Karratha,a ghost town named Cossack and a Hospital,with a short side trip to Roebourne
We arrived in Karratha for and overnight stay that turned into 5 nights(BUT my R eye became very heavily infected and went to the Doctors and after a second opinion (2 Doctors) they put me on Penicillin warning me it could be a cancerous growth !!and I was told to come back Monday next ! Saturday and the pain was excruciating so off we went to the Emergeny Dpt at Karratha Hospital.The Triage nurse was great and got me to see a Doctor imediately and he was fantastic ! He took a noodule from the swelling and proceeded to lance the infection Oh the pain !! I thought I was going to faint .The service was truly great and the pain relief brilliant,follow up to the ambulatory was also great.I have been around this ole planet a lot and this particular visit was one of the nicest ! Thanks to all involved and a letter of appreciation has been registered to the proper authorities by me.I await the biopsy for knowing exactly what the problem was
Karratha is a massive mining town and producer of gas (ONE gas filled ship is condensed to the equivalent of 600 hundred ships !! and each one can gas fuel a town the size of Melbourne for months!) The shopping centre is very good and the visitor centre at Woodsidw was very informative Situated around 30 kms is a ghost town named Cossack that once was thriving port and Pearl diving was a main industry The town boasted at one time around 400 residents Sadly the area was “pearled” outand the waters became to shallow for the bigger boats that were being introduced and the pearling moved further North to Broome .There are a few buildings that have been restored to former glory for the visitors Well worth a look see just for the seaside/mangrove scenery.We ventured into Roebourne for a look BUT the visitors centre is closed until May !! BIG 4 Caravan sites are getting to be quite expensive at almost $50 a night!!!
Nanatarra Road House WA
Nanatarra Road House is situated on the Ashburton River and a Tank full of Diesel will just about get you there (have extra just in case) The wildlife is extraordinary with birds of Paradise in abundance.We were graced with a Giant Monitor (lizard),who seemed to pose for a picture then wandered off into the bush The sunset was again brilliant and made tremendous viewing especially with the river and bridge making the scene even more beautiful
Out of the Wilderness
We have just spent 2 great weeks on the Exmouth Cape Range Peninsula parked a stones throw from the gloriously coloured turquoise/green/blue Ocean..The Camp over seers Carl n Bernadette have been fantastic camp co coordinators and a pleasure to know..We have sampled swimming at its best canoed (well Annie has) in this pristine Indian Ocean.Around 5pm most campers gather at the picnic area by the sea for a few drinks and friendly chat (known thru out Australia as “Happy Hour” which usually goes well beyond those times !) We have been fortunate enough to meet some lovely people and we always pick up a few tips to help us on our way From losing my fishing rod to setting up the TV,organizing the Generator (Annie is very competent in starting this beast up !) Being without phone and computer signal for 2 weeks has been no great loss ,The wind,heat, the torrential downpour have all been challenges that we easily over came and a distant storm gave us the best free lighting show we have had the luck to view !! To all the nice people we have met here THANKS for the memories and hope to see you down the track !!Last night and we gave the Happy Hour a miss in order to take some last minute pics and videos Great Place to stay and after 3 years we finally used our shower !!
Osprey Bay Exmouth WA next 2 weeks NO water/Electrcity
Osprey Bay is situated in the Cape Ranges in Exmouth and we have been here before and liked it PLUS tis only $7 a night ! The first day we met all other campers at the daily traditional Happy Hour and the evening flowed quite pleasantly ,after the session we returned to base, got the chairs out and lay back marvelling at the Milky Way. In the distance I could see a faint orangey glow and eventually we witnessed the rising of the moon!! And it was a brilliant spectacle and once again the complete darkness was lit up by sheer moon light alone!!Bed and the wind got up and it was a howler! We thought the awning was going to be ripped off BUT we had secured the Guy Ropes and amazingly they held everything in place.
Day 2 we visited a few beauty spots and took the car over very rough terrain to view Gorges in the area The campsite organizers Karl and Bernadette are lovely people who attempted to get our TV going, but to no avail SO we will take the whole setup in Exmouth in the hope we can fix it !!We drove 4 wheeled to the entrance of Mundu Mundu Gorge and because of the heat we gace the walk/climb a miss !!
