Entering the Pilbara and our stop in Tom Price

With a big day ahead of us we followed our normal routine of Hamish and I doing his on air lesson whilst Jason looked after Kayla and got the van ready.  There wasn’t much to do as we had never even bothered putting out any of the outside furniture or even the awning.  As soon as the lesson was over we finished packing up and hit the road out of Exmouth.  It was a small place but it was a pity there really wasn’t much to do there, especially when the weather isn’t good.  Definitely worth going to the national park though.

So off we headed, and of course we had to backtrack nearly 80km to take a road that would take us back out to the main highway.  Eventually (160km along) we were back on the main highway but we pulled over at the first rest area to have a break and enjoy some morning tea.  Then it was back into the car.  The trip was certainly interesting and the countryside was constantly changing.  From sand dunes covered in spinifex to the red mountains and hills of the Pilbara.  We only stopped two other times, once for fuel and the second time for a quick bite to eat for lunch and another stretch of the legs.

It was like sand dunes every now and then.

At least the road was quite straight.

Crossing one of the rivers.

 

The worst part of the trip was when we passed a car travelling in the opposite direction.  Naturally you don’t think much of it but then there was a big bang and of course a rock had been flicked up and hit our windscreen.  There is now a relatively decent size chip and indent where it hit.  I wasn’t too impressed at all but at least it wasn’t in Jason’s line of sight as it is down low in front of the passenger seat, but now I will have to watch I don’t get it in my photos as we drive along.  Hopefully it doesn’t get any bigger and we can get it fixed or a little mini patch so it doesn’t get any bigger.  We did wonder if we had updated our insurance to cover windscreen replacement but of course we have no idea.  Still I suppose to do all that travelling and to only get one now then we are pretty lucky.

Stopped for some lunch.

A very pretty drive out to Tom Price.

Umm not so happy about this though.

I had found a decent free camp on wiki camps and a few people ahead of us on the road had also stayed there and said it was fine so that was our aim for the night.  We pulled in and managed to manoeuvrer ourselves into a decent little spot so that we could still get out the next day easily in case the other campers were a little slow at getting going.  Mind you most of the nomads are normally pretty fast to get on the road.

All bridge crossings were one lane.

Our camp for the night.

Playing a game of soccer.

We did a bit of school which involved playing a game of soccer before going for a walk down to the river.  It was like most of the rivers out here and they are all quite sandy with heaps of pebbles so would normally be bone dry but we walked along it for a while and came across a little bit of water from all the recent rain that the area has had.  Before long it was time to return to the van for showers and dinner.  The kids watched a movie and then we all made some damper together (which believe it or not was part of another lesson for Hamish).  We had been wise and left some of the easier lessons to do whilst we were on the road so that we didn’t have harder ones to complete after a big drive.

Going for a walk down to the river.

Sunset at our camp.

All up it wasn’t too bad for a 470km drive.  Fellow travellers came and asked if we minded that they ran their generator until 8pm as they need it for their ccap machines.  Of course we didn’t mind, we have kids so it isn’t like we can complain.  Well I must admit it does ruin the peace and quiet of free camping, especially as theirs in quite loud, but what can you do.  They had been lovely and even gave us some tips on Karijini as they had just come from that direction.  

You wouldn’t believe it but the next morning we were the first van/camper to roll out the next morning.  We hadn’t even been in any rush but obviously we have the head start of two kids that get up at sparrows fart.  The nearby station contractors were out emptying all the rubbish bins and also had the job of cleaning out the drop toilets.  That would have been a horrible job to do as I thought they were pretty putrid which really is a massive understatement.

We only had just over 150km to go for the day as we were taking the look bitumen way around.  If you were willing to take the dirt road it would have been just over 50km to go.  Apparently it is in good condition at the moment but we don’t have anything to stop the rocks flicking back up and hitting the caravan and then possibly our back window and the fact that our caravan is only on-road.  It didn’t worry us in the least as the drive was still spectacular and we passed through the town of Paraburdoo.  I thought we would fuel up here but Jason was happy to continue on as according to our trip computer we could get a lot further than Tom Price.

Hamish left a little message for James in case they stopped there.

 

Getting closer.

It was a good test to see if we could make the stretch up to Broome where there is no service station for 321km.  We made it with no dramas and headed straight out to the caravan park.  There is only one in town and they are priced accordingly which is a shame as I think if they were a bit cheaper they might get more people coming in.  Mind you it is probably peak time so we should expect that.  We drove straight through to our site as there was no one on the one behind us and set up nice and fast.  Jason then made a few phone calls as we needed to rotate the tyres to help make them last as the boys and Kayla needed a haircut.

My crazy girl.

