Tom Price, Hamersley Gorge

Tom Price is a surprisingly nice little place and lies at the foot of Mt Nameless (how original!)  There's a 4WD track to the top which we drove up this morning for a spectacular 360 degree view of the area.  We could see the mine in one direction, the town in another.  The surrounding hills are colourful and very scenic.  

From the top of Mt Nameless

We then joined the bus tour, where we were issued with hard hats and safety glasses which everybody must wear when out of the vehicle on the Rio Tinto mine site.  The tour was great as the bus has access to most of the site and we were able to see things like the crushing plant, conveyors, rail car loading etc up close.  The commentary was really informative with a lot of facts and figures as well as humour.  

One of the mine pits, which we could view from
outside the bus at the lookout

A "big machine" - and Phil

We spent a second night at Tom Price as it was the weekend of their "Nameless Festival".  Yep, that's what it's called.  The parks were full of stalls, rides, food vans etc and there was a concert featuring an illusionist act and then Shannon Noll.  We took Steve, a nice bloke we were camping near and who was on a motorbike, with us and had a good time there.  He and Phil had spent hours chatting the night before about all their mutual interests and will probably stay in touch.  

Next day, following the "Nameless Parade" in Tom Price, we found our way to Hamersely Gorge which is in the NW of Karijini NP and so needs to be visited separately to the other gorges.  It was on the way here we got our first flat tyre - courtesy of a tech screw firmly embedded in it. This was a particularly beautiful gorge with the most amazing rock formations.  Curves and swirls and an array of colours - a lot of purple, orange, pink, green and white.  We spent most of the afternoon here.

The pool at Hamersley Gorge

It's such a peaceful place

Beautiful rock walls, colours and patterns

We then found a really nice place to camp, only a couple of kilometres from the gorge carpark and outside the national park (meaning it's okay to camp there).  It's one of the best bush camps we've come across and has heaps of room - there were only 2 other vehicles there tonight.  The moon was almost full, it was warm, still, quiet ... perfect.

From our campsite