Half-lap Day 77: Indee Station -> Karajini

LiAM had a very restless night and was not feeling well. At about 4am Tony got up with him so that he could have a shower which helped him feel a bit better. Tony’s back had been giving him a bit of pain over the past few days, and as he got out of bed in the early morning it was really bad.

When I got up a couple of hours later I let the others sleep in. This was the coldest morning we’d had in a very long time, quite icy when the wind blew. I used the power in the camp kitchen to charge up the computer and my camera battery, and got the dishes done. Millie woke up when I got back to the tent. I had some breakfast then started packing up. Millie helped me on and off, and played on the iPad. The others didn’t wake up until after 9, by which time I’d done all that I could without packing up the beds and the stuff we needed for breakfast. Tony’s back was still extremely sore and he couldn’t bend at all or lift much – I’d figured I’d need to do most of the pack up myself if he was still in pain, so he might as well sleep as long as he could. I finished packing up and got everyone breakfast. The kids went looking for some wild horses someone had told us about the night before, but didn’t find anything. The sun was well up by now and it was hot again, looks like we’re heading back into hot days and cold nights.

Tony helped me get the bikes on to the trailer (probably the only bit I can’t do myself – oh, Caitlin had helped me fold the tent up) and we were hooked up ready to leave by 11.15. Tony was more comfortable driving than being the passenger, which was fine with me too. We headed south toward Karajini, and after a while saw Red Rock from the highway – very cool to see it again and from this vantage point.

For a good while the terrain was still flat and dry, with low spinifex and dotted with white gum trees. There were hills in the distance, and occasionally we’d pass some, they were all interesting shapes. Occasionally we saw areas in the hills where the mines were – cuts in the cliff or terraces of dirt built up from the mine. Signs of the mining industry were everywhere – constant traffic of 4-trailer road trains (all covered in red dirt), dirt roads leading off the highway, with mining company signs at the entrance, areas filled with identical demountable buildings. It was a very busy road, and most of the traffic was the road trains, caravans, and mining cars with their orange flags attached.

We stopped for fuel at Auski roadhouse. We had to give ID in the store to have the fuel released. It was only (!) 1.55/L which wasn’t bad given the remote location. This roadhouse was the least stocked we’d seen, just one shelf with a smattering of groceries and toiletries. They sold hot food and seemed to be doing a good business there. There was a caravan park attached (we’d considered staying here instead of Indee, but the reviews were all bad) and we used the toilets – really not great, although not the worst we’ve used. We were glad we hadn’t pushed on to stay here though, it didn’t feel welcoming.

From there the terrain changed – the hills were more like mountains and were even more fascinating. Deep red cliff faces at the top, and then green grassed slopes from a little way down. There were definite layers of rock and grass, so that they looked stripey from a distance. The road wound between them, and there were obviously gorges and ravines and valleys all through the hills, there was nothing straight or curvy about them, it was all jagged lines and really beautiful.

Turning west to approach Karajini we had those hills on our right, and flatter plains on our left, leading to another range. There were some tall mountains here, and I was wondering which one was Mt Bruce, the 2^nd tallest mountain in WA. We might go exploring there in a day or two.

We reached the National Park and drove around to Dales Campground. We went in to see the camp hosts at the entrance, and asked if there was still a site available (sometimes it fills up, and we hadn’t arrived until after 3 due to our unexpected later start). There were a few sites left and we were allocated a long, thin site. I was worried about whether we’d fit, but the lady said we should be fine. We drove around to find our site and I was even more worried about whether we’d fit. As we measured it out and discussed our options I really wished I’d asked for a different site. Our tent is 5m by 3.5m (including the drawbar) without the awning, and 5m by 6m with the awning. This site was only 4m wide, although she said it would be fine if the awing protruded beyond the bollards at the edge of the site.

In the end we backed the trailer in to the middle of the site and unhitched it, then Caitlin, Tony and I were able to turn it sideways, and fit a good bit of the drawbar in between two of the bollards. I’d been worried we wouldn’t be able to open the trailer gate far enough once we were in place, so we got out all our stuff before we turned it. As it worked out, we’d been able to slide far enough between the bollards so that the gate opened easily all the way. The awning will go a little over the edge of the site, but there’s a cleared spot there where we put our chairs, so that won’t be a problem. Our table fits nicely over 2 of the bollards, so they aren’t sticking up (at shin or knee height) into our living area. We’ve not yet had a site that we couldn’t get to work for our tent, I just have a bit of a panic sometimes when we arrive and I can’t quite see how it’s going to work.

