29&30/6/16 Out into red rock country

  What a couple of days , packing the camping gear and heading south to Millstream Chichester National Park . We put off going there for an extra day to allow the gravel roads to dry out from the recent rain . The road from Karratha follows Rio Tinto's rail line to Tom Price , and is bitumen for about 90 klms , from there to Millstream is 40klms and gravel . The road however was quite good , only some mild corrugations and only a few wet patches that we could dodge .
  Back to the drive out , it is one of the best scenic drives we've driven on , the scenery ranging from flat plains to mountains , winding roads & railways , river crossings & rock - orange rock , red rock and brown rock , and lot's of spinifex grass .
 The road runs beside the railway , a busy railway , on our trip out we passed 3 trains going back empty and 4 or 5 going out to Dampier to unload - and that was just in our 1.5 hour drive !!

 The trains consist of 3 engines and 234 cars - quite a bit of iron ore !!
The road started to climb a little and weaved in and around rocky outcrops . It is almost like the rocks have been stacked in place , and they are orange/red in colour - they almost glow in the sunlight .

 Further down the road we came to a rail crossing , and beside it was a river crossing that actually had quite a bit of water in it  .

 The scenery changed all the time with orange , red & green mountains appearing beside us and into the distance .

 Next was a section where we climbed up a pass , the speed limit reduced to 90 klm/hr , as we wound our way through the hills . The railway was also speed reduced , we overtook another empty train returning to the mines .

 Getting to the top of the range , we were quite surprised to see the scenery change again - we drove onto the next flat section before the next mountains in the distance - which happen to be the Hammersley Ranges !!
  Reaching the end of the the bitumen , the 40 klms didn't take long and we were at Millstream Chichester NP . We crossed over the Fortescue River on the way - we managed to drive through it without getting the wheels wet - it was dry as !! Checked out both campgrounds , Stargazers and the Homestead , then came back to Stargazers - it was smaller , only 15 sites , and no generators .
 Our tent was up in a matter of minutes - love that tent , just peg it out and blow it up !!
We headed out to the Clifftop Lookout . Views to the south gave us views of the Hammersley Ranges, and the view to the east was over the Fortescue River - with considerably more water than when we drove over it earlier !!

 The next stop was at Millstream Homestead , it is now under the control of Department of Parks and  Wildlife , and the Ranger lives in a house behind the old homestead . The homestead is now open to the public and has displays and information inside . There are huge verandahs , definitely needed here in the summer months .

 The kitchen is a separate building , made with corrugated iron , with a huge wood stove - that would be a barrel of laughs in summer as well !!

 This is the inside of the kitchen and the stove !!

 There is a wetland walk from the homestead - a 700m walk into a little oasis of date palms , paperbark trees and the clearest , cleanest water we've seen for a long time !

 The water is approximately 27 degrees and has so many fish they are doing a survey on them with a go pro camera in the water recording all the fish coming to their feeding station .

 This is the camera and some of the fish .

 The main billabong is about 200m long and we could see it was 5 to 6 metres deep .

 Back to the homestead from the cool of the oasis , we walked across the lawn , spotting this tiny little flower .

 The next step , was a drive around Snappygum Road - a loop road that takes you around the river and back to the campground again .
 With all the water coming out of the ground here , Hammersley Iron set up a set of bore field pumps to lock in a water supply for the mines and towns - they handed it over to the Water Corporation later. In the photo is the pipeline that goes to Karratha , and is suspended over the top of the Forteque River so that it isn't damaged in floods . The rocks here are a bit interesting - on one side of the river are the red lumpy rocks that we have been seeing everywhere , then on the other side , the rocks are like shale , many layers of and lots of different colours .

 The river is obvious in the photo , where the greenest and thickest section of trees are , and the ground has gone back to the red gravel & spinifex . Speaking of Spinifex grass - it only has 5 years of good use as a stock feed , after that it needs to be burnt and left to resprout again , restoring the useful life cycle . The park is trying to manage this by doing planned random burning , leaving areas for the animals to retreat to , whilst it's burnt off , this also leaves areas for the animals to shelter in and eat from .

