Tom Price to Exmouth

We woke to a beautiful morning after a peaceful night back in the van and back on the road with not a single car traveling the road all night until the first one about 7.30am. Since it was almost dark when we arrived at our roadside camp spot the night before we took a little look around our surrounding and then once we had had breakfast hit the road again.

Our windmill roadside camp

We took the 4kms back to the rail access road and continued north. As we turned onto the rail access road there was an iron ore train heading towards the port that we followed for the next half an hour or so. We would catch up to it, overtake it, stop at a rail crossing, watch it go past, then catch it again, overtake it again, etc, etc. It had 234 trucks full of iron ore and was our entertainment for the morning, and the kids kept the driver entertained by waving every time we saw him and he returned the gesture with a blast of his horn. We did also see about 7 empty trains heading back to the mines for their next load.

We had a quick visit to Millstream National Park where we checked out the Homestead, saw some kangaroos, took a short stroll along the Homestead Trail to a lagoon full of water lilies and then moved on to find a lunch spot without an inch of shade. This was our whole experience of Millstream, a place we had intended on spending two nights and exploring had we not got held up at Tom Price.

Millstream Homestead Visitor Information Centre

Lilies, lilies, everywhere

Back on the road after our quick visit to Millstream we continued up the rail-access road till it became the public road and also beautifully sealed. The scenery became quite stunning and Thea wished she had taken a photographic course so she could capture it more vividly. We may just have to come back around again just to spend more time taking photographs of this great country. Once we met the main coastal highway we had to turn right and head north for a little bit. It felt very strange doing this as it has been a long time since we had gone in a northward direction. Our destination was Point Samson just north of Karratha.

At Point Samson while parking our van we were spotted by the family we had first seen at Eighty Mile Beach and then at the Tom Price Mine Tour. Nigel, Fiona and their three kids had been at Point Samson for a couple of nights already and they welcomed us to what they called ‘Paradise’. It certainly was a fabulous spot and after seeing Karratha, beat it hands down. With the play equipment directly across from our caravan and plenty of kids to play with, our children had a ball and were a little upset with us the next day when we suggested and then made them come in the car for an explore of the area.

The play equipment

The van and Mr Kai 

Our first explore was of the old pioneering township of Cossack. Cossack was first used by Europeans in 1863 and established itself as North West’s first port, which was used for pastoral, pearling and mining industries. Cossack boomed during the 1880s when up to 80 pearling luggers were operating in the area and more than 400 people were living there. Unfortunately most of the grand stone buildings in Cossack were built in the late 1880s when the town was already starting to reduce in numbers. By 1900, pearling operations were moved to Broome and the port was deemed unsuitable for larger ships. So a new jetty was constructed in Point Samson where in 1910 the harbor facilities were relocated. Other enterprises slowly drifted away and by the 1950s the town was completely abandoned. We bumped into Nigel, Fiona and the kids again there and spent some time walking around the township following the Heritage Trail with the information leaflet provided. We read through the township's history mounted on boards in the historical lock up while the kids locked us in, and ended our time there with an ice cream from the shop located in the old Bond Store building. Cossack has amazing turquoise water just at its doorstep, which was lovely to admire while we took in the history of the town.

The stone buildings of Cossack

Post Office and Telegraph Building

Courtyard behind the Bond Store

The Courthouse Museum

The kids and Tig off to the next building

Galbraith's Store

Kid's mayhem in the lock up

Ella locking us in

In the end we spent 3 nights at Point Samson and had a chance to catch up on some washing, collect precious birthday mail from Karratha, see the million dollar houses in Karratha and see the Dampier Port where the Tom Price trainline ends. At Dampier we saw some big ships loading up with iron ore and stumbled upon the North West Shelf Natural Gas Visitor Centre. The kids had a great time using the interactive screen game at the first display while Tig and I wandered around looking at the other displays.