The ground was rock hard in the middle and we could not get pegs in along the door side of the tent. We were able to peg in the other side (we figure the middle part has had caravans driving over it for years and has become extremely compacted), and then used bungee straps to tie down the tent corners to parts of the trailer, or pegs over on the softer side. It worked quite well.

With having to think for so long about how the tent would fit, then the very hard ground, and Tony not being able to bend at all, set up took longer than it ever had. The kids went and explored the campground and met a family with 2 little girls aged 4 and 2, so played with them for a while. Millie got out all her toys and played on the picnic rug near the car. Caitlin went for a bike ride, and Tony started cooking tea. I sat and read my book and had a cup of tea for a short while, then got the beds set up before we ate.

We had a delicious spaghetti Bolognese in the cold evening air – as soon as the sun dropped over the horizon the temperature dropped noticeably. After dinner I sorted out all the blankets and heated water for hot water bottles. I had a spare sheet and the kids suggested I hang it up so that their beds were separate from the rest of the tent – they loved it once it was up and want it there all the time. I found a hanging storage thing in my bag that we hadn’t used it and I hung it next to LiAM with his asthma medication and some Echinacea and butter menthols – he’s still not feeling great and has a sore throat – and he was thrilled to have all his supplies so easily accessible. I got into bed as quickly as I could and we read a couple of chapters of Inheritance. It wasn’t too cold inside as long as we stayed under our blankets, and the hot water bottles certainly helped.

Half-lap Day 75: Port Hedland

It wasn’t as cold this morning, and it was beautiful again sitting under the gum trees and having breakfast, exploring the site and taking it easy. We got ready and headed off to Port Hedland around 10am. There were some interesting rock features from time to time on the drive there, otherwise the land was mainly flat. We crossed the railway line that LiAM and I had seen the day before, and saw a few mining areas. We also saw some wedge-tailed eagles – a couple in the air and one on the ground. We hadn’t seen one since before Mataranka and we were all thrilled. As always we were astounded at how big they are.

Coming in to Port Hedland things were suddenly busy and there were trucks and mining cars everywhere. We passed the airport and saw several areas with demountable accommodation, assumedly for the mining workers. We decided to go in to the Port first and were heading in on that road when I remembered that we’d been going to go to a camping store first so that we could get a new fuse for the fridge cord, and the store we wanted was in South Hedland. We decided to check out the Port first then come back later.

As we drove in we saw a very large hill of salt with a large digger driving around on it, I’d heard about these salt piles but it was even more incredible to see in reality. The salt was near the railway bridge, and as we approached one of the kilometre+ long trains was driving underneath. It had a 44 and 43 class engine on the front, and we drove alongside it for a long time, seeing the 2 similar engines in the middle and then another long line of empty cars. I’ve wanted to see these trains since I worked at BHP in my early 20s, so I was incredibly excited. We drove past BHP Billiton Iron Ore, the entry way and the works reminded me a lot of the steel works in Newcastle, I was feeling quite nostalgic and excited at the same time.

We followed the signs to the town centre and did a quick cruise around the block, seeing the impressive Esplanade Hotel – 3 stories of sandstone bricks, with a dark railing around the balconies on the top 2 floors. It took up all of one side of a block – a massive and beautiful building. We parked near the port and wandered out on to the little viewing jetty. As we’d approached there was a large ship coming in, and we saw one being put into position along one of the wharves. It was amazing to watch the tugs maneuver this massive ship into place so easily. We could see ships out on the horizon and 3 berthed across on the other side of the (fairly narrow) port. I was a bit nervous on the jetty as it was just iron lattice, and the railings were just 2 horizontal bars. We  went to the lower level of the jetty – even less railing and much closer to the water (which was at low tide) and we didn’t stay down there long.

We walked down to the Information Centre and got info on all the things to do in Port Hedland, as well as about Karajini National Park where we will be headed next. We bought a 4 week National Parks Pass which should cover us for the rest of our time in WA. Millie had wanted to come to this Visitor’s Centre because her friend from home who we’d seen in Broome had bought a toy turtle here, and she wanted to buy one too. We found the turtle and I suggested getting a smaller (cheaper) one, and she decided to buy both of them. They are pretty cute and she later offered to share the small one with LiAM if he gives her half the money, he was happy to do that.

