Thursday July 19

Quick update from Karratha before we head into the wilds of the Pilbara in the tent for five days!

We most reluctantly left Broome last Friday, the 13^th with the feeling that a very significant and wonderful part of our trip was now over.  Even though we knew that there are plenty more adventures to be had and special places still to visit, our time in the Kimberly has been so remarkable that we felt quite sad.

Barn Hill Station, which is right on the coast, was our destination for the first night and as this was a mere 120km south of Broome, we were soon set up in the scrubby fringes of what was, to us, a surprisingly huge and full-to-the-brim caravan park.   The WA school holidays meant that lots of others were already here, so we were quite happy to be accommodated in the ‘non-powered’ area. The unseasonably strong wind which had buffeted us a bit on the trip down also stirred up the red dust around the park.

The beach, with its beautiful white sand, was bordered in parts by more of the incredible red mudstone cliffs we have been so amazed by on this coast and in other parts by equally incredible coloured and fractured sandstone When these are set against the colour of the Indian Ocean the result is inevitable - loads more photos to edit!

As we were taking the 10km drive out of Barn Hill the next morning we had another of those extra special moments which cause huge excitement and awe.  A large Black-headed Python had just crossed the track and we were able to stop and watch as it slithered slowly up the bank on the side of the road – what a truly magnificent creature.

Extremely strong winds made our 200km trip down to the Eighty Mile Beach Caravan Park a little slow, although luckily it was blowing across our path rather than into us.  As we drove, we reflected on the fact that we were now travelling through very different landscapes.  Much more ‘scrubby’ vegetation and few large trees and sadly of course, the Boabs have now disappeared. 

Again, the park was very busy, but we managed to snare an unpowered site.  We spent two nights here and spent time walking on the beach, which really is eighty miles long and very wide.  Normally it is a fishing mecca, but the wind and an apparently unusually cold current had caused mayhem amongst the fishers.

As so many people come here each year for three months or so, the park has regular ‘events’ organised by residents.  We were able to enjoy an afternoon Musicians’ Concert (not as good as the Balnarring Musos’ nights though!) and a market at which many of the residents sell handmade goods.  Quite charming and a bit like being in a retirement village.

On Monday we made it down to Port Hedland, despite being told by many not to bother going in there as it is unattractive and not worth visiting.  Given that this is our first trip to WA, we are still of the view that we need to see everything and create our own impressions, so off we went.  Finding somewhere to stay in this part of WA is tricky though, as the mining boom has put huge pressure on all types of accommodation, including caravan parks. 
 
The day and a half we spent looking around the port and the town centre was most enjoyable.   Of course, resource-related infrastructure is never going to be attractive and despite my misgivings about the environmental impacts, it was interesting and gave Murray lots of opportunities to indulge his fascination with boats and ports. 

 

As well as iron ore, vast quantities of salt are manufactured and exported in Port Hedland.  Amusingly, the ‘spin’ on the hoardings by the drying pans is that this is ‘solar salt’, produced using only solar energy – surely the way salt has always been produced!

The Courthouse Gallery had some fantastic work on display and in the adjacent park we were astounded to find an American diner car set up as a café.  It was a carriage from a Silver Zephyr train which had been out on the BHP site for years before being relocated and ‘done up’ as an addition to her cafe by a young local woman – fantastic!  Good coffee too!  We were particularly entranced because of our wonderful trip on the California Zephyr in 2010 (wasn't silver though!).

Yesterday we travelled another 200km from Port Hedland to the Pilbara Coast and back into red rocks and hilly country.  Once again, we were struck by the contrasting colours- green and yellow spinifex, dark red rocks, green vegetation and the blue sky.  I keep feeling like we are driving through a Sian Dodd painting!

We spent last night in Point Sampson, a lovely little town on the eastern side of the Point Sampson Peninsula.  It was established as a deep water port to service Roeburn and districts around 1910.  The iron ore export port is now located at nearby Cape Lambert, which has one of the tallest and longest jetties in Australia – 3.98 kilometres long and a minimum clearance of 17.8 metres above high tide.  The ships in the photo below are actually loading at the jetty, even though it is difficult to see!

Point Sampson and its gorgeous sandy beaches (like Honeymoon Cove below) are now a popular holiday spot and the now-small port is used for fishing boats, survey vessels and tugs. Had a swim (well, Murray did anyway!) and a lie on the beach in the sun – very nice indeed.  Definitely worth a return visit.

Saw our first Sturt Desert Peas growing by the roadside as we were exploring the town and as these photos show, they were two quite different varieties - crimson with black bosses and crimson with red bosses.  Apparently white hybrids and crimson and white variegated varieties have also been found in this area.

Today we moved on to Karratha – a huge distance of about 40km.  Drove through the historic towns of Cossack and Roebourne en route and after setting ourselves up in the caravan park, took off for Dampier.  Looking around as we left town, it was obvious that Karratha is undergoing enormous growth.

Dampier, purpose built in the 1960s to accommodate employees of Hamersley Iron and their families, is dominated by the port facilities for Dampier Salt, Pilbara Iron and Woodside Energy.   The Dampier Archipelago, which consists of 42 islands and islets within a 45 kilometre radius of Dampier, would be a wonderful place to explore with a boat – next time!

A memorial to Red Dog has been erected in Dampier, so we had to stop and have a look!

 

We also managed to stop at the overpass on the rail line to get a photo of one of the huge ore trains which travel from Tom Price to the port.  Some of these trains are 3.75 kilometres in length and have up to six locos - Scott and Gordon will be pleased to know that even we are impressed by such trains!

We drove up the Burrup Peninsula to Woodside’s North West Shelf Visitor Centre and Lookout.  It was quite interesting, but looking out over the enormous gas plant made me deeply sad as I contemplated such a facility imposed on the beautiful Dampier Peninsula at James Price Point.  Surely we should have reached a stage when we can be more sensitive to our environment and do our best to confine industrial developments such as this to as few areas as possible.

 

A 4WD track takes you beyond the Visitor Centre further up the Burrup Peninsula to Withnell Bay and as we drove we marvelled at the incredible piles of dark red rock, which look as if they have been dumped by some giant truck.  These rocks dominate the landscape all around Dampier and they are just astounding.

The Yaburra People, who once inhabited the peninsula and adjacent islands, left a rich cultural heritage – one of the most prolific sites for prehistoric rock art in the world.  There are over 1,000,000 pieces of engraved rock art (petroglyphs) on the Burrup Peninsula (Murujuga) and I was very excited to spot one on a large rock as we went along.  If we have time when we get back from Karijini I would love to come back and drive out to Hearsons Cove to see more examples.

Whilst we were at Withnell Bay, we watched a Brahminy Kite, which was perched on a rock by the beach.  Much cursing ensued as it flew off just as I got the telephoto lense on the camera, but then I spied this one sitting on top of a huge pile of rocks.  What a great colours - the beautiful chestnut and white of the kite's plumage against the deep red rocks and blue sky

Back then to Karratha, where we visited the Visitors' Centre to get our permit to drive on the Rio Tinto Railway Road, which follows their rail line (the longest privately owned rail line in the world I believe) on which the huge iron ore trains travel to the port.  Before we could get the permit we had to watch a twenty minute DVD on road safety – a small price to pay!  Back to the van then to repack all the camping gear – we are getting very efficient at it now though.

We will be back to Karratha and our van next Wednesday, after our trip to Millstream-Chichester and Karijini National Parks and Tom Price, so until then . . .