Ships being loaded with iron ore

Maddi in front of the North West Shelf Natural Gas Plant

Maddi having a go at the interactive screen

Model of a gas rig

With 2 nights up our sleeve before our booked campsite at Cape Range National Park and Maddi’s 7^th birthday we did a huge drive down towards Exmouth. After a total of about 470 kms we finally decided to stop for the day at Giralia Homestead, which was only 123 kms from Exmouth. Giralia Homestead is a working cattle station, which provides camping sites and some basic accommodation, showers, toilets and meals just behind the homestead. On our arrival there was already a very very old Jayco Outback camper, a flash looking full-size caravan and a tent tucked away behind a few bushes for wind protection. The camping area was also the horse paddock which was home to a Shetland pony, Buckskin gelding and a Bay mare that would apparently be locked up overnight. The Buckskin was particularly friendly. While we sat outside our caravan eating dinner just before the sun went down we watched as the Buckskin started to scavenge and rummage through the Jayco Outback’s food and belongings that sat outside. The camp was unattended so we intervened once we saw the Buckskin was successfully getting into their food and rubbish. It took a lot of convincing to get the horse to leave their things and a little rearranging to secure the food. Maddi was very excited to be camping in an area with horses roaming through and her confidence soared as she continually approached and patted her newfound love. All we heard about that night was could we please get a farm and a horse for her. This particular Buckskin was very friendly, even placed its head in Thea’s lap, tried to pick up her chair while she sat in it and gave Kai a massive kiss on the face. Our neighbours in the Jayco returned well after dark and we watched with amusement the following morning while the Buckskin terrorised them and their food once more. If only they had secured their belongings and particularly the food and rubbish they wouldn’t have had a problem but with two adults and four kids crammed into their tiny Jayco camper it didn’t really allow for any order in their mayhem. It was still an interesting morning's entertainment for us.

Maddi talking to her new friend

Lucky we had finished dinner before the horse came to the table 

We travelled our final kilometers into Exmouth and stopped off just outside Learmonth at MG Kailis Prawn Fishery for some prawns. It was so funny to watch Ella get so excited and the smile stretch across her face when she realized we were stopping at a prawn shop. After our prawns and bread lunch, we hopped back into the car for our final stretch into Exmouth where we first popped into the Visitor's Centre and worked out our caravan park for the night. Once the van was sorted we headed into town for a final food and birthday dinner shop before back to the park for a well-deserved swim.

Ella and Kai with the Prawn Truck

Prawns for lunch 

Next time read about Maddi’s 7^th Birthday and our wonderful experiences of Cape Range National Park.

Till then…

Tig and Thea

Tom Price

Having left Karijini by 8am we arrived in Tom Price at 9:20am which gave us plenty of time before our 10am mine tour. Tig watched the 20 minute safety video to get our permit to use Rio Tinto's rail access road between Tom Price and the coast. This road is far more direct and also better maintained than the public access roads.

We loaded onto the tour bus, along with a family we met at Eighty Mile Beach. Maddi was very excited to sit with her friend and it helped with the arguments as to who was sitting with Mum and Dad on the coach.

The tour was quite good and as it was run by a tour company rather than Rio there was not the usual hard sell on what the company does for the community, environment etc ....

We got a good history of the town, Tom Price, which until recently was owned and operated by Hamersley Iron (now Rio Tinto), an explanation about the man Tom Price who was the American mining executive who lobbied to get mining in the Pilbara approved by government and the Mountain Tom Price where the richest iron ore deposit was found that ensured the economic viability to get the first mining project off the ground.

The tour took us onto the mine site, around the big pit and through the processing plants. Everything was big and everything was deep red.

The Pit

Iron ore processing

Very red water truck

Old machinery on display

After our tour we had lunch in the park in town and decided to keep moving towards the coast with plans to camp overnight at Millstream National Park.

About 25kms out of town we turned onto the Rio Tinto rail access road, a very well maintained gravel road. For 3 kms all was well, then the car & van started to pull and twitch, fortunately we were driving at a very sensible pace. Immediately we thought, 'bugger, a flat tyre' and quickly pulled off onto a nice flat area on the side of the road. We both jumped out and checked the tyres down the side of the car and van meeting at the back saying all clear this side. However looking back down the road there was a deep groove dug which led to the passenger side wheels, where we could clearly see a suspension leaf spring bent over backwards and dug into the ground. We were not going to fix that in a hurry.

The deep groove

Our leaf spring

Still doesn't look good

Where we came to rest

Fortunately we had mobile service, for which we were grateful as we had had very limited coverage lately. Tig called the NRMA who called the RACWA who called their agent in Tom Price who called us. Our white knight, Jason, turned up after a while in his yellow truck to take us back to Tom Price.

Our white knight's yellow truck

While we were waiting we had plenty of time to unhook the van and find a shady tree nearby to park under. We were also lucky enough to see an iron ore train which, at about 2kms long, entertained the kids for a good 5 minutes. We also raided the caravan freezer for some Quelch ice blocks as it was pretty warm.

