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 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
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