Pilbara Red

They say the red dirt of the Pilbara can really get into your soul ... it gets into everywhere else, too!

But mostly it does get into your soul.  

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

The Pilbara

Port Hedland was a bit of a change from the remote coastal areas we’ve been recently, but it was also an interesting place to visit.  There’s nothing touristy about it, which suited us fine – we just wanted to see what goes on there.  Iron ore is obviously the biggest export and we were lucky enough to see one of the very lengthy trains (250 wagons full of ore) making its way in from Newman.  No, we didn’t count the wagons, a fellow standing nearby on the bridge did the hard work for us J 

We spent some time down at the harbour, where cargo ships were being loaded.  Everything’s big – the ships, the conveyors, all the machinery.  We called in at the Seafarers Centre where they keep track of all the port’s comings and goings and walked around to where the tugs are moored until they’re required to steer ships in and out of the narrow harbour.  We found it all very interesting.

Just around the corner was another loading facility where salt is transferred onto cargo ships for export.  There’s a huge salt mine in Port Hedland where we were able to watch, from a distance, loaders filling trucks for transport to the harbour.  The public can’t get close to anything but at least we could get an idea of how things work here. 

Dampier Salt mine in the background, iron ore train making
 its way to port in foreground

Our next destination was the beautiful Karijini National Park, deep in the Pilbara.  The Pilbara’s known for its red dirt and rocks but it’s so much more!  Add the white trunks of the snappy gums, the straw-coloured spinifex,  the blue sky – it’s a really soft feel actually.  

As for Karijini, it’s easily one of the most beautiful parks we’ve visited.  Its main features are the gorges – I think about 8 of them cutting through that soft, colourful landscape.  They’re all different, all special in their own ways.  We spent 4 days exploring, taking our time to really absorb it all. 

Weano Gorge

Hancock Gorge

Knox Gorge

"Kermits Pool" in Hancock Gorge - a challenge that was well worthwhile

We have some lovely photos and even better memories of Karijini, one of those places where the photos just don't do justice.  We're now at Tom Price, a surprisingly nice little town - we're doing a tour of the mine tomorrow morning.  Looking forward to seeing this part of the mining story.

Eighty Mile Beach

What can we say?  It's all about the shells really.  Millions of them!  What a beautiful stretch of the WA coastline this is.  We've got hot summer days, cool nights which is great for sleeping, amazing sunsets over the Indian Ocean and this huge expanse of beach and sea.

Shells everywhere

Happy hour/sunset on the Eighty Mile Beach

It's like a box of Derwent pencils - every shade of every colour!

Phil contemplates the life of a seashell, aided by a glass of red at sunset :)

On the way here from Broome, we spent a night at a place called Port Smith Lagoon.  This was an interesting stop as at the moment they have 'spring tides' which are the 9-10 metre ones and we walked through the mangroves and across the mudflats of the lagoon to see the sunset.  Then within 6 hours the place is full of water!  

For the 6 or 7 weeks we've been in the Kimberley, we've found ourselves singing James Blundell's "Kimberley Moon" many times.  There's a line in there that resonates very strongly ... "have you ever had that feeling of not a care in the world and so free, that not a thing can go wrong, the days are never too long and the nights are too perfect to believe".  That about sums up our experience so far.

Coulumb Point

Back in Broome, we did a few jobs then headed for Cable Beach.  One of the things we find fascinating in Broome is that the airport's basically in the centre of town and the flight path brings planes in over the ocean and seemingly between the sand dunes.  It's quite a sight from the beach. We thought we'd get a bit of culture and visited the Pearl Luggers display, then an art gallery and a photographic gallery.  To be an artist or photographer up here in the Kimberley would be a dream - you'd be surrounded by inspiration at every turn!

Flight path over Cable Beach

Much as we like Broome we couldn't wait to get back up on the Dampier Peninsula.  We saw some lovely spots on our drive a couple of days ago and loved the look of Coulumb Point, so after first exploring further north that's where we settled for a couple of days.  

It's not unlike Cape Leveque with the red cliffs, but in many ways is even nicer

 This is another spot where they allow bush camping, right on the beach too.  The sand is coloured by the sandstone cliffs so our feet were orange the whole time we were there, but it was so soft and lovely to walk on.  The sand that formed the beach at the base of the cliffs was normal colour.  Like most of the Kimberley beaches, the tides are huge here.  Low tide was great as the receding water revealed seashells and coral washed to shore.  You could walk way, way out and there were so many colours, patterns and reflections in the wet sand.  It made for great sunsets too.

That's where we camped - where Troopy's parked.  Phil's on his way
out to sea (to me) with a Happy Hour drink 

Another camping spot, right on the cliff top.
See what I mean about the reflections!

