Today we entered the amazing landscapes of the Pilbara.
This morning after pulling out of our free camp, we saw our first dingo run across the road in front of us. Unfortunately he was so quick, (and Shane not slowing down); I was unable to get a picture of him. This part of the country is all huge cattle stations, some bigger than states in the US. We passed the western boundary of one station yesterday, and then about 100km's further on down the road today, we passed it's eastern boundary. They have no fences along the road, and cattle can regularly be seen browsing along the roadside. I have seen a couple of dead ones that have been hit by either cars or trucks, and I recon the poor thing would have done some major damage.
By mid morning we pulled into Paraburdoo for some diesel, and couldn't believe that out here in the middle of nowhere the price of diesel was only $1.59 with my Coles voucher! Unbelievable! It wasn't even that cheap in Perth. So needless to say we filled up the Pajero and the jerry can too.
Today's destination of 'Tom Price' was only a 180km's journey for us; so a relative short easy drive. When we arrived, we pulled into the visitor centre first. Here we booked in for a mine tour tomorrow, we also got a heap of information on Karijini National Park; which we will be entering into tomorrow afternoon (after the mine tour).
We booked in at the Tom Price Holiday Park, and couldn't help but notice the huge mountain that towered over the town; by the name of 'Mt Nameless'. It turns out it's the highest mountain in W.A that is accessible by four wheel drive, so off we went. It was a very steep road up to the top, but one filled with the most spectacular red iron ore rocks that we have ever seen. This mountain is part of the Hammersley Ranges in the Pilbara, and over looks the whole town of Tom Price and the Rio Tinto Iron Ore mine.
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| Jai, Scarlett, Grace, Rebecca and Maya |
The view was amazing! We were 1128mtrs above sea level and could see for miles in every direction. Also seeing the mine from this height, gives a true perspective of exactly how huge it actually is. We looked everywhere for rock wallabies without success, as they are supposed to be very common here. Time began to get away, and before we knew it the sun was starting to set. So we found a great spot to watch it go down, and get a few photo's.
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| Rio Tinto Mine |
It was a slow drive back down the mountain in the twilight, and one we made very cautiously. We have been totally captivated by the dramatic landscape of the Pilbara, and its opened our eyes to an area of Australia that I really knew very little about up to now. It has huge mountain ranges and deep gorges, and I can't wait to explore more of the Pilbara tomorrow.
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| Our Pajero heading back down the 'track' that leads to the top of Mt Nameless |
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