Back to the car and we drove out to South Hedland to the camping store. We saw some more trains on our way out over the bridge. The guy there said that he didn’t sell the fuses we needed – it would be best to go to Pilbara Motor Group, way back in Port Hedland, not far from the Visitor’s Centre. So we drove back in and found the place he talked about, Tony popped in and bought the fridge, put it in the cord – and the fridge started working again, hooray!!! Because it is so well insulated and we didn’t open it much once we realised it was off, all the food stayed pretty cold and we didn’t lose anything.

We drove back out to the railway bridge and sat at the viewing area at the base of it to have our lunch. Caitlin dropped her phone on the concrete as we arrived and smashed her screen. We said we’d get a screen protector for it as soon as we went shopping that afternoon, and she wasn’t too upset. A train came past as we were getting our food out, so we rang my Dad and chatted to him while it went past, he was excited about it as well. We also talked to my Mum and nephew, he was thrilled to talk to LiAM and the girls. A few trains went past as we ate, all of them loaded with iron ore, and with only one set of engines (shorter than the train we’d seen on our first pass over the bridge). We had a great view of the salt hill too, with the huge road trains coming in to collect the salt and take it to the port – the big digger scooped up salt and dropped into the trailers – 2 scoops into each of the 3 trailers, then that truck would leave and another would arrive. There was rarely a break for the digger.

After we’d eaten another train came through so we ran up to the lookout at the top of the bridge to watch the train pass underneath it, which was pretty cool. We had an even better view of the salt pile here too. It was so white, and a great contrast against the blue sky. There were lots of road trains of all types thundering over the bridge. We’d only occasionally seen 4-trailer road trains so far (most of them had had 3) but here, 4 was as common as 3. Everything just seems bigger in Port Hedland.

We packed up and headed towards Woolworths, and as we drove along next to the line there was an empty train headed out, with the engines in the middle again. I counted 132 wagons between the 2 sets of engines, and it looked about the same number beyond the 2^nd wagons.

There was a phone repair place next to Woolworths, so we decided to get Caitlin’s screen fixed as it was a pretty serious smash. We went in to get groceries for our trip to Karajini, this will be our last chance to shop before then. Millie wasn’t really enjoying shopping to Tony took her back out to the car and the rest of us finished it off. The girl at the checkout put only 2-4 things in each bag when she packed them, so I think we now have enough plastic bags to use for our rubbish bin for the rest of the trip!

Next stop was the foreshore where it’s possible to see turtles at high tide. We weren’t going to get a high tide before the sun set, but as the tide was coming in it was worth checking out anyway (I figured they didn’t just turn up exactly at the moment the tide was highest). There was a walkway along the foreshore, then an area of honeycomb rock which then formed a small cliff down to the water. There was still a bit of sand between cliff and water when we arrived, Caitlin and LiAM climbed down and found some shells, then came back up and we wandered along the top. There were bits of seaweed in the water which at first looked like turtles, but no other signs of life at this stage. It was so beautiful to be there though – the sun was low in the sky which made the honeycomb rocks glow red and cast interesting shadows. The waves were rolling in and splashing and to the east it was a gorgeous coastline. To the west we could see all the port equipment silhouetted against the setting sun. To the north we could see all the ships on the horizon. (The coastline here faces north). We sat near the edge of the cliff for a while and watched the water, then Tony took the kids to the playground. I stayed and simply enjoyed watching the waves and the shadows and the increasing tide and the port. Caitlin came back over after a while and I was thinking I’d be saying ‘I haven’t seen any turtles yet’ – and then a turtle popped it’s head out of the water! From that point on I saw them fairly regularly – just a large, dark, round head popping up for a couple of seconds – very hard to take a photo off as they were so quick and could come up anywhere, but very exciting. Caitlin soon saw them as well, and we called the others over.

It took a while for each successive person to see them, and we showed a few other people where the turtles were too. Eventually everyone except Millie had seen one – I had managed to get a photo finally, and when I showed it to her she said ‘oh – I’ve seen those, I didn’t know that was what we were looking for!’ Very occasionally we also saw a flipper, and once one swam by close enough and on the right angle that we could see its shell and flippers as well. Beautiful Flatback Turtles and a very exciting way to spend the evening.

Flat-backed turtle

Once the sun was down we got our hot chook out of the car and had a picnic tea, although soon moved back into the car because the mosquitoes were so bad. We drove back into town because I wanted to see the port at night. We went back out on the jetty – it looked so different at high tide – and watched some tugs moving around, then walked along the Esplanade where we could peer through the security fences and see different parts of the port. I love that night time industrial noise and look – just a dull hum and bright lights which suggest lots of busyness. Walking past the Esplanade Hotel we heard a loud engine of some sort start up – after a while Caitlin said ‘Helicopter!’ and she was right, a few minutes later we saw it appear from behind the building near us and head out towards the ocean – I’d say taking a pilot out to bring a ship in. I always find it very exciting to see a helicopter suddenly appear at low altitude like that.

