The last post

Since our last message at Kalgoorlie we have really piled on the km’s. This message is being written as we travel along the Barrier Highway from SA to Broken Hill.

Each day has seen us travel in excess of 600 km.  Boy this is a vast country!!  Our first stop was at a little place at the bottom of WA called Cocklebiddy – just a road house.  It began to get cold when the sun started to go down, by dinner time, while trying to cook dinner outside well and truly rugged up, it got even colder.  Then overnight it got even colder and we woke to a trailer tent that looked as though it had been rained on, that’s how heavy the dew was and we could only see about 20 m, the fog was very, very thick.

It was then we decided that enough was enough, the holiday was over, it was not fun anymore, we just wanted to get home to some warmth. We know it has been cold in Sydney but out on the Nullarbor in a tent is no fun.

Next night we stopped at the Nullarbor Roadhouse, having said goodbye to WA and hello to SA.  The place was chokka, because of its proximity to the Head of Bight National Park.  Not so cold that night, or maybe we are acclimatising but day arrives late out there so it was a late start for us and we had hoped to reach Port Augusta.   We stopped off at the Head of Bight and stayed for a while as there was a herd of whales with babies swimming around below the cliffs.  Such a beautiful sight.  So our plans to reach Port Augusta did not eventuate.

Instead we stayed at a little place called Wudinna – terrific little spot, no noise and no generators which we had experienced at the last two stops.  Which brings us to tonight when will be in Broken Hill, which is only 160 km away as I write.

Then one more stop, probably at Dubbo, then home.  How glorious.  How terrific it will be to be able to cook a meal within the protection of 4 walls and even more terrific it will be to be able to get out of bed, walk a couple of metres to the bathroom without having to get dressed. 

Bliss.

So this will be the last post.  All being well we should arrive home (Mike’s place) sometime on Thursday.

Kalgoorlie

We ended our stay in Tom Price with another visit back to Karijini NP, this time to walk through Dales Gorge.  Dales Gorge has to be one of the best gorges to visit anywhere.  It is a bit of a climb into it down some very steep steps; hundreds of them, but when you get to the bottom it is well worth it.  Crossing over a lovely waterfall you then walk a couple of km’s along the river bed to the end of the gorge where there is yet another steep climb out.  But it is all well worth it, the rock formations of the gorge have to be seen to be believed, so many different strata layers and all of different colours and over the millennia the wind has sculptured the rocks into some fantastic shapes.  In one part there is a beautiful rock pool where we sat and had a bite to eat.

From Tom Price we hit the road again, heading out through Newman, which has the biggest iron ore open cut mine in the world, we didn’t stop long there, just long enough for a subway lunch, and then off we went again.  Newman was nowhere near as nice as Tom Price so we were glad not to hang about.

We ended up staying the night in a roadhouse at Kumarina, a place best forgotten and it about here that we moved out of the Pilbara into the Goldfields region of WA.  From Kumarina we headed through some mighty boring territory before arriving in the town of Sandstone.  A very pretty little place which is beautifully maintained by their local council, every building was in pristine condition.

Next morning we were off down the road again with Kalgoorlie firmly in our sights.  After setting ourselves up in the local caravan park we headed to the Info Office and booked a tour of The Superpit.  The Superpit came about because of Alan Bond, who bought up all the old mining leases in the area with the aim of joining them all together to form one super open cut mine.  Well he went broke before then but the dream did become a reality and now all the leases form one huge open cut mine.

That night it rained and rained.  There was a huge storm, lightning and thunder crashing; the rain came down as did the hail.  A bit nasty.  Next day was bright and sunny so we went to the lookout over the Superpit and did a couple of other things around the area.

Last night the rains came down again and the tour we have waited for which was to take us down into the Superpit was cancelled.  We were very disappointed as we had been so looking forward to it. We are not having much luck with actually getting to do some of the things we planned.  We can do the tour on Monday they tell us, but hey, we will probably be in South Australia by then.

Tomorrow we take off again, heading south to Norseman then hanging left to begin the trek across the Nullarbor.  Not sure where our stops will be.  Our aim is to head to Port Augusta, then over to Broken Hill then on to home.  We had planned on doing the Eyre Peninsular in SA and also getting into Victoria but we need a lot more time for that, so it will have to wait till next time.

I guess the next message will be from Port Augusta, till then…

Tom Price

Since our last report to the blog we have covered a fair bit of territory.  We headed out of Karratha and about 160 km later arrived in Millstream Chichester National Park.  We found a great campsite that actually did not have anyone else staying there.  Just bliss.  No power or water and just a bush pit loo and at night the most beautiful array of stars.

