Red earth and iron

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The point of going to Tom Price was really to recharge before heading into Karajini N.P. which is a place we skipped on the 2008 trip around the block and were advised that it was a place not to be missed at the time. As you can imagine, it was definitely on the bucket list for this trip, and we were not disappointed, but first a little about our time in Tom Price.



The town is essentially a Rio Tinto town, centred obviously on the open cut iron ore mine. It is also the place of W.A’s tallest mountain (hill really) at 1128mts. It is known as Mt. Nameless, but as a poignant note at the Karajini Visitors Centre says, the aboriginals have called it Jarndrunmunhna (meaning “wallabies live here”) since the beginning of time… Anyway, access is by 4WD only and as Geoff has a 4WD he decided that it was worth a try. Well as a self taught 4 WD driver (having reached the summit and returned), he worked out the whole range of the options that the gearbox allows – mainly on the descent. There was definitely a reason the road is designated as it is, and Geoff admits that he did not drive out on the ridge that gives a view over the town, but the photos show that he did get there even if by shank’s pony.



While at Tom Price, Geoff took the obligatory mine tour and found it absolutely fascinating. The guide was extremely knowledgeable on everything to do with the mine, but sadly a little less knowledgeable about matters concerning his bus. The brakes kept activating when he least expected, and although the safety reg’s at the mine were driven home very strongly, the same did not seem to apply to a bus with faulty brakes!! This mine has been running for nearly 40 years and when asked how much longer it could go he said that when they started the forecast was 20 years, as it is now. The fact is that iron ore is considered pure at 70% iron, and Rio commit to shipping 64%; to achieve that they mine areas that are 50% pure, and leave the rest. There is still opportunity at 40% or less, so the answer is really “how long is a piece of string?”



Because Hamersley Gorge is in the north west corner and in the opposite direction to where we intended to camp in Karajini, we decided to take a day trip out to it, and despite the road testing our suspension severely at times, the trip was worth it. Hamersley is a small gorge as gorges go, but the combination of tortured rock formations and water flowing over the smooth rocks is a consuming experience. We extended the trip by continuing on the road/rural highway through the gorge. It was necessary to announce our presence over the two-way as the road twists and turns through the rocks to the bottom of the gorge, and I can you tell that despite Marg’s power, road trains do not give way to tourists from Dandenong when trying to navigate this road. Marg thinks Geoff only did the trip out to Hamersley so he could drive down the gorge with the CB in his hand – and she may be right! Definitely an opportunity for a day trip for the rock formations – truly spectacular.



Karajini N.P. covers in excess of 600,000 hectares and to the north east is only 50 kms from Tom Price, or about 100kms to Dales camp ground where we were planning to stay. We got there fairly early and booked in for 4 nights; it has a reputation for being freezing cold at night, but the weather when we were there was not normal and we had quite a warm first night. Geoff was given the job of doing a reccie of the closest gorges, and came back with the news that Circular Pool required only one step to reach – but it needed legs that could cope with a drop of 30mts to the floor. (Very funny, he meant one step over the edge and fall to the bottom). Fortescue Falls and Fern pool were better options, but they did require a percentage of mountain goat in your background, and it helps if the goat had an Alaskan pedigree as the water was very cold. Bush camping can do strange things to people and Geoff met folk who were quite happy to admit that they had taken the plunge – in the interests of personal hygiene. We are just bloody glad we have a hot shower in the van! By morning the weather had changed and a very strong, cold wind had got up so we decided to have a look at the Visitors Centre, Eco Resort and other gorges to the west of where we were camped.



The road to these locations was dirt, but not too bad. Although the park is controlled by the W.A Dept of Environment and Conservation (DEC), there is a very strong sensitivity to the traditional owners, and the Visitor Centre reflects this very strongly. It gives you a very good insight into the European settlement and the impact on the indigenous population. It is interesting to see that the current aboriginal elders have (seemingly) an ambivalent acceptance of the takeover of their traditional lands. Accepting that, the DEC respects everyone’s right to walk between the visitor centre and the gorges to the west, and with that in mind the road exists but the grader is very rarely seen! It is said that corrugations are less intrusive/destructive when taken at 80+ km/hr, but they didn’t mention how fast to take newly found gorges! (Hint – he means that the corrugations were more like gorges.) We got to the Eco Resort near the gorges only to find that lunch had closed 5 mins. before we arrived; however we were advised that the cook would serve us lunch provided we ordered anything other than the toasted sandwiches!



