Silver Schoolies No More - Chapter 10 - Karratha Day 2

To suggest we are Red Dog (2001 Roadshow) fans would be an understatement. The story of the wanderings of a kelpie here in the Pilbara after the death of his “master”, are legendary and the subject of an iconic Australian movie. One of the big disappointments of the first two times past this area was we did not go in search of Dampier and Red Dog. But now on our own we are not worrying about the wants and needs of others, we are simply wandering.

Before we get on the road there are a couple of phone calls diverting our attention from the goal, but need to be dealt with to keep the machines that are our businesses going. In particular some opportunities exist for clients of Property Portfolio Solutions and Shaun and I discuss the perfect fit of property to client. We have had a real shortage of what we might suggest are “good properties” for some time as the banking royal commission curtailed the activities of many developers, with the corresponding reality being a real loss of quality properties.

The catch up now is starting to see quality properties become available and of course, because of their potential, they are being snapped up. Although we need to move on them quickly, there is no point getting caught up in the hype and ending up with “just a property” nor is there a point to marrying a high rental return property with someone looking for an uplift or vice versa.

That part done, Robyn suggests she has done with her issues as well, we bundle ourselves into the Cruiser. Its a short drive to the main road, and when we get there, there is not another vehicle in sight.

Robyn begins to stress – where is her phone? She has left it behind, so U-turn (thankfully there is still no traffic) and back to the van. 

It is where she left it, on the table along with her sunglasses on the table. I suggest to her this incident will take up several paragraphs as I go into a diatribe about the male “leave the house” sequence.

Testicles, spectacles, watch, wallet and keys is the joining sequence I use and let her know. I have to wear glasses regardless of whether I am using the sun glasses or not, so it is an imperative. The other “issue” we joke about is the orifice Robyn likes to tote around – her bag, This less than fashion “accessory” is heavy and essential to what she does.

The things that can be “lost” in her bag that is something akin to the beaded bag of Hermione Granger of the Harry Potter series (JK Rowling, Bloomsbury Publishing) or Mary Poppins carpet bag (P.L. Travers – Harper Collins), such is the enormity of the amount of the contents of the handbag – it weighs a heap too. What is not lost in it at the moment are the sunnies nor the phone. I am surprised the weight of it as we bundled in had not alarmed her. Obviously the marginal weight change due to the loss of items was not enough to trigger the alarm in her. It wasn’t until she actually went looking of the sun glasses was the phone issue discovered.

Restart and whereas we had no vehicles to negotiate on our initial sattrrt, we now have a veritable traffic jam. To be fair we have to stop for the one car on the road – but don’t let the truth get in the way of a good story.

We are on the way again. This time we feel we are fully prepared. I shudder as Robyn checks everything again, halfway to Karratha. There is no alarm this time and we continue.

Into Karratha and turn left. Its divided road most of the way along the salt pans. There are comical “statutes” set in the salt to keep us amused.

Our first stop is to a beach.  Well signposted, we are drawn to it. There are plenty of people taking in the ambience. Its not sand like say Bondi Beach, but the coarse sand still yields to our weight and if we were to drive on it like many others, reduced tyre pressures would be required.

We sit on the sand and take it in. There are lots of shells and children are cavorting in the water or collecting shells under the watchful eyes of the adults, but the beach is nothing close to being “full”.

Moving on. Before we get to Dampier proper there is a local Important Ingenious Area we want to check out. As we drive in we see numerous workers attending to maintenance of the pathways. Each of them is a qualified ranger and are able to speak to what we are viewing. There are numerous and varying rocks paintings and carvings here. Some so sacred you are asked not to photograph them, which we respect.

There is an entire interpretive story to the area and twice a day the rangers take tours through the pictures emblazoned on the rocks. There is a huge antithesis in this site. The entire site is within a huge vein of high grade iron ore yet the site is so sacred to the traditional owners. Talking to locals “you cannot move a rock without permission” such are the rules around the sacredness of the areas yet day after day carriage after carriage of ore thunders in.