We did a couple of walks in the park, but unfortunately it is a little mismanaged.  The walking trails are not clearly defined so most of the time you are just not sure where you are going.  In fact we found a couple of walks that did not appear anywhere on their maps!! 

After 2 nights away from civilisation we took off along the Hamersley Iron rail access track (or these days Rio Tinto) and saved about 100 km getting into Tom Price, which is where we are now based.

Tom Price was previously known as Mount Tom Price, but the mount has gone and all that is now here is a huge hole in the ground.  From this hole in the ground Rio Tinto work 24/7 extracting iron ore which is then graded and refined then loaded onto huge trains.  The trains are classed as long or very long, and can be up to almost 4 km long.  Most of the trains have at least 260 carriages and are pulled by 3 engines the 250 km to Dampier where it is loaded onto the huge bulk carriers and shipped to China and other places. We did a really interesting tour of the mine yesterday which enabled us to look into the pit and the bus then look us through the processing plant and stock piles.

We also took a drive up Mt Nameless, which is the huge mountain that overlooks the town.  It is a very rugged ride, 4WD access only.  It took about half an hour to get to the top and the track is only about 3 km long.  But the view when you get to the top is well worth it with views down over the rail distribution centre and the town itself.  Tom Price is actually a great little town, a real green oasis in an otherwise very red landscape.

We did try to get to Hamersley Gorge yesterday, but luck was against us.  First of all we took a wrong turn which took us about 30 km totally the wrong way.  Then when we actually got to the entrance of the gorge, we got ANOTHER FLAT TYRE.  This time a dirty great nail somehow or other rammed itself into the tyre and that was the end of that.  There was a little bit of yelling, cursing, and swearing  from us.  That is the 4^th tyre we have done this trip, two of which have been totally destroyed.  After changing the tyre we limped back about 60 km to town and bought a second hand tyre in very good condition.  That will be $180 thank you.  So we didn’t see the gorge, bummer.

Today though we took off into Karijini National Park, which is one of the jewels of Western Australia.  We did the western gorges today.  First up Weano Gorge, which is an absolute delight.  When you get to the bottom of the gorge via some very steep steps there is a beautiful little pool of water that is fed by a small creek.  We walked the gorge, then up the other side and back to the car park along the gorge rim.  A great walk, not too far, about 3 km.  We went to a couple of other gorges too but only viewed them from the lookouts as entry to some of them is for really experienced hikers only.

So now the sun is setting over Tom Price.  The days here are very pleasant, about 25, but the moment the sun goes down it gets cold.  Last night I had a hot water bottle, tonight the electric blanket goes on.  Take me back to the top end.

So tomorrow we are going to do the other half of Karijini, then on Monday we hit the road again and will be heading to Newman and places south, but no more dirt roads.

Till then…

Karratha

Well the car got fixed, no more dramas, so early on Friday morning Mike and I hot footed it out of Broome as fast as our little wheels would carry us.

Next stop for us was Port Hedland where we spent two nights. It is quite a long drive, about 650 km from Broome, but the roads are good, wide and very, very straight out here. There are no towns to slow you down and it is also very, very flat – so it is relatively easy to cover the distance.

Not a lot to do in Port Hedland. We wandered around the port and did a bit of shopping. Late in the afternoon we visited the local market, but it was the same old scene – more soaps, tea towels and home made lemonade and stuff from everywhere else but the local area. Still later in the day we did a history tour with a local historian. This was a high point of the visit. For two hours she talked as we drove around the town in a bus. It was good to hear the history of the town. Did you know that Port Hedland, at one stage, had the dubious honour of having the 'most dangerous pub in the world'? The Pier Hotel, which is still there, back yonks ago averaged 1 murder a week, charming place. Mike and I ventured in, not realising at that stage its dark past, although acknowledging between ourselves that it seemed a very dodgy place, so we did not hang about.

After leaving Port Hedland we continued south to where we can now be found – Karratha. Karratha and nearby Dampier may be known to some as where Hamersley iron arrives from Tom Price and is then loaded to bulk carriers and shipped mainly to China. Dampier is also where the North West Shelf Gas is also piped to and then again, on to tankers and off to China. Salt is also farmed a both places, and again shipped overseas for industrial use.

But Dampier is known to everyone as the home of Red Dog. We stopped and said g'day and took a couple of photos of him.

We had hoped to be able to do a tour of the port, to see the trains arrive, unload the iron ore to the conveyors and then on to the ships. I did it a few years ago and knew that Mike would love it – only trouble was we got some bad advice so it was not possible.