The walk was very well signposted and decorated and was enjoyable even at night. From the end of the road we could see the salt trucks dumping their load – once we got back to the car we drove around there to see it more closely. They opened a flap at the bottom of their triangle shaped trailers and the salt poured into a big hopper, then along a conveyor belt and up high where it was poured onto another massive hill of salt, ready to be loaded on to the ships. It was incredible to watch.

We drove back out to our campsite (having to stop once to avoid 2 large cows in the middle of the highway) and got back around 8.30. Everyone was exhausted so we went straight to bed and read a quick chapter of Inheritance.

Ballarat Trip -> Day 2

Everyone slept quite well and stayed in their sleeping bags all night. I woke up and went to the kitchen for a cup of tea and realised that I hadn't bought my tea bags with me. I read my book for a while, and everyone else was up by about 8am. We had breakfast and the kids scooted around the park, played in the playground, jumped on the jumping pillow, watched some tv, while I got ready for our day. The park had a 4 seat pedal car for hire, so we had a go on that before we went out. Caitlin and LiAM were able to pedal when the ground was flat, it was much harder when going uphill though, so I walked behind them and pushed when necessary, and I did have a bit of a turn at pedalling as well. It was raining while we were pedalling and everyone we saw made a negative comment about the rain, but it didn't bother us.

Around 11am we walked over to Sovereign Hill. It had stopped raining by now though was still overcast. We bought our tickets (valid for 2 consecutive days) and got the last 4 tickets to the next night's Sound and Light show. Luckily. It would have been incredibly disappointing to miss out on the show entirely. We wandered around to the main street, looking into mining shafts on the way, then checked out the Blacksmiths, the horses in the stables, and the lolly shop - deciding to buy our lollies on our way out rather than carrying them around all day. For now, we bought horse head lolly pops and chocolate frogs with crushed raspberry drops in them (one each). We explored the hotel, then while Caitlin and LiAM went to see the horses pulling the carriage, Millie and I popped in to the Mechanics Institute where she found a display of precious gems and stones which was fascinating. We joined the others and met and patted the horses, then wandered down to the Red Hill Mine, where we did a self-guided tour - the lights and voices are automated and led us through the mine, with holograms in places showing men digging for gold. It was well done and showed a pretty vivid picture of what it was like in the mines. Once above ground again we headed for the gold diggings. We sat on a log and ate our lunch, in between panning for gold in the creek. I'd done it before and had a vague recollection of how to do it but wasn't having much luck. The kids chatted to a European couple next to us who had found a bit. A guy came over after a while and helped me with my method (although he wasn't too critical for my liking) and after that I found several small pieces of gold. Very exciting. Once I'd figured out how to do it, LiAM lined up pans for me to work through and I usually found a couple of pieces in each pan. Another guy came over and asked if he could check the pans I'd finished, and he found a couple more pieces which he let me have.

Caitlin at the stables

Millie panning for gold

LiAM with a gold ingot worth $149,000

We wandered back up the hill, stopped in at the confectionary factory and sampled the raspberry drops and discovered that they sold really big jars of them, then went up to the gold mine and paid for  a guided tour. A quick toilet dash and then down into the mine with a group and a guide. We went underground through pitch darkness on an inclined tram - a bit scary and also quite exciting. This tour talked more about how they went about finding gold and how the mine was structured, and the differences between company and independent mining. The guide asked lots of questions which the kids usually answered, although many of his questions were more aimed at tricking the audience, which I didn't like. There was a seam of real gold that had been placed in the mine, that was quite cool to see. We went on a small train through tunnels to get to the exit tram - a little like riding in mine carts which had a nice minecraft flavour! Back up on the tram, then we climbed the tower above the mine shaft - but it was quite high and the wind was strong and everyone freaked out a little so we went back down. There was a line of mine carts at the base so the kids played in them for a while - Millie in particular had been excited all day at seeing mine carts and realising that they really do exist, they are not just a minecraft creation.

Mine carts!