We had a great time during our couple of days here.  Being a "point" there were rocky outcrops with a different beach either side of them.  Plenty of fun to be had, especially with the contrast between low and high tide.  We did a lot of walking on the beach, playing on the rocks, picking up shells.

Phil didn't have to walk far to do his sand sculpture.  Of course
the lady got washed away with the high tide but he had a lot of
fun creating her.

This was quite a unique opportunity, camping so close to the sea.  It got pretty noisy at night with the tides but in a good way, far better than listening to a generator in a caravan park!  Although Phil was troubled at 1am by thoughts of the 9 metre tide reaching the Troopy and washing us out to sea! (It's okay, we knew we were above the high tide mark).

Quondong Point

Much as we loved Whale Song and Pender Bay we knew we had to leave eventually.  We didn't go far though :)  

Sitting in our campsite overlooking Pender Bay.  The colours are just beautiful

We had delicious pizza at the Whale Song Cafe, made with ingredients
grown in their garden.  And what a location!

There's a turnoff on the Cape Leveque Road which leads to some lovely spots right on the Dampier Peninsula coast and the one we chose was Quondong Point.  There are free bush camping sites up here, most on the headland overlooking the sea.  However most of these spots were taken by grey nomads in their off-road vans so we took some dirt tracks further north and found a wonderful site. It was behind some small sand dunes and in a real bush setting with plenty of shade.  Only metres away we could stand just above the beach and watch the whales playing out at sea!

Barely two minutes from our site to the sand.

Red cliffs and eroded rock formations along the shore

We ended up staying here for 5 days.  The weather's perfect, the scenery gorgeous, the campsite relaxing and whale-watching's addictive.  We saw them every day splashing around out in the distance.  Not close enough to photograph but we could clearly see their tails rising into the air and creating a huge splash when they hit the water.  We were lucky enough to see a couple raise themselves out of the water and dive back in - simply awesome.  Many hours were spent exploring the rocky outcrops, beachcombing, walking in the shallows and reading and relaxing.  We met a couple who camped nearby for a few nights and enjoyed their company too.

These crab trails could be seen everywhere in the mornings ...

... a result of all this activity around us every night!  Hermit crabs in their
dozens, all over the place.

Yesterday we left Quondong Point but before returning to Broome (for fresh water mainly) we explored a little further north along this coastal road (4x4 track).  The places we came across were simply stunning.  This is a pretty quiet, very natural, undeveloped part of the peninsula and without doubt the loveliest coastline we've ever seen.

A turtle shell, found by a fireplace and probably only recently been
a feast for some of the local indigenous people.

On the cliff tops - look at those colours!

Access road to one of the best beaches.

Near Coulumb Point, absolutely beautiful.

Never seen a beach like it.  Pristine.  We're going back!

So, having seen these amazing places yesterday, we decided that after re-stocking in Broome today (water, food, showers and washing) we'll head back up here tomorrow for a few more days of sun, sea, sand and superb, stunning scenery!  It's only about an hour and a half north and we're pretty excited about spending a few more days in the area.  Oh yes, and seeing the whales again will be fun.

We had a good day in Broome today, checking out a few more of the sights and learning a bit more about the pearling days.  As far as towns go, it's quite user-friendly and there's no denying that Cable Beach is a beautiful, classic Australian beach with its turquoise water and loooong stretch of white sand.  It was a 30+ degree day today, making staying up north as long as possible very enticing.

Pender Bay - Whale Song camp

19 July

I hadn’t planned on doing another post from the Dampier Peninsula but we have found ourselves a little gem of a place that just has to be shared.  Pender Bay, still about 120km north of Broome and the Whale Song Café and campground.  We've booked another two nights here, we just love it.  All I can say is … look at the photos and add the sound of the ocean, the warmth of the sun, the stillness of the bush ... J

Admittedly a bit off the beaten track ...

Didn't even need to get out of bed for this morning's sunrise!

Huge tides here too, about 9m.  Then within 6 hours the water's back up to
the base of the red cliffs.  Has to be seen to be believed and even watching it,
it's hard to believe.  That's Troopy on the cliff top over Phil's right shoulder.

The most unique bathroom - love it!  When "in use" you turn
the string of shells around so the other sign shows

    

Window on the right, mirror to its left.                                                   Feels like showering under a waterfall

There are only 7 campsites here so it's very quiet.  The owners have a house and little cafe further along the cliff, about a 5 minute walk.  They grow a lot of their vegies and make a small range of good, simple food.  We plan to have lunch there tomorrow.  Meanwhile, another sunset to look forward to tonight - cheers!