So instead today we headed back up the coast to a ghost town called Cossack. Cossack was, in the mid 1800's to the early 1900's a thriving port and commercial centre. But the port entry was bad, better places were found so the place died. There are still quite a few buildings there which have been well preserved and maintained – it was a most interesting place to visit.

The big problem we have been finding all the way along the coast, from Cape Leveque to here – wind. We have avoided all the massive rainfalls over here but have really copped the winds.

Tomorrow we head inland and hopefully we will leave the wind behind. Our first destination will be the Millstream Chichester National Park where we may spend a night or two. Then we will head in further to Tom Price where we plan to stay for 4 nights – this will give us ample time to visit Karijini NP and to do the Tom Price mine tour. We will be travelling in along the Hamersley Rail access road – a permit is required to do this section of road as it is a private road, and most of it is dirt.

There will not be power or communications in Millstream but Tom Price will be OK. So we may be off air for a few days.

Till then...

Broome

It is Thursday, and we are STILL in Broome.  We have now been here for 1 week, ie, 7 days.  BORING.
The good news is we have just had a call and the parts have arrived, finally.  Mike has taken the car around to the dealer and we should have it back later today.  Hooray.
Now we can get out of here.
The weather has turned a little nasty, we had a mega downpour Tuesday night and another lighter shower last night.  The sky is grey with threatening showers.  The forecast down the coast is not looking good either so whether we will be able to get to some of the places we want to get to is in the lap of the gods.
But at least we will be outta here.
Tomorrow we will head down to Port Hedland, weather permitting, and boy it feels good to say we will be heading off somewhere, anywhere.
But there is always someone worse off than yourself.  The people beside us have a motor home - the transmission has gone - $25,000 to replace it new.  They have managed to source a reconditioned one from Victoria for $12,000 - they have been here for a month, still waiting for the transmission, and just sitting around all day.  So we are not so badly off.
Hopefully the next post will be from Port Hedland.
Till then...

Broome

Well, here it is now Tuesday and we are still in Broome, still awaiting parts to be delivered up from Perth.  As it is now only 8.45 am we won't hear for at least another hour if the parts have arrived this morning.
It is getting boring here.  We are limited to how far we can travel, so we generally just end up going into town, doing coffee and a bit of food shopping then back here to veg out.
Still it could be worse.  By rights we should now be in either Port Hedland or Karratha, but as they have overnight just experienced their heaviest rainfall ever I feel we are probably better off where we are, wet canvas is no fun.
That's it for now.

Broome

It was with great trepidation that we left Cape Leveque to head off to Broome along the road from hell.

We made it, without any problems, but, after setting up camp at the Roebuck Bay Caravan Park we decided that it would probably be best to have the car thoroughly checked out for possible damage and to have an oil change at the same time, that all being organised for the next day we headed into town for a quick familiarisation as it has been a few years since either of us have been here.  It hasn’t changed just there are a few more shops.

Next day we took the car back for the oil change and it would appear that the consensus of opinion to possible damage to the car was wrong.  When the oil in the front diff overheated and boiled it also blew the diff seals.   That’s not good!!!  Being a Friday and being Broome there are no parts on hand to fix the problem.  The parts have been ordered from Perth and hopefully will arrive in Broome on Monday morning.

The problem for us is we were supposed to leave Broome today.  The park here has given us an extra night but can’t give us any more as they are booked out.  Our timing is bad – the staircase to the moon happens this week and Broome is booked solid.

We have had use of the car, provided we don’t go too far too fast.  So we visited another caravan park near here and have secured a site for up to three nights (there is no guarantee the seals will arrive tomorrow).

Roebuck CP is beautifully situated right on the bay and we have a great shady waterfront site (which we paid extra for I might add).  Here the superlatives stop.  The amenities are a disgrace, 4 very tired showers and equally tired loo’s, 1 basin that would not even be accepted at Kimbriki tip for recycling and a mirror so crazed you can’t see your own reflection.  The added bonus is the thieving!!  We were sitting in the trailer, lights on, reading and somehow, someone managed to get hold of Mikes’ wallet and our kitty and robbed us of over $300.00. Bas@$#ds.  That’s what you get when you pay top rates of $50.00 per night.  This place apparently has a very bad reputation for theft, so if any of you are considering this place, DON’T.  We were not the only ones hit on the night, people in vans copped it too, so no one is safe from the predators.

In between all this stuff we have still managed to see a few sights, even if we are restricted to places nearby.  We visited Gantheaume Point and wandered the rocky shore, and of course visited Cable Beach.  It has been, apart from the dramas, a quite relaxing time.

So tomorrow we move down the road to the more secure park, the car goes in hopefully to be fixed and all being well, we should be out of here on Tuesday morning, heading south in the direction of Port Hedland.

Fingers crossed…