Stair case to the moon, liquorice hermit crabs and open cut mines……….

The big blue at Broome……….

Wow……we finally made it to the big blue or to be more accurate, some ocean where we can finally immerse ourselves! Well this isn’t strictly true as there is still the risk of crocs, stingers and sharks but hey, do what the locals do. True to form, on our first visit to Cable beach “snake charmers Hopkins” had another interaction with a 1.5 metre brown snake! 

It was great to finally see the turquoise blue of the ocean at Broome. We camped at Roebuck Beach caravan site for some washing and recovery from the Gibb in preparation to see the staircase to the moon. This is a phenomenon which happens about 6 times per year on full moon tides. We are talking up to 11.5 metre tides! As the moon rises in the East it throws light and shadows over the tidal flats of Roebuck estuary giving the illusion of “stairs to the moon”. Quite an amazing wonder of nature which happened for two nights while we were in Broome.

After washing, shopping and enjoying Cable beach it was then time for the Hopkins family to head out of Broome in search of more ”free” bush camping on the Dampier Peninsula. This is the peninsula North of Broome which leads to Cape Leveque. On the lower west side there is a dirt road which has very red sand which passes various spots up to James Price Point. We explored this road until we could go no further and our path was stopped by a 700mm deep salt water crossing. This was a risk not worth taking for the preservation of “Nellie” and the risk of getting stuck with a rapidly rising tide. We had passed a lovely beach camp at a place called Quondong Point where we made camp for a week. We had quite a little community of various people we have met on our travels and had a ball kayaking, fishing from a little 3.1 metre tinny (thanks Shauny),body surfing and on one occasion some very small surf.

                                         

                                          Nico & Anita

                                       

                                          Kerry & Rosie

                                          Adrian, Ben & James

                                       

                                          Quondong Point Posse

Chased by a shark and eating hermit crabs………

One member of our little community was Nico the surfing German. Nico and I are kindred spirits whose company is always full of fun and action. Nico has quite an interesting accent when speaking English which is very endearing and frankly quite trusting and genuine.

Well to set the scene at night there are literally hundreds of hermit crabs wondering around the sand dunes. One evening well engrossed in conversation and reasonably lubricated with some fine artisan rum form Kununurra (thanks very much Kerry) Nico held out his hand and said (in his endearing way), “would you like some liquorice” of which I am a big fan. Well I said “yes please Nico” and promptly threw both pieces of liquorice into my mouth……….. To my absolute horror next thing I know the liquorice is attacking my bottom lip and seemed to be firmly attached. With a great deal of hilarity from the entire camp fire posse, I proceeded to try and pull two hermit crabs who in fear of their lives were attached to my bottom lip! Needless to say this was VERY funny and caused quite a lot of hilarity.

If that wasn’t enough there was to be more fun or should I say scary action with my old mate Nico the next evening whilst surfing on sun down. For those of you who don’t know surfing on sun down is not recommended as this is when Sharks can be on the prowl. I heard Nico shout shark and looked up to see a 250mm fin protruding from the water racing towards me. Weirdly I actually felt quite calm and not panicked. At the last moment the shark fin swerved away almost like it had realised that I wasn’t his usual prey. I have yet to identify the shark species but needless to say I caught the next wave in.

After the fun and excitement of Quondong Point it was time to say goodbye and head inland once more to catch up with friends in Newman.

Quondong to Newman………

We left Quondong point and headed down the coast to Port Hedland, having three overnight stops on the way, Barn Hill, Cape Keraudren and De Grey River.

Our plan was to travel the Great Northern Hwy to Newman via W.A’s second largest National Park- Karijini. The Hwy to Newman takes you through the central Pilbara, which is home to many Iron Ore operations. The road is busy 24/7 with hundreds of road trains transporting iron ore and supplies.

                                          Barn Hill Station

                                         Cape Keraudren

                                                       De Gray River

The Colours of Karijini…….

Once again we were blown away by the natural beauty of the country we live in, the sheer scale and the contrast in vibrant colour really takes your breath away. The banded iron ore formations exposed in and around the gorges originated more than 2.5 million years ago.

We had an extremely busy four days here, walking and exploring numerous gorges. The walks were all very challenging, involving steep descents, climbing and swimming. Our last day involved a 5am start were we managed to conquer four gorges in one day, pure madness, sore legs and very tired. The beer was well earned that day!!!

The wheels of Industry….

It was quite an eye opener travelling down the Great Northern Hwy and seeing firsthand the size and scale of the mining industry from Port Hedland to Newman. Whilst in Newman we visited Mount Whaleback open cut Iron Ore Mine. Mount Whale back is the largest single open cut Iron Ore mine in the world – currently 5.5 k’s long and 1.5 k’s wide. It has been mined for the last 40 years and is predicted to be for another 60.

A few facts and figures:

• Iron Ore was first discovered by Stan Hilditch (founder of BHP Billington) in 1957 and mining commenced in 1967 after a Commonwealth Embargo was lifted.
•  Type of Iron Ore mine is Brockman Hematite, which is one of the highest grades in the world.
•  BHP’s railway is the longest privately owned railroad in the Southern hemisphere – 426 k’s
•  The average train measures 3.75 k’s long, consisting of 6 locomotives, 336 ore cars and 1 driver.
•   A loaded train ways approx. 42,000 tons can reach speeds of 65 kms/ph with a breaking distance of 3 k’s.

200 Tonne Wabco Ore Truck

·         Only 30 were produced, 22 were owned by mount Whaleback.

·         Carry’s a total weight of 20 tonne

·         When fully loaded, truck weighs 75 tonnes, more than the total of weight of a 747 jumbo jet.

·         In 1973 the trucks value was 2.5 million. It was sold to the visitors centre for $1.00.

We are currently stopped in Newman for a week, to hang out with our good friends Erica, Paddo,

  Arieh & Stella. We are now six months into our trip and running out of time so have decided to head from here straight to the coast, Exmouth and the delights of Ningaloo reef. Cheers for now Hoppo – hopkinsgowalkabout 2014