Luckily they could fit us in for all this that afternoon, but we were still going to see if we can do a mine tour and then see if we extend for another night or not.  Jason and Kayla went out to get the tyres rotated whilst Hamish and I stayed behind and did school and the washing.  Then Jason came back and got us and we headed to the information centre and then the hairdressers.  Now Tom Price isn’t a huge town, the population is 5000 which is still quite decent but do you think we could easily find the hairdressers.  No, we drove around, and then around again and eventually just parked and Jason called them.  Of course they were right near where we had parked for the information centre!

We booked the mine tour as this was one that we could all go on so Kayla and I would even get to see it, so that locked us in to stay another night.  Jason even called RACQ to find out about windscreen replacement.  Not that we need to get our windscreen replaced, we just wanted to make sure we had that cover.  Of course the excess would need to be paid.  Jason asked the local mechanics how much it would cost to have it fixed up (more so it doesn’t turn into a big crack) and it would be $90 but they couldn’t do it as the only guy who could do it was on holidays.  We are in no rush and hopefully it can wait until Broome.

Our view in the caravan park.

Still it was good to tick off those jobs and we even found out there was a little carnival that was starting that night.  We had originally told Hamish it was over and they were packing it up but the hairdresser mentioned how it was starting tonight.  So, on the promise that we would go if they were good and Hamish finished off his school work for the day we would go that night.  The school work was easy to get done but Kayla was starting to get cranky and overtired.  Still we pressed on and had showers, dinner and then headed back into town.

We thought our caravan was big.

I had forgotten how expensive these show rides are, so we got them a few tickets and they had to pick what rides and games they played.  The dodgem cars were by far the most fun and the mini train rollercoaster freaked the kids out.  They were all smiles at the start but then after it hadn’t even moved 2 metres the looks on their face was priceless.  I shouldn’t laugh but they just went from smiles to horror in such a short time.  They at least finished a few laps before Hamish yelled out to me to have the ride stopped as “Kayla” was scared and he was starting to feel sick.  So I went up to the guy and got him to stop the ride a bit early so they could hop off.  Thankfully they were the only ones on it so it wasn’t a big drama.  Jason and I joked that we were definitely not lining up for parents of the year award after this one!

Of course a little explanation as to who the town was named after.

By now it was home for bed.  Hamish was good but Kayla who by now was obviously very overtired decided now was the best time to have the biggest meltdown ever.  She eventually calmed down after a while but she insisted on having another shower and then proceeded to eat half a packet of crackers before she finally lay down and fell asleep.  Talk about mentally exhausted and we all crashed, but of course it was one of those nights and both kids woke up, but we survived it and nothing a coffee in the morning can’t fix.

All ready for the tour.

Yay, a pop up coffee shop.

They call this a shovel.  Apparently very small compared to the new ones.

We knocked over a bit more school before heading out to do the tour of the Rio Tinto mine.  As we were a little early we ended up having a coffee and the kids a smoothie whilst we waited.  We caught up with another family that we had met at Osprey in the Cape Range National Park and proceeded to board the tour bus.  The tour was so worth it and I enjoyed it so much, especially as I hadn’t gotten to do the one in Kalgoorlie.  I wasn’t sure how Kayla would go on the bus for 1 ½ hours but she was really good.  She kept her hard hat and glasses on the whole time we stopped at the lookout.

Water truck.

Looking into the main pit.

Family photo in hard hats and glasses.

I couldn’t get over the cost of everything, yet alone the length of the conveyer belts, one being 27km long as it brought the rock from another mine site to this one.  They even had a train being loaded whilst we were there.  As soon as the tour ended we returned to the caravan for some lunch and a bit of a rest.  Jason then took Kayla out food shopping whilst I completed the rest of the school for the week with Hamish. 

Another shovel.

The conveyer belt is 27km long.

Unfortunately whilst Jason was out the chip in the windscreen developed into a full on crack that started to spread across the windscreen.  Just great!  So of course Jason rang to see if there was someone local who could replace it but they weren’t sure.  Next port of call Jason rang a place in Port Headland and they had a mobile one and they could do windscreen replacements billed directly to the insurance company.  So next Jason called RACQ and lodged a claim with them and at least we won’t be out of pocket for anything as our insurance covers the cost of the windscreen without paying the excess.  We just hope it can hold up until we get to Port Headland.  I am not daring to say surely it will as I am pretty sure I said that after we first got the chip. 

We hadn’t really decided if we were going to stay in Port Headland but I guess now we will be.  Not that it is any major drama or anything as we have plenty of time to get to Broome yet.  That kind of spoilt the mood a bit for the afternoon and we had planned to go out to a local park and lake area but of course it came over with rain so instead we just went and fuelled up and called it a day.  Jason quickly packed up outside before things got wet so they didn’t have to go into the car all wet.  Hopefully the weather out in Karijini will be nice and fine.