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 .
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