Tom Price and Karijini National Park

I’m writing this anchored off Maud’s Landing on the turquoise waters of the Ningaloo Reef, which is in sharp contrast to the dusty, red landscape east of here.

It took us two days to drive to Tom Price in the motorhome: 600 kilometres in a day is a bit of a stretch for us so an overnight stop each way was needed. The further east we went the endless plain became dotted with iron ore mesas and outcrops, and wedge tail eagles commanded the sky. As we drove closer to Tom Price we saw our first mountain: Mt Nameless at 1128 metres above sea level towers over the town and is the highest vehicle accessible mountain in WA. It's a short 4WD  (only) to the top for 360 degree views that include the Mount Tom Price mine site, and a perfect place to watch the sunset. You can also walk up from the trail that leads out the back of the caravan park; this takes about 3 hours return.

 

Former guests of Sail Ningaloo, Jocelyn and Gary, live and work in Tom Price for Rio Tinto mining company and were our hosts of the area. They kindly offered the use of their 4WD for greater access as the dirt roads are too rough for Delvy. Before we left for Karijini National Park, Gary (popular name) showed us some aboriginal rock art off the beaten track only known to the locals.

With two vehicles we were allocated a large slot at the Dales Campground at Karijini, conveniently located within walking distance to the Dales Gorge lookout. 

We spent the whole afternoon hiking the gorge loop; walking north above the gorge then descending into the gorge to explore swimming holes (too cold for us) and stunning rock formations.

 

We even came across some asbestos: this area is infamous for it as it used to be mined in the town of Wittenoom in the Hamersley Ranges.

 

After waking up to a very cold morning of two degrees we set off in the 4WD to Weano gorge, bouncing along the corrugated road with two French hitchhikers for another hike. After viewing the 100 metre high cliffs from the top, we were stopped short within the gorge as the water was so cold it was making me physically sick. Gary bravely made one crossing, but without a wetsuit wading through the rest of the gorge was simply unthinkable. The water here never sees the light of day so we'd best come prepared next time. Some people try to hang on to the cliff ledges to avoid getting wet, but this often leads to injury and there are at least a dozen emergency rescues each year.

After a picnic lunch, we headed back to our camp for a relaxing afternoon to prepare ourselves for our planned big hike the next day, and to enjoy the Karijini sunset.

 
Mt Bruce is the second highest peak in WA at 1235 metres, just 14 metres short of the highest peak of Mt Meharry located 66km to the east. It takes about 4-6 hours for the 9km return walk and not only presents impressive views but is also challenging. There are some sections that require using all fours to scale precipices and scramble over rock rubble, at times with a rather large drop over the edge. This is a rewarding walk and well worth the effort. It's also one way to get away from the school holiday crowds at the gorges as we encountered only five other people, including our hitchhikers from the day before!

 

Of course, we were rather tired after all our hiking so we headed back to town for hot showers and a rest. We had booked a mine tour for the following morning that took us into the Mount Tom Price mine pit and all its workings. We moved around the site on a coach, watching the iron ore being transported by immense trucks (haul packs) to the crushing area, then being loaded on the train. The trains fascinated me as they are part of the landscape in the Pilbara, constantly going backwards and forwards from the mine sites to the port of Dampier. As we were climbing Mt Bruce we had a birds eye view of the Marandoo mine site and over a five hour period we saw several trains being loaded. Each train is pulled by three locomotives and usually has 236 wagons, with each wagon carrying 116 tons of iron ore. The Rio Tinto mines, including Mount Tom Price and Marandoo, produce well over 200 million tonnes of iron ore per year, and rising. The scale of operations and equipment used is captivating.

On our way back to Coral Bay we pulled up at the Beasley River Rest Area just in time to see the sunset and the full moon rising.