From there we went and saw a demonstration of real gold being melted down and poured to make an ingot. It was quite interesting and exciting to see the process, then everyone got to hold it. The ingot weighed 3kg and was worth about $149,000 - it felt SO heavy because it was small and dense. The guy who poured it was chatting to us and discovered we lived on a vineyard and that the kids' dad makes wine, so he declared himself Caitlin's best friend and wanted her to come back with wine... We went into the shop and looked at lots of items made of gold, and bought a personalised gold coin for the kids' friend who loves rocks and minerals and gold and was having a birthday this week (we got his name and birthday engraved on it, and a wooden stand to keep it in).

Up to the candle making shop from there, where we purchased plain white candles and the kids were able to dip them into dye and colour them. It was an amazingly simple but effective process, using 3 vats of dye, to create a candle with 5 different bands of colour on it. LiAM played with the colours a bit more than that, the lady warned him that he'd get brown, but he was happy to add a 6th brown band and was pleased with his result. We went to the bowling alley next and all had a go at old fashioned 9 pin bowling - it was fun although the ball was a bit heavy for Millie to bowl very far. We wandered back down the main street and stopped to buy our massive jar of raspberry drops (and a couple more chocolate frogs). From there we meandered down the rest of the street and then headed back to the caravan park.

Candle Dipping

The kids played with the kids in the caravan next to us, on the jumping pillow and in front of our tent and caravan. One of the boys had just turned 5, and he and Millie played with all their soft toys together. I had a hot chocolate and read my book, then went to get dinner ready. The group we'd met the night before were having a party in the camp kitchen - at least 25 people - and they were too loud for LiAM and Millie so I heated up our leftovers and cooked some noodles and we ate back at our tent. It was getting a bit chilly so the kids ate wrapped up in blankets. We had a shower after tea, Caitlin went to the ladies and the rest of us used the family bathroom. We watched TV until the TV room closed then went back to the tent and read Eldest for a while.

NSW Trip Day 7: Orange -> Blue Mountains

It was just an overnight stop in Orange so up and packed the car and on the road again. Driving through Lucknow LiAM was impressed with the mining shafts he could see. Bits of the drive to Bathurst were familiar to me. From Bathurst we turned off towards Oberon, then through to Jenolan Caves down a road that was very windy towards the end – tight, switchback curves. Coming to the caves from that direction confused me a little, it took me a while to feel familiar with the place, but once we were parked and down amongst the buildings it felt right.

We had lunch from the bistro and tried not to share it with the rosellas that were flying onto our chairs and even the table once. We went on a tour of the Orient Cave, which is apparently the prettiest cave in the world. To get into the cave we went through a man made tunnel which was very interesting for our mining enthusiast kids. LiAM had also wondered if there would be spiders in the cave – and as we entered the tunnel there was a spider on the roof a few metres in, so he was happy even before we’d reached the natural part of the cave. The cave was beautiful, quite spectacular in places. I felt the guide did a little too much explaining about how the caves were made etc when we were in the first, small chamber, where there wasn’t so much to look at, and the kids got a bit bored, but once we moved on there was enough to see and marvel at that everyone picked up again. There were a lot of steps and Millie managed all of them – it was a bit steep and narrow for us to carry her, so I was very impressed that she managed by herself. LiAM and Caitlin answered lots of the guide’s questions and I took lots of photos.

Once out of the cave (into the bright sunlight – we’d been talking the day before about how it would feel to come out of a dark cave into the light, and we got to see what it was like) we walked down through the Grand Arch and then under the road to the Blue Lake. The water was so clear we could see most of the bottom in places, and there were also beautiful reflections of the trees, and the rocks and the arch – and there was a platypus in there! It came up to the surface repeatedly as we walked along the edge of the lake, then would dive down and be gone for a while, then back up. Very very exciting. The kids did a bit of climbing up some rocks next to the path – they got quite high enjoyed exploring the bush there. Back to the car after a toilet stop, using the toilets built in to the rocks under the Grand Arch. We sat Caitlin in the front for the drive out as it is a long windy road and she often feels sick in that situation, and it helped as she was fine today. (I drove so that I wasn’t sitting in the back feeling sick myself).

From the caves we went to my friend S’s house in Hazelbrook (between Katoomba and Springwood in the Blue Mountains). She and her family have just lived in Canada for a year on teacher exchange, and it was great to hear all their stories and see lots of photos. We realized that we have known each other for 30 years this year – great to spend an evening catching up with each other and with our families. Her girls are much older than our kids, but they all played together at times and everyone had an enjoyable evening. We’re staying in a cottage own by one of S’s friends – we got here quite late so basically just jumped straight into bed and crashed.