Moora

We have spent this weekend in Moora, it is a holiday weekend so a busy time with locals coming up to look at the wild flowers for which this area is well known. This morning we drove to a wildflower farm where they grow and dry flowers for export. Dried Australian flowers are exported to many countries and are particularly popular in China. There were racks of banksias, smoke bush, kangaroo paws and everlastings in the drying sheds. Good to know that there are still some things that don’t come with the “Made in China” label.

Yalgoo

Yalgoo is another of those towns which once, during the gold mining days, had 5 pubs and a thriving community but now it’s nearly deserted, one shop and not much else. Surprisingly the caravan park was very pleasant and the sort of place that attracts ex farmers looking for somewhere quiet to spend a few days. Our next door neighbours were from down south, having a break and hoping to find an alluvial nugget, so far without success. The view from the nearby lookout gives an idea of the sense of isolation.

The balloon goes up in Meekatharra

There’s not a lot to do in Meekatharra, they still find a bit of gold in the local mines but it’s a bit of a ghost town. Nice sunny days, cold nights and some wind.

We met up again with some fellow travellers who are heading south in the same general direction as we are, an interesting couple from Port Lincoln with whom we have had 5 o’clock drinks a couple of times. They were in Meekatharra when we arrived and had already done the “sights”. They told us that out by the airport there is a meteorological station where at 7.15 am each day a weather balloon is automatically released - so we got up early today and went out on a brilliant sunny but windy morning to have a look! The things you do on a Sunday morning when there’s not much else to do!!

Yesterday we called into the BP station and got chatting to a Thai woman behind the counter, she once lived in Ingle Farm but now does a bit of take away cooking in the local servo. She said “I am cooking green curry chicken tomorrow” and when we hesitated said “what you want?” Of course we wanted Pad Thai, “I cook for you” was the response, so Saturday morning breakfast was a great noodle dish. It looks as though we will leave here with Red Curry Bif - that’s on the menu on Monday, they open at 5am and she was insistent that we call in before we leave here. It’s interesting the characters you meet in the bush.

Newman

More stunning countryside and another mining town, Newman, this time BHP Billiton - the ore goes by train to Port Hedland with most being shipped out to China and Japan. More superlatives on a tour of the Mt Whaleback mine at Newman, it is currently 5.5. km long and 1.5 km wide.. The benches you can see in the photo are each 15 metres high which may give some idea of the dimensions. More rain here much to the delight of the local community and bird life!

Karijini NP and Tom Price

Karijini National Park is in the Pilbara area of WA. This is Lang Hancock territory, the Hamersley Ranges are stark red and the vegetation sparse but there are also a number of gorges, waterfalls and rock pools which can be viewed by descending steep paths and steps - oh for some young knees and stronger legs!

We stayed at the Dales Campground which provides bush toilets and gas BBQs - plus a wonderful view of the night sky - we were blessed with warm, still starry starry nights!

And then on to Tom Price, a young Rio Tinto mining town - and another mine tour, the world’s largest open cut iron ore mine. More superlatives, trucks worth $M4.5 with tyres which cost $50,000 each.

And something new - today it’s raining, something we haven’t seen for quite a while, time for warmer clothes too.

Do you want salt on those?

Port Hedland has been established as a port since the turn of the century but in the 1960s came into it’s own when iron ore became a major export. The town has a distinctive atmosphere of being a part of the mining industry, most buildings have a reddish tinge, men in orange work shirts, numbered vehicles with flags on top - an unmistakeable air of what it’s all about. Huge ships tie up in the harbour to take on loads on iron ore, there a many superlatives when it comes to size of machinery, weights and lengths of machinery, trains etc etc. We took a bus tour of the BHP Billiton facility and got a good idea of what it’s all about. Guinness Book of Records entries abound.

Another local by product is salt, sea water is pumped into evaporative ponds and before you know it, there’s a big pile - most of which is shipped out to be used in industry although a small proportion ends up on our fish and chips!

South Hedland is a small satellite township 20kms or so away, built to accommodate the industry’s workers - the shopping centre even boasts a home made ice cream shop specializing in chocolate chilli - L’s favourite flavour!

I asked at the Information Centre about the Port Hedland Detention Centre - it closed down in 2004 and was mothballed - was the answer.

It’s good to be back in the land of technology, I really miss being able to connect to the internet, email, mobile phone etc. We leave here Monday and head inland taking the road to Tom Price, Newman, Meekatharra, Mount Magnet and eventually to Perth. Lots more mining towns to see and where there is industry there is usually an internet connection.

For the first time in several months we have woken to a chill in the morning air, it will soon be time to get out the doona and some warm clothes, not looking forward to that.

Port Smith & 80 Mile Beach

There are several places between Broome and Port Hedland that are renowned for their beaches and fishing. We chose to make our first stop at Port Smith, a drive down a lovely red “pindan” dirt road to the camp site on the coast. The colours of the landscape in this area are wonderful.
The other visitors at Port Smith were friendly and off we went and caught some fish for our evening meal. We found out later that in fact our fish were undersize, so it’s a good thing they were eaten quickly. The fishing inspectors are crash hot and come round, check in your fridge and can hand out substantial fines - and so it should be! We can only claim innocence, our bream were of a good size but still below the limit - you live and learn. Port Smith is a pleasant place but towards the end of our stay the sand flies or midges came out and we both got badly bitten. They are tiny blood sucking insects whose bites cause severe itching and inflammation which can lead to infected sores - not nice at all! We were pleased to leave and head for 80 Mile Beach - no biting insects - but no swimming either, sharks and sea snakes! However the beach fishing is excellent, L tried his hand without success but we were kept supplied with fresh fish by our lovely neighbours who had had good catches the previous day.