Before leaving Dampier we checked out the Red Dog statue of the legendary wandering pooch. Great story. Also visited the Murujuga national Park which has one of the most prolific indigenous Rock art sites in the country. There are huge hills of red iron ore boulders with barely a tree or anything growing on them. We visited in the morning so it was difficult to see the etchings till you got your eye in but then we saw quolls, fat tailed wallabies, human and other spiritual figures, dark emu and Milky way depiction (indigenous peoples used the Milky way for navigation and as a seasonal tool but they saw the dark patches rather then the bright bits we westerners traditionally used), tools and many other pieces that are either too old to see properly or are unknown. Pretty special place. Although it's quite a juxtaposition with ancient rock art on one side and the largest gas processing plant in the world (we think) on the other side of the little Peninsula. Thanks for the heads up on this Paula S!
We also walked along hearsons cove beach which is covered in shells rather then sand but was a bit early in the day for a swim. Managed to score a haircut in Karratha. Everything is soooo expensive up here. Guess miners get paid well and it is pretty far away. I then had to sit thru 30 minutes of a safety presentation and test to get a permit to drive on one of the private Rio Tinto mine roads south of milstream which would reduce our journey time. Thought we could just get a pass at the visitors centre but no.
The drive to the national Park was fascinating up onto the high plateau above the coast. The road winds up they Spinifex clad hills and follows the rail road so saw plenty of the 3km trains. Beautiful scenery along the way. The Pilbara really is as good as the photos actually maybe better!! Stayed at the stargazers campground where there was a very friendly camp host called shrimpy. Also had a good shaded area with proper gas BBQs, cleanest drop loos ever and was really small so very friendly. Meet a good few people there for chats which was so much more sociable then the vast caravan parks where everyone is just locked in their van watching crap tv.
Next day drove to the Chichester section of the park (including 10kms of pretty tough corrugations) to python Pool. Such beautiful drive passing close to Mt Herbert and then dropping off the range on a very windy (but sealed and smooth) road back down to the bottom of the valley with enormous views of Spinifex, red iron ore cliffs and dotted with white snappy gums. The pool is at the bottom of red Cliffs which have a waterfall flowing in the summer season. Very serene especially in the morning with no-one else there but us. Decided to the do the Cameleers trail as far as McKenzie Springs. Tough 11km return walk on exposed Spinifex country but saw heaps of lizards, wild flowers, pebble mouse mound and the springs had lovely shady trees and water (not swimmable) which brought down heaps of honey eaters, Spinifex pigeons and painted finches (very exciting seeing these). After lunch went for a swim at the pool which was very refreshing albeit slightly on the slimy side this time of year. Did the quick scramble to Mt Herbert on the drive back. Epic scenery. Had a funny moment when a willy willy (like mini tornado) stole Laura and dunks hats and dumped them about 20m away!
The night skies and sunsets were fantastic. We were lucky in that the moon didn't rise till later in the night but the Milky way was soooo bright you could actually see by it's light.
Next day visited the homestead and did the 8km walk thru the huge paper barks and rushes along the river before heading up to the cliff Top look out over the Fortescue River which has so much water. Ciara was not impressed that we did 8km stroll on our quiet day! The homestead is the reason the Cameleers trail was built but was decommissioned in 1890 cos it was too hard even for camels. The homestead is a pretty cool building literally. Huge verandahs are very effective!! Was a functioning tavern till 40 years ago when parks took over. That afternoon swam at deep reach which is part of the Fortescue River. Very very wide and deep and incredible amount of water given the dry looking surrounding countryside. Think it's the water source for Dampier and Karratha. Really good picnic facilities here as well.
Loved our few days here and highly recommend as an off the beaten track location with glorious Pilbara scenery.
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