 This section is called Deep Reach and is a pool approx 2.5klm long and is reasonably deep . You can also swim here , the rest is sacred to the aborigines . It worked for us , the water was a lovely temperature - assisted by the artesian water coming in at 27 degrees . There are lots of catfish in here , while we sat on the steps where you can get into the water , at least 12 catfish were swimming just below us - they were all about 300 to 400 mm long !!! It looked funny - they have a white coloured bottom jaw and have 4 whiskers coming off it - you can see these white things in the water and until they get closer to the surface , you're not sure what they are !!

 A pelican  decided to do a fly past on it's way down the river .

 We enjoyed our swim , then we sat & had some cheese & bickies and a beer whilst sitting on a viewing deck watching the river as the sun went down .

 Then we headed back for tea and the sun setting in the distance .

 Today is pack up day , so we did that and headed off toward Python Pool - it's a 19 klm diversion from the main road on the way back . The views from some sections were unbelievable , with views to the horizon , mountains , plains , red rock outcrops , spinifex , a few small trees / bushes , and not much else but the spectacular scenery !!

 Arriving at Mt Herbert , one end of the camel trail , there is a walk to the top of the mountain - only 300m long , but giving 360 degree views . The track up is just rock , some sections rougher than others , here is a photo of the terrain !

We found one section of the range that looked like a pathway to the end of one ridge , dark red rock outcrops either side and spinifex grass in between - spectacular !!

Down the bottom of the hill we found Python Pool . It is a plunge pool , below a waterfall
( when it rains a lot ) and has sheer rock walls either side of the falls .
 The water levels are down a bit as can be seen by the water marks on the rocks , but the water is still reasonably clear . As it was raining we decided not to go for a swim .

 On the drive down to the pool , I noticed some wildflowers on the side of the hill beside the road , so we stopped and had a look in a few places on the way back up , here are the results of our walk .

This is the type of ground that the flowers & bushes are growing in - just a little bit rugged !!!

 From here we headed back in to Karratha , had some lunch unloaded and got cleaned up .
What a couple of days , the National Park was great , the scenery awesome , and the weather was great yesterday - 28 degrees , today it was a little damp with occasional showers , but still good . Here's a map link :-https://drive.google.com/open?id=1xtHhLUurhmapQ9cuTD2-DuxqpN4&usp=sharing

27/6/16 Blown away

The wind blew all night and was still blowing this morning , getting stronger as the morning went on, then gradually decreased this afternoon . Still it was a bright sunny day for us , and the rest of the country is feeling the cold !!
 Housekeeping needed to be done , so we went nowhere this morning , this afternoon however , we did some shopping and went up to the lookout near the 2 water tanks that looks over Karratha . Views were pretty good looking out over the bay .

 Looking out behind the lookout there is a gully , in the gully are Coolabah Trees - white barked gum trees - but not a jolly swagman , or a billabong in sight !!

 
  We headed back to the van and got some cheese & bickies , some drinks , and then headed off to Dampier to watch the sunset from the lookout .

 The sunset wasn't as good as we thought , it was pretty good , but we headed down to the beach and got there as it improved .

  That was our day , hope you enjoyed yours .

26/6/16 Time to investigate

 Yesterday I had the pleasure of playing golf at Karratha Country Club , my first game on sand scrape greens . For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about , basically greens are usually  covered in grass and you putt the ball into the hole - sand scrapes are made of sand , and you smooth a section of the green between your ball and the hole and putt it across the sand and hopefully into the hole . It is an interesting way to play , and when you have it sorted out , it's a bit easier than grass greens . The rest of the course was quite good , with plenty of grass coverage and an interesting layout , then there was my game , which wasn't so good !! Enough said about that , we'll move on to today .
  The weather cleared yesterday , today the wind decided to pay us a visit ! We decided to head to Wickham and Point Samson about 55klms away . Back out to the Northwest Coastal Hwy and head east to Roebourne , before turning of the hwy again . Just to prove me wrong , and show that there are areas that aren't covered in red rock , there are seams of white quartz poking through the ground here & there .

