30/9/18 New territory

  After another great night of peace & quiet , we packed up and headed south , heading into new territory . The Great Northern Hwy from Karijini Dr was a road we hadn't been on yet , and didn't disappoint . The drive through this section of  the Hammersley Ranges is equally as stunning as all the other parts of the ranges . 

  Arriving at Newman , we were set up and had lunch on the go , before checked out Radio Tower Hill for some great views of Newman & surrounds . This is the township .

 This is the golf course & fairways estate .

 This is the main reason Newman is here - Whaleback Iron Ore Mine .

 This is another mine about 10klms to the east after one of their blasts . We had this view from the Stan & Ellie Hilditch Memorial .

  And here they are - about 15m tall !!

  We decided to head back out north to Mt Newman for a look - didn't think it was too far back along the road - about 35klms . Anyway we found the track we'd seen on the way down and started off along it , 4wd was engaged pretty quickly as it got steep with loose gravel . The track continued up & over ridges & hills and continued onwards & upwards , but as time was getting on , we thought it might be a smart choice to return , rather than press on upwards and maybe get into bother . We drove back down to here and stopped for some photo's - you had to watch where you were walking as it's extremely rocky .

 This is looking down the track - yes it is as steep as it looks !!

 Stopping beside the highway further in , we found lot's of Mulla Mulla & some Cockroach plants as well .

 This is the Royal Mulla Mulla .

 And this .

   The hwy goes through a gorge - Cathedral Gorge - probably getting it's name from the vertical rocks .

 Beside the gorge the wildflowers were putting on a show in the late afternoon sun .

  Next day , we headed out Marble Bar Rd , then turned off onto the BHP Railway Access road - you have to get a permit to travel on this road - we got one yesterday from the Visitor Information Centre in town . After 30 odd klms we turned off and headed inland for another 15klms down this track that had a lot of different elements in it - corrugations , dust holes , wheel ruts , rocks and single lane .

Our mission today was the Punda Rock Art Site , it didn't disappoint , probably better than deep Gorge at Burrup Peninsular - not as many , but definitely better quality ??

 This is on top of the ridge - nearly all the rocks had some form of art on them .

 This is the valley on the other side of the ridge

  This rock appeared to be one used for grinding seeds etc .

  After being amazed with all that we'd seen , it was time to head off for the next destination . Only discovered in 2007 by Dr Arthur Hickman - who discovered it on Google Earth !! The Hickman Crater is only 35klms from Newman , but will take you about 2 hours to drive there !! The road was originally pushed in by a dozer and probably hasn't been upgraded since , so it's a slow & steady drive in in 4wd .  Calculations have placed the crater between 50-100,00 years old - the crater would be about 300m across and 40m high . You can drive to the top of the rim and then also down into the crater - where we had lunch - how many can say they've had lunch in a crater !!

 You've been reading about cockroach plants , well here is a rather dead cockroach , giving some idea why they call them cockroach plants - there is some similarity in the seed pods .

 Pilbara scenery is stunning !!

 Animal & bird tracks are all over the floor of the crater , there's also more rock art here as well .

 This is the track back up & out of the crater .

 Back out to the access track and onwards to Punta Rock Hole . The last part of the drive takes you up the creek bed - not a smooth track at all !

 Back out onto the BHP railway rd , and we were met by a BHP iron ore train - all 3klms of it !!

 Another day done , these shots were taken from Radio Tower Hill looking over Whaleback Mine .

 That's it for a couple of interesting days . Here's a map link :- https://drive.google.com/open?id=1BSGHrrCBxyjgsZI2KszKlqUUCxJQzDsI&usp=sharing

27/9/18 Return visit

  Today finds us revisiting Dales Gorge in Karijini , another great part of this national park . We looked around the visitors centre first , before the generator ran out of fuel & the lights went out . 

 We headed round to Dales Campground and up to circular Pool Lookout , the pool itself looked to be a bit low on water , this is the view looking back to Dales Gorge on the right - you can walk along the gorge & up to Fortescue Falls & Fern Pool - our next stop .

 A field of wildflowers greeted us at the Fortescue Falls carpark , where we had lunch before going for our walk & swim .



  We'd forgotten what it looked like till we got to the edge of the gorge , memories came flooding back , but today is different , we had time to soak it all in , instead of being on a mission to see it all & do it all .



 Next into view was Fortescue Falls - this view never fails to amaze , water cascading down multiple steps in the rocks and a beautiful green pool of water at the base . As is usual here there are always people swimming or lying on the rocks enjoying what nature has provided .

       There's a lot of steps and platforms to walk down to get to the falls and as you descend further the breeze stops and the heat starts to increase . We kept walking past the falls , heading instead to Fern Pool . When we were here last - 3 years ago - we didn't swim here , today however is a different story .
  The walk is an improvised one without any form other than the natural lay of the land , over rocks & tree roots , past some amazing trees - tall paperbarks & gums reaching upwards from the creek beds , large chunks of rock - the size of a truck - are  lying where they've fallen of the adjacent cliffs a long time ago .



  Then we arrive here ,  a large pool of beautiful clear green water , some people already in and enjoying the water . Didn't take us long to jump in , lot's of small perch swimming around in the pool and nibbling on your feet if you sat and dangled them in the water .

  The water was a nice temperature , cool but not cold , a very pleasant temperature for a swim . The pool is reasonably deep - at least 3m . We swam around an held onto various tree branches that were in the pool , going under the waterfall & sitting on the rocks .



  These are some of the wildflowers here .

 Some interesting colours are in the rock layers here , more what you would have associated with where we were yesterday at Wittenoom . The white / grey layer is asbestos in it's natural form , and it's all around the falls and gorge . In one place there is a layer of white dust in an eroded section of cave in the gorge wall - not sure how safe that could be , but must be alright otherwise the authorities would shut it down - as they do !!

  That was the sum total of today , a very relaxed day in our travels - time for another night in paradise .