We had a look at Oxer lookout, which is where 4 gorges join, but it was very difficult to get a sense of it from the lookout – the gorges are very narrow, and it is next to impossible to see the bottom of any of the gorges. We moved back and Geoff attacked Weano Gorge. It is rated at class 3 and 4, but the 4 rating seemed to apply more to the old method of entry via a ladder. The bottom of the gorge was really lovely, and made especially picturesque by the stream (which would no doubt be a raging torrent in the wet) running over the flat rocks that litter the gorge floor. All the gorges have walls that clearly show the many, many layers of rock that were put down millions of years ago and it is somewhat humbling to walk amongst that sort of history. The day was drawing to a close and we elected to take the west exit road to the ‘highway’. Although it was nearly as far to the highway, Geoff did not have the heart to put the Pajero over the corrugations he knew, and thus chose the corrugations he did not know. It turned out to be the right decision as we could do 90 – 100 km/hr over the dirt, and when we hit the bitumen the boot went in and we sat on 140 km/hr back to camp. The car has never run as well since showing it who is boss!



With the weather turning, we have moved on to Port Hedland. It is not a place geared for the tourist/traveller and there are only two caravan parks in town – one in Cooke Point which is close to the port and the other at South Headland. Both are booked solid and our first night was spent on an unpowered/overflow site next to the dump-master and right on the busiest road in Hedland. Things got better, and we were lucky enough to be in town on the weekend when they were having a local market. It was really good with the presentation of the produce and art work of a really high standard, but if there was a theme here it was cup-cakes. Port Hedland certainly has to be the cup-cake capital of the country…if not the world.



Besides cup-cakes, Port Hedland is the destination for the iron ore mines, and the trains roll in here day and night. It doesn’t pay to be caught at the crossings when one of these monsters rolls into town as they are 236 trucks to each train and they do not move quickly when coming though the town. The other thing that happens here is salt mining with a Rio Tinto salt mine located midway between Port and South Hedland. It is quite a sight to see the mountains of salt growing by the minute and a huge front-end loader on top, pushing it all around. The salt is trucked in road trains from the mine to the loading terminal at the port about 8 kms away where there is another mountain growing before it is loaded onto the ships.



Whilst in Port Hedland we took the opportunity to visit Marble Bar. It is definitely a trip worth doing – especially at this time of the year when the temperatures are reasonable. Marble Bar is a tiny town that has two claims to fame with the first being it is the hottest town in Australia with temps frequently reaching 50 C over summer; the second is the band of Jasper rock that runs through the river (and where the name came from). It is 220 kms each way on a very good road and most travellers do the trip from Hedland rather than staying in the town.



That’s your lot for this edition…more from further north soon.

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Photos

Tom Price open cut mine
Ore carrier, with approx 200 tonnes of ore

Hamersley Gorge
Located on the western boundary of Karajini N.P

Hamersley Gorge
Tortured rock formations

Tom Price town
From the top of Mt. Nameless. That is the whole town shown here.

Fortesque Falls
Located at the eastern boundary of Karajini N.P

Kalamina Gorge
Karajini N.P

Weano Gorge
Karajini N.P

Port Hedland market
Now we know what frilled neck lizards really are - scary.

Port Hedland
End of the road for Tom Price ore - next stop China.

More than a pinch of salt
Port Hedland - Rio Tinto mine

Marble Bar
Jasper vein

Marble Bar
Jasper rock in the river bed.

Comments

[Bronwyn Palma]

Sounds like fun
Hi Marg & Geoff We are really enjoying your blogs and it does sound as though you are having a really great time; you will definitely be our contact when we want to know where to travel to in Australia. We've been busy with kids and grandchildren over the past couple of weeks, all lovely but do have to say that it is also quite exhausting for me - said to John last night when the last of the troops left yesterday afternoon that "...I was going to have a relaxing week tomorrow..."!!! We have eight weeks until we head off for Italy and France - will you be home before then - if so it would be great to catch up and hear a little first hand about your trip. Love to you both Bron & John