,
And Sturts Desert Pea in abundance grows.
My heart yearns for this tiny outback town,
The "Ironclad", and friendly faces white & brown,
May God in His Mercy when looking down,
Keep you safe amongst these ancient mounds.
We stayed two nights then headed north a short distance to FC at Coongan Pools. Another beautiful location made so by the water. There had been flooding in December in the region (including Marble Bar) and we could see that the high-water mark was about 3 metres above ground level along the riverbank. What an amazing sight that would have been, such a volume of water unimaginable in the desert which brings life for months to follow.
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| Coogan River nth Marble Bar |
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| Northbound |
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| Cape Keraudren (2nd from right) |
The next day we were visited
by the local resident kangaroo, went for walks and late afternoon headed out to
‘the island’ at low tide with a bucket, screwdriver and hammer to go
oystering. With a full bucket we headed
back and shared our oysters and homemade pizzas - another lovely night around
the campfire. The weather is now just to
my liking, about 30 degrees and still a little cooler at night, making for a
good night’s sleep. The washing and a
few household chores were mounting up, but they can wait.
On Friday morning we packed up early, Hazel had prepared a lovely breakfast and we said our goodbyes again. They were staying on at the Cape then heading back to Marble Bar where Hazel would be cooking for three weeks at the roadhouse, and we continued north to 80 Mile Beach CP. This is a large park right on the beach (no bookings, just turn up). Wow! This was like coming to the city - it was very busy, lots of families and I think every person owned a fishing rod, except for us! Our neighbours were fun - three couples with young families - one with three boys, one with three girls and one with one of each, so it was full on. Like Christmas with the Willatons really.
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| 80 Mile Beach |
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| 80 Mile Beach |
WELCOME TO SANDFLIES!!! They love me and I have been attacked on
virtually every square inch of my arms, legs and back. I am taking antihistamines daily together
with any other recommended treatment from calamine lotion to Betadine to cover
myself in Mum deodorant (they don’t like the aluminium?). I knew they were coming but didn’t expect
them so soon! Anyway, I’ll just keep
tearing my skin off. They never tell you
about this in the brochures - same when we went to NZ.
Yesterday, 30th, we continued
north to Anna Plains Station, just past the Sandfire Roadhouse.
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| My new Kenworth roadtrain! |
Must finish now - Noel says there is a hot tub we need to go to.
PS: The hot tub is a cut down water tank, bore water from 1100metres subterrainian and about 39 degrees, beautiful.
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| Whoops, forgot my togs |
Well, that's about it for now....next stop Broome.
Thinking of you all in Victoria in lockdown, and have to say very pleased we have escaped for the time being.
Maz & Noel
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