 The countryside is looking quite good , with spinifex , grass , & shrubs & trees all showing new growth from the recent rains .

 It's certainly a contrast from last year , when everything was dried out and looking very dead !!
Our first stop was Point Samson , the wind coming off the water was keeping things cool , it was strong and relentless , causing a lot of white caps and wind swell .
  We were quite taken by a little bird we saw for the first time last year - rainbow bee eaters - today we found 3 of them just sitting on a branch , and occasionally swooping off to get an insect , then return . They are very colourful birds , and when they fly you get to see even more colours .

 There is a section of the old jetty still on site where it is going to remain until it crumbles completely - which shouldn't be to far away !!

 The old railway tracks are still in place and I think may be holding it together as well . They used to load ships here , and take the ore out to the ships with a small engine and carriages .

 There were some pea type flowers , lilac in colour , all starting to sprout .






















 The wind was starting to irritate our ears , so we headed around to Honeymoon Cove . There is a cement path down to a small beach , unfortunately for us , it was getting the wind straight off the water , but we went for a walk down to the beach anyway . And we are glad we did , the rocks beside the beach and path were multilayered and standing vertically , then there were sections where the layers are bent and twisted - must have been an awful lot of force contorting the rock .

  Around to the marina for a look at a couple of drilling platforms , these things have legs that are 28m long , so theoretically they can be in 25m deep water - not really sure how deep they go , but 25m is pretty deep !!

  Off again , this time to the west side of the peninsular . There is the Port Walcott Yacht Club !! Not knowing what to expect , we were quite surprised . The road in takes you along one of Rio Tinto's private roads to it's Port Lambert Loading Facility . You must turn off the road to get to the Yacht Club , unless you have an entry pass to get in the security gates !! Cresting the hill we saw the nicest beach , a boat ramp , a small breakaway and another beach . Perched on the hill above was the Yacht Club , it's fenced yard full of families having a picnic - we are talking 80 odd people - not bad for somewhere that is kilometres from anywhere !!!

 They do the WA thing here as well , must have your 4wd beside you on the beach - even if you are 20m from the parking area !!
  The Port Lambert Loading Facility is impressive , with a rail network any city would be proud of !!

 After having some lunch , we headed back out and onto a track to Back Beach that had Lyn paying close attention to where she was driving - there were washouts , puddles , rocks and sand - and she handled it well !!!
 Arriving at the beach , we walked down to the water . The thing that got our attention the most , were the shells lying on the sand - there were some that were 150mm long - I think they are trident shells ? maybe , maybe not ????? The amount of shells was amazing , here are just a few .

 Back in the ute , we headed back in to Wickham and found the lookout at the water tower . Beside the lookout was the picture theatre .

 I think Rio Tinto must nearly own Wickham , they have a lot of accomodation , administration and support buildings and it seems to be geared for workers .
 After getting some fuel , we headed out to Cossack - a Heritage Town !! Point Samson, Wickham and Cossack are all within about 10klms from each other .
 Driving into Cossack , we parked beside some of the buildings and went for a walk around . The impressive structures are made from stone , with white painted highlights . Some are made of local sandstone cut from the beaches - still have shells intact in the sandstone !!

Customs House & Bond Store

Lock Up 

Galbraith Store

Asian Cemetery

Jarman Island Lighthouse and keepers house 

Looking at the courthouse , Galbraith Store on the left , bond store on the far right , beside it the post & telegraph office , then beside it the police residence .

 Cossack was built beside the Harding River estuary and apparently is a difficult place to get a large ship into port on anything other than high tide , so the town was abandoned as a port , that also caused the town to die , despite attempts from residents to save it . Fortunately now Roi Tinto has steeped up and helped restore some of the buildings so everyone can come and have a look - you can stay in the police residence - for a price of course !!

 There is also an old schoolhouse , and beside it an old tramway carriage . The tramway ran from Roebourne to Cossack and was pulled by horses . 

  That's it for today , we headed back and fuelled up , before sitting back with a beer & some salsa . 

Here's map link :-https://drive.google.com/open?id=1iykyWl-X4UN537MrTkkkEYOOcu0&usp=sharing