Iron Ore Train

Kids try and count the trucks

Still going

With our home just fitting on the back of the tow truck it was back into town to the caravan park where the NRMA had found us a bed for the next couple of nights and then to TyrePower where Jason was taking our van and to see what could be done.

Van just fits on

Closer inspection of the damage

Fortunately for us Jason was on the ball. He had already assessed what needed to be done but as it was now late in the day it would be tomorrow before he could pull it apart to see what parts would be required.

Back at the caravan park, with the few things we needed for the night, we got some take away Chinese and drew lots for beds. We had two very basic rooms, one with two sets of bunks and one with a double bed.  Accommodation in mining towns is scarce so we took what we could. Tig and the 3 kids negotiated spots in the bunks, in particular convincing Kai that he did not want to sleep on the top bunk without a rail. Thea got the luxury and quiet of a room to herself.

The next morning it was back to the mechanic to formulate a plan. The good news was there was no additional damage, just the leaf springs required. The even better news was that they were readily available. The bad news was that they are only available from Melbourne. Well, we had done the two things Tom Price is known for, Karijini National Park and iron ore mining, and Melbourne is a long long way away. Again, fortunately Jason was on the ball. Overnight airfreight from Melbourne to Perth and then overnight truck to Tom Price, which is some 1600kms north of Perth. Fingers crossed they send us the right parts and they make the connections at Perth.

So then we sat back and waited. We became very well acquainted with the two very nice parks in town spending many hours at them just wiling time away. We also visited Coles a few times and even the local swimming pool, which opened on our last day in town. One late afternoon we decided to take a little 4wd trip up Mt Nameless, the second highest vehicle accessible mountain in WA that just happened to be right behind the caravan park. It was certainly steep and rocky going up but the view was worth every long slow minute it took to get there. From the top were some great views. Over one side was the mine and on the other the town of Tom Price. We enjoyed a packet of chips each to celebrate the sun setting on another day from this spectacular location. You will notice in the photo of the car the wheels have become Pilbara Red.

Rio Tinto Mine

Father and Son

Just beautiful

Maddi points out the mine

The town of Tom Price

Dusk ontop of Mt Nameless

Check out the red wheels

Unfortunately we only had two night's accommodation at the caravan park. They had no rooms of any description on our third night, in fact there was no accommodation anywhere in town. So it was back to the van, still up on axel stands in the workshop without wheels or suspension. The kids were under strict instructions not to go outside the van or jump around. So the next morning we were again homeless, this time only until the parts came in and fitted.

Our third nights accommodation - missing some wheels

With everything to do in Tom Price done and that included a 75km drive to Paraburdoo (another mining town south of Tom Price) just for something to do one afternoon, Saturday finally arrived and we set out for the day hopeful that our parts would also arrive. The local swimming pool opened for the summer season, which we thought was a little strange as it had been well over 30 degrees everyday so far this week. The pool also did not open until 10am, so a bit of a wait as we had left the van (and workshop) as soon as the kids were up, dressed and fed. When 10am finally came, after we had been waiting in the carpark for 20 minutes, we soon found out why the season had only just started as the unheated pool was very fresh. Not put off, the kids and Tig went in. Apparently it was ok after a while and you warmed up very quickly once out. After our swim we went back to see if the truck was in yet. The Toll depot was across the road from the mechanic and the truck was due at 11am, but in true country style had arrived at 3pm the last couple of days. Yes the truck was there and it was about 1pm so Tig said a quick hello to the service manager who suggested we call in an hour or so to see if the parts had come over from the Toll depot. Back to the park for lunch and at 2pm we called. No, haven’t got the parts yet, call in an hour. 3pm, yes parts are here, all good, we will call you when it’s ready to go.

Well, at 4:45pm the phone rang, and it was Jason, the manager, not the service manager we had been speaking to all day. Was this a bad thing, Jason was not working this afternoon, was there a problem? Fortunately not. Jason had just dropped into the yard and was calling to say it was all done, ready to roll.

Brilliant. This is what we had been waiting for.

Back to the van, hook up and hit the road. It was 5pm on a Saturday night. Not the ideal time to be leaving town but we just needed to get out of there and feel like we had made some ground back on our journey.

We headed back up the same road we had traveled 3 days earlier although it seemed like a lot longer. We passed our impact point, and showed the kids the grove in the road. As it was late we started to think of our camp spot. There are no places to stop on the rail access road so just on dusk we reached a public road heading east and drove along this for a few kms before finding a windmill, along with water tank and trough and plenty of cleared area well off the road. This was good enough for us and it has never felt so good to be sleeping in the van out in the bush.