Day 3 and we drove off to our nearest dump point 13 kms away and took some pics around Yardie Creek Gorges ( we toured this place last time we were here 3 yrs ago) Back to base then another Ocean Dip and it is VERY refreshing This time around Annie used the noodles Last night one of the lovely campers came over and offered us her hard drive to watch movies ,she had heard about ours stuffing up How nice is that? Next few days were spent idling in the sea and Annie is getting very confident in the rubber canoe!
Wednesday we did the round trip of 150 kms into Exmouth getting scripts and replenishing supplies .To get the scripts we had to go to the hospital and do it thru the doctors there! Exmouth has a pop of around 3000 but only 3 doctor’s service this area and they are all based at the Hospital!! We paid a visit to the satellite TV man and went thru various paces on how to set up. What can I say except it still doesn’t work !! I honestly think we are on top of some iron ore mother lode!!.Night time fell and we were treated to a fantastic storm lightening sky that was way off in the distance Very reminiscent of the Day of the Triffids movie!!I wasn’t feeling the best and had to retire to my bed. The wind became very strong and we had such a downpour (the like I haven’t heard before ) that lasted around 10 mins and the rest of the evening remained very calm !
SUCCESS!!! WE SAT OUT SIDE WITH CHAIRS EITHER SIDE OF THE SATELITTE DISH WENT THRU ALL INSTRUCTIONS METHODICALLY AND YAHHHOOOOO !! WE HAVE A WORKING TELLY!!
Sad you lost your Rod Geoff
Oh Dear !!
Humble apologies to all my DSC friends who contributed to my farewell gift of a fishing rod !! Today we tested it out,I cast into the pristine turquoise coloured Indian Ocean, lay my rod 2 metres from the cliff edge to get a towel from my bucket and the rod FLEW into the air, not getting trapped in the craggy cliffs and the last we saw it was heading towards the Horizon in a very quick fashion !! No chance of retrieval so? Goodbye purpose bought pink fishing rod ! .Walking along the coast in the hope it may have washed ashore we spotted very large fish about a metre long and 3 metres off shore swimming merrily along its way The happy hour session turned out to be hilarious due to my misfortune and people were asking me about the event as the story had spread quicker than anything ole Ena Sharples could have put about!!
Sad you lost your Rod Geoff
Wittenoom the doomed country town
Wittenoom is a ghost town 1,106 kilometres (687 mi) north-north-east of Perth in the Hamersley Range in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. It is the site of Australia’s greatest industrial disaster. The area around Wittenoom was mainly pastoral until the 1930s when mining began in the area. By 1939, major mining had begun in Yampire Gorge, which was subsequently closed in 1943 when mining began in Wittenoom Gorge. In 1947 a company town was built, and by the 1950s it was the Pilbara’s largest town. During the 1950s and early 1960s Wittenoom was Australia’s only supplier of blue asbestos. The town was shut down in 1966 due to unprofitability and growing health concerns from asbestos mining in the area.Today, eight residents still live in the town, which receives no government services. In December 2006, the Government of Western Australia announced that the town’s official status would be removed, and in June 2007, Jon Ford, the Minister for Regional Development, announced that the townsite had officially been degazetted. The town’s name was removed from official maps and road signs and the Shire of Ashburton is able to close roads that lead to contaminated areas. We drove around the eeerie town (or what is left) and to see undergrowth on the streets and houses starting to fall apart.Over 50 houses were demolished when the town was deserted and power was also dismantled A very sad reminder of daysgone by when health was not a big issue
Mount Magnet to Newman WA
We are heading towards Newman a mining town in the Pilbarra and that is EXACTLY what it is !! Populated mainly by miners all walking around in either orange or lime green work suits ,most of them fly in from Perth for a few days then return home for RnR afore doing the process all over again (financial remuneration is high which is evident in the high charges for rental accommodation,we stayed in a blank, bleak camp site and cost $38for an overnight stay and I for one will NOT recommend this place) Newman sits on what was originally regarded as marginal cattle country. It was built in the 1960s by the Mount Newman Mining Company, following the discovery of rich iron deposits on nearby Mount Whaleback. The discovery marked the start of the resource boom in Western Australia in the 1970s Next Blog we visit Wittenoom ghost town that once mined the deadly asbestos that killed so many especially in Australia
Perth to Mt Magnet
It is located 573 kilometres (356 mi) northeast of Perth via the Great Northern Highway. Only a few mines are still worked, including Hill 50 which started operations in the 1890s. The area once had three separate townsites – Mount Magnet, Boogardie, and Lennonville. Boogardie has since been swallowed up into the open cut mining operations at Hill 50. Lennonville was abandoned at the start of World War I, and the foundations of the bank and train station can still be seen.
