Grace, Sam, David & Joey at Mt Nameless....
Our friends Craig & Maryanne Baker whose company we enjoyed whilst staying at Tom Price, along with Keah, David, Jack & Grace.
From the other side of Mt Nameless the sprawling Mt Tom Price Mine. In this shot you can see the single mens and FIFO quarters...the view is a couple of kilometres across.
Tom & Lee at the top of Mt Nameless which is WA's highest peak accessible by car. Looking back toward the Township of Tom Price.
Some rock climbing - at around 300ft high. Death defying attempt to impress Leeanne!! Waste of time really - she's already impressed!! It felt like 300ft - all 10 ft of it!!
Joey and a sample of the amazing rock formations found at Hamersley Gorge
Here's Sam in the Hamersley Gorge, a separate area in Karijini. Amazing rock formations in this ancient looking landscape...
A lovely shot of upper handrail pool by Lee...
"Let brotherly love continue"....so far, so good - Joey & Sam are enjoying the experience too!!
Lee & Joey show what awaits the climber at the bottom. This is 'handrail pool'. Super spot to cool off on a hot day which is mostly what they have around this region!!
This shot is a good indication of the type of terrain that visitors to this area are attempting to negotiate. It continues down and becomes even tighter until you reach a section with handrail bolted into the wall to help your descent....once again the colours are quite spectacular...
I am standing beside the Celtic Cross Monument dedicated to a relative of mine, James Regan, who lost his life whilst performing a cliff rescue with the SES to save visitor to Karijini National Park.The monument is near Oxer lookout. The SES at Tom Price and also Newman are among the busiest in Australia helping people who have got into difficulty. James' father Jack and my father are cousins.
This is an arial view of Weano Gorge. There are actually four gorges that meet in this area. Very rugged terrain indeed. Quite striking colours though...
Whilst in Tom Price we met up again with our friends from Brazil Raphael (Rafa) & Jessica (Jess). Enjoyable dinner together before they headed off to Exmouth. We enjoyed Brazilian dinner with good old Aussie Pavlova for desert. A cultural exchange!!
Lee, Sam & Joey at the top of the walk after completing the round trip. Well worthwhile...
We were lucky enough to meet one of the locals at the pool. He/she was having a great time of it. There were even some small fish in the water for it to snack on!!
This is what awaits those who take the 1km trip down to the pool. Very refreshing even if a little chilly!! Beautiful spot here!!
Here's Joey at the walkway down to the swimming hole at Fortescue Falls. If you were keen you could fry an egg on the hot stones around the pool...
The view along a section of Dale's Gorge. Very rugged terrain...
This shot is of Circular Pool at Dale's Campground which is one of two main campsites at Karijini NP. A walk along some cliff face will bring you to the bottom for a dip in the chilly water to cool off...
Excuse me....coming through!! No sharing the road with this wide load!! On the way to Karijini National Park. Just happens that the same road is used by traffic to Port Hedland and Newman Mine.
Durnin's in the bucket!! The heat at Tom Price is around 35 degrees during October. In mid summer more like 45 degrees. With all the ore in the ground and reflection it's not surprising...
A smaller loader....new toy for the boys??
In the workshop for repairs. The guys working on the machines give an indication of their size. A tyre for these trucks costs $70,000+ dollars!! Machine replacement is in the millions of dollars...
This is what happens when a Iron Ore loader meets a Toyota Landcruiser Ute!! A graphic warning to be cautious on the mine site roads...
Leaving Coral Bay we backtracked inland to Tom Price to see our friends Craig & Maryanne. One of the sights is the mine tour conducted by Rio Tinto of the operations at Tom Price Mine. This dump truck weighs 200 tonne and carries about its own weight in payload
Just a couple of kilometres north of Coral Bay is this Reef Shark Nursery. A natural salt water pond where the young sharks come in to feed at high tide!! We didn't see any at the time we did the walk....
We left Exmouth and headed southwards to Coral Bay. It is reputed to be a WA playground for families because of the inshore coral reef so readily available for snorkelling. We weren't disappointed....