Next up we will tell you about our journey away from Tom Price and onto Exmouth via Karratha. Maddi is dead keen to get to Karratha for her all important birthday mail.

Till then …

Tig & Thea

Broome to Tom Price

With people biting at our heals for our prime position at Roebuck Bay Caravan Park in Broome we packed up and rolled out only 20 minutes past check out. Our four nights of leisure had caused us to be a little slower then usual, we were also a little in denial that we were really leaving.

Once on the road we had a morning in the car we would rather like to forget. Maddi was angry, angry, angry about everything and everyone but Tig had a little cry. Thankfully after some kilometers and a very late lunch at Sandfire Roadhouse things returned to normal. During lunch we discussed our possible overnight options and decided to head to the nearest option, Eighty Mile Beach Caravan Park due to the tough 'traveling with kids' morning. 

We weren't expecting it to be much, just a small pokey run down beachside caravan park. Instead we were blown away by quite a large van park nestled behind the sand dune with good facilities and very friendly people. With the sun soon to go down we quickly parked the van and headed to the beach with camera in hand. As soon as we started to walk away from our van a very friendly older lady with chair and nibbles in hand pointed us in the direction of the beach access. After she enquired how long we were staying, to which we replied one night, Tig asked her how long she had been here. She replied....since May. We instantly saw that she was heading to a small group of older couples all with chairs and nibbles for their pre dinner drinks social. 

We continued onto the beach path past the Vietnam Memorial and over the sand dune to gaze down at the most beautiful site. As we continued down the other side and stepped onto the beach, Thea enquired if we could stay a week here. We continued to the waters edge where the youngest two got their feet wet while Maddi collected shells from the vast array on offer. With the sun setting over the water and fisherman wadding knee deep with their lines, lots of photos were taken. We frolicked around the waters edge, watched the fisherman and collected shells all while the sun set in the distance.

We arrive at Eighty Mile Beach

Caravan Park and Vietnam Memorial

Sun setting at Eighty Mile Beach

Sea shells

Ella and Kai play on the sand

Kai Boy

In the morning Thea got up early to go for a run along the beach. With the beach almost to herself she headed up the beach and stopped to take some photos on her trusty iPhone. Eighty Mile Beach was just so beautiful. We did however probably only see it at its best. It probably would be rather hot and unprotected in the middle of the day. After Thea's run it was time to get everyone fed and dressed and on the road again. First we had a chat to our neighbours from Victoria who had three kids too. They had been there a few nights and had basically relaxed. They were not a fishing family (which was the popular thing to do here) and since you couldn't swim due to sharks and manta-rays the kids were a little bored. 

Thea's artistic photo

Eighty Mile Beach in the morning

Fisherman at Eighty Mile Beach

So it was on to Port Hedland where much of the Pilbara iron ore is loaded on to very large ships. The mounds of white salt are a stark contrast to everything else which is coated dark red from the iron ore dust. Just one night in Port Hedland but enough time to make it to Sunday morning church at the local Anglican Church, a BCA (Bush Church Aid) congregation that was very welcoming. From here it was into Karijini National Park. Our drive took us on the main trucking route from Perth to the Pilbara so we saw plenty of large trucks, the largest of which were two massive semis, both with large mining dump trucks taking up just about the whole road so we had to pull off until they passed by. We did not quite make it all the way to Karijini, as just outside the park is a Rest Area and lookout over Munjina East Gorge with fantastic camping spots (no facilities) a little further along the ridge. There was no way we were going to pass up this free camping opportunity. In fact the place was so good that Tig, Thea, Maddi & Ella camped out under the stars, while Kai stayed in the van. We simply spread out a tarp, dragged out our beds from the van and laid the canvas side of the annex over for a little extra warmth as it may have been 36 degrees on our drive during the day, but it gets quite cold overnight. Our satellite phone came in very handy in the morning as Todd and his wife, who had camped a little further up the ridge from us, couldn't get their car started. Todd originally asked us for a  jumpstart but it still wouldn't start. Thankfully the Auski Roadhouse was only about 15kms away so they called a family member in Port Hedland to arrange a pick up. We didn't say it but Todd did point out his car was a Nissan Patrol and that he wouldn't hear the end of it from his mates about being helped out by a Toyota Landcruiser. After leaving them to sit out their waiting game, with other campers still around further down the ridge who didn't look like they were leaving anytime soon, we continued into Karijini National Park. 

