13th July 2013
Back in Port Hedland. We seem to have been
going round in circles.
After Tom Price we retraced our steps back
to Port Hedland to stock up and take on water etc then back up the coast
slightly and into Marble Bar, famous as the hottest place in Australia and now
back out to Port Hedland and tomorrow we recommence our journey south.
While at Tom Price we were able to join a
mine tour that we all found extremely interesting (well I did), Nancy took lots
of photos so I presume she found it interesting also, ( yes Nancy is still
alive Myra, although she tempts fate at times). The other thing to do at Tom
Price is to drive up an extremely steep and rough track to a communication
tower, low range low gear but once there you have a panoramic view of the
region for many kilometres. There wasn’t a barber or hairdresser in Tom Price
so my locks were left to grow longer, but I did manage to get that gas bottle
filled for $45 and a slow leaking tyre repaired, turned out to be a screw in
the thing.
Leaving Tom Price we doubled back along
Karijini National Park Drive to link up with the Great Northern Highway, that’s
the road that runs from Perth straight up and through Newman (as in iron ore
mine), to Port Hedland. Roadtrains of four trailers carrying 140 -180 tonnes of
ore thunder along this road from various unseen mines to the Port 24/7. A
little out of Tom Price we overtook an ore train and waited at the road
crossing to photograph it. Dumb as, we parked the wrong side of the line and
had to wait 15mins while it passed.
Here are some stats I gleaned during our
mine tour relating to Tom Price town and Mine.
Population about 5,000 and still growing,
house block go for about $220,000.
2 Primary schools and one senior high
school.
Situated in the Hamersley Range it is 740
feet above sea level and is the highest town in WA.
Winter temp 0 – 28C Summer average 35C,
average annual rainfall is 300mm.
Tom Price was an American responsible for
finding and establishing a profitable iron ore deposit in the Pilbara (he was
also a mate of Lang Hancock). Price could see the potential for a great mining
industry in the Pilbara he lobbied his company hard to persevere with the
project and continue exploration, he was also instrumental in convincing the
Western and Federal governments to support and promote mining projects in the
region and eventually build infrastructure. The main deposit was discovered in
1962 by geologists Bill Burns and Ian Whitcher who landed their helicopter on
what was to be later know as Mt Tom Price, it was a finale last minute close
look at a promising visual seen from the helicopter, at the close of an
extensive and not so promising exploratory expedition. When they landed the
geologists realised they had hit on a bonanza as what they could see was almost
pure Haematite (iron ore) and subsequently a lease was taken out that covered
13 x 8 kilometres, the original company was known as Hamersley Iron. By this
time Tom Price had returned to the states and died of a heart attack shortly
after being notified of the find. In recognition of his tremendous work and the
respect people had for Tom Price, both the mine and town were named after him.
Rio
Tinto owns the mine now including the extensive private rail complex that hauls
ore to Dampier and Cape Lambert. Rio blends ore from 14 mines within a 200 kl
radius of Tom Price to ensure consistency and quality of graded ore. Trains
that haul ore to the Ports are made up of 236 wagons pushed and pulled by three
locos 116 tonnes per wagon, 26,000 tonnes per train 4 trains per day all up Rio
ships out 235 million tonnes per annum and will eventually bring this up to 300
million tonnes (when the market picks up again)
I could waffle on with a lot more specs but
you are probably bored senseless already.
Back to the Great Northern Highway we
pulled into Auski Roadhouse for fuel, this is where all the road trains and
transporters pull in for sustenance and a break, shower etc there is also a
small caravan park attached for those that want to stay overnight. Would you
believe the place was started by a couple of Aussies and Kiwis, hence the name
Auski. Then on a few kls to a free camp site called Bea Bea Creek where we
camped for a few days killing time while school holidays are on – you can’t get
near the coastal areas. This camp site was very relaxing, plenty of reading
done, bush walking, collecting wood and a nightly fire where we found even more
things to talk about.
We returned to Port Hedland for one night,
did our washing, topped up with fuel, water and groceries then headed back out
to Marble Bar stopping one night next to a picturesque river on the way. Marble
Bar is just a whistle stop, the one and only caravan park is good for a one
night stop over, very basic. We completed all the touristy things in a couple
of hours and the Jasper outcrop that was mistaken for marble hence the town
name, does exist and is not only unique it is quite spectacular to an old rock
hound like me.
We spent two nights free camping on the
return trip and then into Port Hedland again for an overnight stay and usual
things, washing, fuel, water and groceries.
14th July
South bound we free camped for a night a
few kilometres south of Port Hedland at the West Peawah River (no water) and
then moved on a mere 53 kls further south on Monday to the Sherlock River a
nice spot and a wide tree lined river (permanent water), here the bird life was
plentiful for a change, destructive and noisy white corellas, gradually
demolishing the tree they choose to roost in, they are nothing but environmental
vandals, white egrets and heron stand perched on tree limbs well above the
water on ridiculously thin legs but never loose their balance, pelicans, unusual
looking ducks, cormorants and even a couple of black swans gracing the water. Other
than the odd vehicle passing over the bridge not that far away and the
squabbling corellas, it is very peaceful and a pleasant place to kill some time.
Having a signal is a bonus
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