11 May 2012 (photos)

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Coral Bay to Tom Price....what a drive.

We hit the road just after 8:00 this morning on a perfect day in Coral Bay. On the way inland we again saw some enormous ant hills. You have to see them to believe them but some of the hills stand close to six feet tall.

My favourite view on the journey today was the bushland in and around the floodways which turn to inland seas during the wet season. In some areas there was quite a contrast between the golden wild grass and the trees and shrubs in the floodways and in other greener areas the rich green colour of the trees surpassed those only 20 metres down the road. The green wild grass also grew right to the edge of the road in these areas.

The contrast of colours as we drove along was stunning. There were all shades of greens and browns and the earth turned to a deep red that was more prominent as we headed further into the Pilbara region.

We are yet to photograph some of the eagles we have seen over the past few days but hope to snap one soon. Their sheer size is something to see with some larger ones having a wingspan easily wider than most conventional car windscreens.

There are plenty of free roaming sheep and cattle as you head north and today we had to slow right down as sheep grazed on the side of the road and some enormous cattle crossed in our path. With the latter we had to come to a complete stop and given their size I was pretty happy the van wasn't painted red!

As for the Pilbara, this is a dream come true. I can't recall how young I was when the idea of driving around Australia came into my head but now that it's a reality it is a bit surreal. I will let the photos do the talking over the next few days.

We stopped in Paraburdoo to refuel on the final stretch to Tom Price and thankfully it was a lot cheaper than the $1.99 per litre we paid at a roadhouse earlier today :) Tom Price is dazzling and we cannot wait to get to the Karijini National Park tomorrow that surrounds the town.

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