Port Hedland Salt Piles

Mining Dump Trucks

View from the Rest Area at Munjina East Gorge

Our camp spot for the night

Washing line in the wind

Cheeky Boy Kai

Munjina East Gorge Ridge Top Camp

Maddi helping with dinner

Kai Pilbara Red and his trains

Sleeping out under the stars

Our morning view

On arrival we almost upset the camp host by not stopping at his tiny sign informing us that it was allocated site camping. We thought it would be like most National Parks where it is self-registration & payment and choose a spot from those which are vacant. Once we had set up we decided to take a drive to the Visitor Information Centre to find out what there was to do in the park. The lady behind the counter was very helpful and we planned our two days activities. After lunch we grabbed our swimmers and headed off to Fern Pool for a refreshing dip. All the gorges in the National Park are approached from above and easily accessible to view from above. To get down into them can be a bit tricky with the kids as the steps can be oversized for little legs and the fencing from the huge drop below was pretty average. It was a little nerve racking with Kai at times. After we made it to the bottom and passed Fortescue Falls, where some people where taking a dip, we arrived at Fern Pool. It was quite crowded but very well set up with a two level viewing deck that lead down to a small pontoon with a ladder to get in. We quickly changed into swimmers and headed to the water's edge. It was a little chilly but we swam over to the waterfall and back. By the time we got out the children were shivering so we decided to get changed, have something to eat and watch the other people taking their dip. One older couple went in with flippers, snorkel, mask and camera but the chill was too much for them too and they didn't stay in the water very long. on our return to the campsite we had a boys verus girls challenge where Ella decided she wanted to run from the car park back to camp (only just over 1km). We had driven over so with the boys in the car and the girls on foot we took off. Now obviously the boys were going to win even if the girls had a direct walking track back to the camp and a had a head start but Ella was convinced the girls had a chance at victory. It was interesting to see Ella taking after her sister by wanting to go for a run. 

Karijini Visitor Centre

Dales Gorge

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's off for a swim we go!

Fortescue Falls

Fern Pool

Ready to take a dip

Swimming Fern Pool

People watching after our swim

The next day we packed some lunch and headed around to the northern end of the park where there was a more expensive accommodation and camping option, the ‘Eco Resort’, and more gorges to explore. We first checked out Joffre and Knox Gorges from their lookouts and then checked out the Eco Resort. We made use of their knowledge about our next destination, Tom Price, and the mining tours available and ended up booking on a tour for the next day. We spent the afternoon visiting Junction Lookout and Oxer Lookout before grabbing our swimmers and heading down into Weano Gorge. We made our way along the gorge towards a pool called Handrail Pool. There were a number of little pools along the way which the kids and Thea swam through while Tig skirted around rock walls in order to keep our belonging dry. After some stepping stones through rocky river beds we climbed the last drop into Handrail Pool. The naming was quite obvious as the last bit had a 10 metre handrail bolted onto the wall so you could hold on tight while climbing along a slippery water course and down a rock wall. The pool was amazing but not really enticing to go swimming in as it was in shadow and therefore quite chilly. The circular cave that made up Handrail pool had only two entrances the one we came through and another that led further down the gorge but required some rock climbing and abseiling. We obviously didn't take the children there. After a short stop and some snacks, as that is what we seem to do with children, we reversed the order and stopped at a little swimming area just below the steps out of the gorge. We managed to convince the kids to make it quick as we still had to drive back around to the other part of the park on a pretty bumpy road. It was rather rough and rocky and we had witnessed our camping neighbors have a flat in the morning on the way there. Thankfully we returned back to camp with no difficulties and even managed to just keep Kai awake. The kids had a play with the toddler next door while dinner was cooked and our pack-up was contemplated. 

Joffre Lookout

Back up the stairs to the car

Spinifex clumps litter the red soil

Knox Gorge

Lizard we found at Knox Lookout

Knox Gorge the other way

Three cheeky monkeys

Follow our fearless leader kids

Tig and Ella entering Handrail Pool

Thea and Kai entering Handrail Pool

Handrail Pool

Exiting Weano Gorge

Kids had to wade and swim some sections

It was a little cool

Maddi leading us out of Handrail Pool

Kids swim before going up the stairs to the car

Our three water loving children

In the morning we managed to pack up and be on our way to the mining town, Tom Price, by 7.45am (a new record). On our journey we saw our first Rio Tinto iron ore train at a level crossing, which was a great delight to Kai, but more about that later. 

Till next time...

Tig and Thea