21st July 2011
Today's drive was very interesting. The flat coastal plains eventually gave way to granite boulders not unlike the devil's marbles in NT. Another hundred kilometres on and the rock had changed to flat topped mountains and jagged toothed ranges. We stopped at a roadhouse which takes top honours so far for the most expensive fuel I've yet had to put into Frankie at 136.9 for LPG. Even across the Nullarbor it only got to 120.0. The vista continued to change. Great mounds of rocks heaped into mountainsides and eventually the red ranges of Tom Price.
The wildflowers were spectacular, so many different varieties and colours. Carpets of tiny blooms lined the highway. We missed the free camp site I'd picked out and ended up at the information board 10 kilometres out of Tom Price. We tucked ourselves into a spot on the other side of the highway a bit back from the road and made ourselves at home for the night. (P.S. I later learned that this was most likely the Royal Flying Doctors Service emergency airstrip. Fortunately they didn't make a landing during the night!)
22nd July 2011
A clear starry night made for a cold clear morning. Once the sun was up it quickly warmed up to a perfect day. First stop this morning was the visitor centre. We hoped to get onto the mining tour but it was all booked out. Instead we wandered around town and then spent a relaxed morning in the shady park. Having made plans to meet up with Mark, Paula, Harry and Ava for lunch we headed to their house around 12:15.
Paula was busy at work in the medical centre where she has come as a locum for a couple of weeks whilst they decide whether to stay in town long term. We spent a relaxed afternoon chatting whilst the kids played and watched TV. Mark is keen to take up some sort of ministry position in town and was excited to learn that the Anglican church are looking for a senior minister to work with the aboriginal and mining communities. He'll make contact with Bishop Mulready and see what transpires. We joined the family next door for a dinner of pizza before bunking down.
23rd July 2011
We awoke to the sound of the automatic sprinkler system hosing Frankie down. Timing my exit I dodged the sprinklers to make a dash to the toilet. Wishing the Hayes all the best in their new home and life in Tom Price we drove back into town for the Rio Tinto mine tour. Passing Mt Nameless the highest peak in WA the tour bus took us into the iron ore mine. This is where the big bucks are made.
Truck drivers earn $120 000, a train driver $240 000 or an electrician $150 000. The big wages just make the supply and demand cycle for accommodation outrageous. Very rundown simple houses fetch rents of $1200 per week. It is estimated that with future sites identified, mining in Tom Price should continue for at least the next 50 years. After the tour we got going quickly to Karijini National Park. More beautiful wildflowers lined the road into the park. I was pleased to get a site as I'd heard that this park has also been very busy during the school holidays. After a bite of lunch we headed into the gorge to Fortescue Falls and Fern Pool.
Striking striped walls surrounded cool blue pools of water. The difference between the vegetation at the top of the gorge and in the gorge is remarkable. We hadn't gone prepared for a swim but the water was so inviting that Jay jumped in in his shorts anyway. We returned to camp and chatted with some other campers. As the sun set over the red hills we retired to Frankie for the night.
24th July 2011
A chill crept into the bus in the early hours of the morning before the sun rose on another perfect day. Getting an early start we headed to the gorges. Beginning with Circular Pool which was a pretty side canyon with warm waterfalls trickling through the rock into a cool blue pool, we made our way up Dales Gorge.
It was a slow amble, chatting with other walkers, having leaf races, and conducting science experiments. Coming out back at Fortescue Falls we continued around to Fern Pool which at midday was at it's best in full sun. Along the path we spotted a zebra finch chick hiding in the reed grasses. Jay was delighted to be able to touch it before it scrambled deeper into the reeds for cover.
While we cooled our feet in the water the fish nibbled at our toes, an aquatic pedicure. Up the steep stairs we climbed to have some lunch after which we returned in our swimmers to Fern Pool. The water was refreshing but not too cool. Sitting beneath the waterfalls was like having a luke warm shower where the warm top layer from the pool above was skimming over the top into the pool below.