A Rio Tinto executive made the mistake of signing off on the destruction of a hugely sacred site at the Brockman 4 mine recently destroying 46,000 years of Indigenous history in the name of “progress”. A potential reason the pendulum has swung so far in the preservation of the history of Australia. 

But still the mining goes on.

Not just mining on land either, here there is a major gas refinery where it takes the product from the platforms offshore and then off to ships to export it around the world. There are two large chimneys here that burn continually. With a simply diversion of this heat, Woodside Petroleum could be watering vast tracts of dry land here, and a space not far from the refineries could be levelled easily with the addition of soil and turned into a large market garden with water from a World Environmental Solutions MultiGen unit which takes heat, creates electricity (here could be for free given they are burning the gas in any event), it creates air-conditioning as a byproduct of the process as well as significant amounts of water. Certainly enough water to supply a significant market garden.

The Visitor Information Centre for the gas refinery is closed Mondays and Fridays so we are left to our own devices as to the contemplation of what we are looking at. Of course there are static signs with information but nothing like what might have been indoors. 

We take the roads around the facility and the port as far as we are permitted, in and out of areas, because it is the weekend are less than busy with administration staff being away from their offices but the facility itself is clearly a 24/7 operation. There is movement but not the high humidity ant like turmoil but a measured madness at this time. 

Its still only mid morning and although we have skirted around Dampier and the port, we are still yet to track down Red Dog. 

Then there is a sign. Not only a sign but an information bay and what do I see. Yes, Red Dog watching over the town. As well as this information area, there is another adjacent and along the railway. After the initial shots of the famous Dog, I walk across to see if I can get a shot of the tracks. 

There are several sets of tracks and most are filled as far the eye can see in one direction with ore filled railway trucks. Thousands of tonnes of red iron ore waiting to be processed and exported. Extracted from the Pilbara to satisfy the demand of the industrial classes 

The bridge over which we entered into Dampier township blocks the view in the other direction.

I walk back to the Red Dog statue and we head off to check out the township. Again we find an antithesis. But this time its all white man made. There are large areas of mining inspired industrial intermingled with aesthetically inspired residential. All the parks are green, having been watered from the massive aquifers under the ground. 

There is yet another massive boat ramp. This one looks to have every parking spot taken. There are bots going in and out as well. We are close to the top of the tide. Everyone it seems are either out for the afternoon or back from an early morning jaunt.

We watch for a while and then resume our wandering. On top of a hill we find the William Dampier Lookout and another Red Dog watching over the bay. In the distance are hills of salt. There are no piles of iron ore in sight. We will need to keep looking to see where they export the precious rocks.

First though its time for lunch. This, we settle for a place called SOAK. Its part of a Seafarers establishment and overlooks the bay. Its a pleasant place to indulge in a seafood repast.

I have a little work to do this afternoon for World Environmental Solutions. My friend and co-director Wallie Ivison wants me to catch up with a new distributor who lives here. I made contact over lunch and we will drop in on them on the way out.

Sharni is a true salesperson, can talk the leg off a chair and controls most of the conversation. Her ideas for improvements to stock lines for the company have merit and we leave with the promise I will look into her ideas. This will mean more for Wallie as I interpret what she thinks will sell into drawings and concept pieces.

We have found two monuments to Red Dog, Sharni suggests there is another but we need to get back to the van via a grocery run to get some work off before the end of the weekend.

We take another lap of Dampier, marvelling at the fact that although this is a major ore export point, the town seems relatively normal in its function around the bay rather than overshadowed by the huge ships being skilled with ore on the outskirts.

We have seen very little of the scenery from the film, certainly not the “big boys toys” where most of the movie is set. We did however find a town where although mining is an interwoven integral part, much like Karratha has a vibe of its own.

I am sure when we head back across into the Pilbara again on our next adventure Dampier will be a place where, rather than a caravan park in an industrial area in the town next door, we will come and stay for some time, if only to go fishing with Sharni and her husband.