Unusual for such a large mining community, Mount Magnet has never had a public battery. The nearest battery was built 5 km west, in Boogardie. However its gold-rush heyday can be seen in its very wide main street with three hotels, a race course and a golf course complete with oiled greens.
Surrounding the town are remnants of old mining operations, and to the north east are significant Aboriginal sites being preserved jointly by the local community and the West Australian Museum. Today Mount Magnet is primarily a service town for the surrounding pastoral district which supports very large sheep stations.In the evening we were very lucky to attend an Astronomy Exhibition held only once ayear and we were lucky enough to be there !! Some of the telescopes were enormous and just to view the moon thru one of these marvels of science was an absolute thrill and the moons surface seemedincredibly close (no sighting of the msn on the moom tho !!) We are moving on towards central west australia and may not be able to post due to having NO computer dongle reception
Farewell Perth as we head North
It has been a pleasant stay here in Perth,we have caught up with friends .Annie has visited her family and our last day tomorrow will be in a Midland restaurant with son Adam.Highlight of course was the birth of my fifth grandchild Charlie Oliver (mum and baby are doing very well) We had the pleasure of my 5 yr old grandson Will staying with using our bus whilst he awaited the arrival of his new brother BUT such hard work !! We have visited our old place of work and sadly the once ,village< has been turned mainly into offices with lots of the residents moving to new homes within the community.I have visited lots of my old haunts including Fremantle,home of the world famous Cicerello.s fish n chips,still delicious but pricey !! I also visited Trigg Beach and watched the surfers and a Helicopter circling above the sea .The utter stupidity of some people is beyond belief and apparently the Helicopter was filming a shark feeding frenzy BUT the surfer ignored warnings and still awaited the elusive wave !! Perth is now a very busy and populated and is nearer to Bali than other state capitals !! I believe we had made the correct decision by moving to the quieter more docile Hervey Bay that caters very well for we Seniors We were treated to a HUGE breakfast at The Beach Shack for our birthdays this month(Thanks Jayne,Paul,Will and Charlie) Goodbye to Perth,it has been good tome in the last 30yrs,hello to the Top End
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Coolgardie on the way to Perth
Almost forgotten to do a Blog on the small town out of Kalgoorlie on the way to Perth.There is a lot of early day buildings here circa mid 1880,s from Wikepedia…
Coolgardie was the site of a gold rush in the early 1890s, prior to the Kalgoorlie-Boulder gold rush.
For the prospectors who had rushed here to find their fortune, one challenge was to extend the life of their perishable foods — hence the invention of the Coolgardie safe.The safe was invented in the late 1890s by Arthur Patrick McCormick, who used the same principle as explorers and travelers in the Outback used to cool their canvas water bags: when the canvas bag is wet the fibers expand and it holds water. Some water seeps out and evaporates, especially if it is in a breeze, cooling the stored water.This technology is commonly thought to have been adopted by explorer and scientist Sir Thomas Livingstone Mitchell, who had observed the way some Aborigines used kangaroo skins to carry water.
30 yrs ago when we arrived in this country we traveled thru here and actually saw a pig running out of a Butchers Shop! to this day it is my eldest daughters (6 at the time) an mine an insignificant but everlasting memory !!
Watch me play Didgeridoo
Geoffs Life After Work ! 