Feeling much cleaner we moved back to Fortescue Falls where Jay continued to clamber around the geometric steps in the rock and swim with the other kids in the pool. As the sun was setting we returned to Frankie briefly to change before going to the outdoor church service run by a reverend from Frontier Services, part of the Uniting Church.
25th July 2011
Commencing with a drive to the visitors centre, Jayden earned the junior ranger badge for his camp shirt after completing a range of activites in the preceding days. It was then time to hit the road again. The first half of the day the scenery was breathtaking, red ranges dotted with grey-green spinifex grass, hazes of mauve, blue and yellow wildflowers, carpets of pink and white button flowers and the occasional Sturt's Desert Pea along the roadside.
As we got closer to the coast the scenery became more drab. Port Hedland itself was flat and uninteresting save for the giant salt pans and Rio Tinto salt mine operations. We did a quick grocery top up and scooted out of town. We raced the setting sun along a heavily corrugated dirt road to arrive at Cape Keraudren in a blaze of colour where we gladly stopped for the night. Exhausted after nine hours of driving we collapsed for the night.
26th July 2011
Today has been spent beach combing. I've never seen a wider variety of shells and corals both large and small on the one beach. The tide retreated into the distance allowing us to walk quite a way out into the bay. Coming across a few octopi put us on alert for the blue-ringed variety. The ones we saw were masters of disguise changing colour in the blink of an eye and merging into the surrounding rock until they were all but invisible even when we knew exactly where they were sitting.
Jay mined salt crystals from the rocks at the back of the beach which would be covered by high tide occasionally during the year but spends a lot of time exposed to the sun allowing the salt in the water to crystallise. The sunset was again brilliant tonight with just a haze of cloud cover to bring out the colours.
27th July 2011
Funny that I've started to think that an 110km trip is a short drive, however, after a short drive we arrived at Eighty Mile Beach caravan park. It's amazing how the coast can be so different in such a short space, especially when the surrounding plains that we've driven through to get here are boringly identical. The grey-white sands and shallow turquoise waters extend as far as the eye can see in both directions without so much as a rock to break the monotony. Once you get down on the sand though the shells were spectacular.
Such variety and not only little ones but some larger ones as well. We've now travelled a large portion of the Australian coastline and this is the best shell collecting place I've found. I saw the day out with a glass of red sitting up in the sand dunes watching yet another awe inspiring sunset.
28th July 2011
200kms this morning and we arrived at Barn Hill station camp area after a rather hairy drive in on the red bull dust. Frankie kept stalling and wasn't easy to get going again. I hope it was just that I was running the air conditioner and that we won't have trouble when we go to leave but I arrived harried and stressed. After lunch we went to explore this little section of coastline.
Again it is startlingly different from the last two stops. Here the red sand of the desert make up the dunes and limestones cliffs and rock platforms give interest to the vista. Hoping for a swim we had donned our cosies but with the edge of the water cloudy I wasn't keen to go in too far and risk the sharks, sting rays and crocs. We met another travelling family from Melbourne going in the opposite direction to us with two boys Jay's age so the kids played happily whilst the Mum's enjoyed the sun setting into the Indian Ocean.
29th July 2011
Making the most of his last morning with newfound friends Jayden continued his game of Narnia in amongst the red sand of the dunes. After they'd left we set off south along the beach to marvel at the interesting rock formations at the far end of the beach.
Chatting with people along the walk I've been surprised by the number of Tasmanians who make the trek all the way up here each year to escape the Tassie winter. With a view to staying above the Tropic of Capricorn for at least three months it's an incredibly long way to go each year, bringing to mind the winter migration of the birds and whales. The afternoon was a time to relax and read before going down to explore the rock pools revealed at low tide. I was amazed to find corals growing in some of the pools closest to the water. Having resisted the temptation to take my camera this afternoon and bore you all with more sunset photos I was able to just sit and enjoy the sunset amongst the company of like-minded travellers. A lady I'd met on the beach earlier in the day brought around a huge fillet of blue bone, the fish of choice in these parts for our dinner which was delicious.
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