Silver Schoolies No More - Chapter 9 - Onslow to Karratha

If I wanted to do the sunrise again, like a passionate photographer, I am not up early enough to get it. After the “running” around of yesterday (well, walking and driving really), by the time I hit the sack last night I was bushed and the display on the CPap machine confirms it, with ten hours of sleep recorded.

The wind has abated a little, but appears to be building again. I will take the first stint today and see if it will abate or the direction from which it comes. If it is across us, like it seems to be all the time, then Robyn might forgo her stint, still not fully confident.

After the melee of the earlier parts of the trip where booking to secure a space in a caravan park was essential, since we have turned and headed back north and the school holidays have ended, parks have struggled to reach high occupancy percentages. Here is no different, the park is less than half full. Perhaps its a tribute to our madness to be heading towards the heat and the wet season that we find ourselves in less that full camping areas.

Having said that, we are not alone. Several of the vanners we talk to are heading our way, although the majority are migrating south.

The bug out done the first stint takes us to Fortescue Roadhouse. Literally in the middle of nowhere this establishment pops up out of the ground to greet the weary traveller. Other than the roadhouse there is nothing else here other than the view of the crags and valleys of the Pillbara. There is a mine not too far away as the name of the roadhouse suggests but other than passersby, there is very little to attract staff to a business like this.

We take the time to fill up and have a break, a late morning tea/early lunch. The staff are attentive without being overly friendly but while we sit and dine several others do exactly what we are doing, breaking up a long trip. A delivery has been made and several (yes several) of the staff are clambering to get the merchandise inside out of the heat.

The wind has actually increased and the direction is directly across the road. Robyn takes the view that I am getting a break here so I can continue driving. She has seen the Cruiser and Van shunted at times as gusts hit us. We have been travelling at reduced speed to combat the attacks.

Just back on the road again we come to an overpass. A huge bridge taking us up and over what appears to be a very wide highway, until you see what is travelling on this massive line of dirt. The trucks here are so huge they encompass the entire width of what would be a four lane highway. Ferrying ore for the mine to the raid head in relentless pursuit of the precious commodity, the trucks rumble underneath us. 

We only get a fleeting glimpse as we travel over (at greatly reduced speed due to, not only the cross wind, but the need to get great photographs) the bridge. How much ore must one truck carry and how much “damage” to the Pilbara must operations like these extracting so many millions of tonnes of ore from the ground each year. Robyn suggests again just like she did at Tom Price, will these mining operations eventually throw the earth off its axis.

The Pilbara gives great vistas. Up hill and down dale, with roads that are seemingly less straight than those of the plains of the Gascoyne, we head into Karratha.

Robyn’s selection of caravan park is in the industrial area just off the main road. The AAOK Caravan Park offers a few sites but seems to be a place where miners camp. There are rows of “permanent” vans, all exactly the same. If this is a true reflection of Karratha, perhaps our stay may be less than anticipated. Maybe we will use the time to catch up on work type things rather than exploring.

There must be more, so after settling in, we hit the road looking for a Visitor Information Centre. The wandering around the industrial estate yields nothing. Mrs Google suggests we are a few kilometers away and we need to go back out of the industrial estate and “over the hill” if we want to find the Centre.

“Over the hill” we find the real Karratha. A metropolis, purpose built b y the mining companies, with modern architecturally designed buildings and what’s this – traffic lights, haven’t seen one of those in months it seems, and what’s more it is red ordering us to stop! The temerity of it!

I suppose its the price you pay for progress.

The Visitor Information Centre is back along the way in, so we do a “blockie” and head back to it. Here we find the most friendly of staff who is more than happy to sit and plan our days in and around Karratha, including a search for Red Dog out at the adjance Dampier.

She has maps, she has brochures and even better she has knowledge of what we might like to spend time viewing as opposed to a drive past. On her suggestion we keep it easy today. Its low tide and Karratha is not a port as much as Dampier a few kilometres away.

We have been told the boat ramp is one place where the tidal movement. Its a little out of town and when we get there, there is no water. The twin ramp structure leads down to mud. The water is many hundreds of metres away beyond a rock wall constructed to protect the ramp in storms.

Someone has left a fish on the map. It obviously fell from a retrieving boat. The birds are yet to attack it or the trevally outer skin was too tough for the gulls to invade. Whatever it is, the fish will not last long in the ever increasing heat, even this late in the afternoon.

Apparently at high tide this ramp is all but submerged but unless you are going out for 12 hours, picking your times on the run up and then the ebb would need to be careful about your timing else you are stuck without any real alternative but to keep fishing, assuming you are not beached.

We follow the beach as much as possible on the way back into Karratha. There are beaches and parks along our route. At one point I need to re-engage the GPS to our van park in order to get to a place I can drive with comfort. Much like Canberra with its rounded streets, Karratha, unless you understand the geometric progression at the heart of the town planning or you are on a highway, seems too ready to trap the would-be adventurer in its midst.

The newness of the architecture, the vibrancy of the town are very evident as we wander the town centre. You can tell its a modern, designed town centre. The residential areas are spacious and filled with modern homes. Unless you are going point to point, the drive around Karratha can be confusing as you seem to encircle yourself (read here pass the same point often as if you are lost) driving in endless circles.

One place the Visitor Information Centre Staff suggested was a must was the lookout behind the Centre. This we work out how to get to with a revisit to the Centre. 

The lookout is set up with fixed binoculars and displays describing what you are viewing. The vista opens up across this purpose built metropolis. Compared to where we are staying it is chalk and cheese. No wonder they keep the industrial area so far away from the more tranquil commercial/residential area.

We take numerous photographs before we head back to the park. There is a sign on the road just before the entrance suggesting trailers are not allowed to breakdown on the side of the roads here.  Clearly it is pointed at the long distance road train truckie, but to the uninitiated it seems very strange that you could orchestrate the breakdown position. If a bearing goes, a bearing goes, evidently not allowed just here 🙂

Having left out some frozen steaks before we went wandering, the now unfrozen meat becomes an easy dinner along with some potato slabs in the oven. Nice and simple. 

We like where we have plonked ourselves. It serves its purpose.