Day 123. Tom Price to Karijini National Park

Rio Tinto – a new career?


Mt Nameless - the mountain we 'climbed up' yesterday.



We spent a very cold night in Tom Price last night. Now that we have moved back inland (not to mention that we are at the highest town in WA), the temperature at night has dropped dramatically. To remedy this, we dressed warmly and all had a hot breakfast when the sun finally rose.

Big Boys Toys

We packed up camp and went back into town to the Visitor Information Centre, where we were to get picked up for our tour of the Rio Tinto Iron Ore Mine. While we were waiting for our bus, we dropped into Coles and bought some fresh veg and bread rolls. Bec was amazed how cheap everything was, and she said she regretted buying up big in Exmouth, as the prices here were so much cheaper (i.e. Chicken breast in Exmouth was $18.99kg, where here at Tom Price the chicken was only $10.90kg – bugger!) Even the diesel here was only $1.55 per litre.

The kids were all excited about visiting the mine and seeing the big machinery. Scarlett tried on a dozen hard hats and safety glasses before finally settling on something – even though everything was the same! She can be very funny sometimes.

One of seven open pits here at Tom Price

The tour lasted for about 1hr45min, and the kids loved it! We thought they might get bored, but they enjoyed seeing the big excavators, even bigger dump trucks, and the huge bucket scoop that moved hundreds of tons of iron ore a minute. Even the process of how they load the trains; and the infrastructure behind building a town, a railway, and a loading port in Dampier kept everyone intrigued.

Probably what scared me the most was when Bec started asking the tour guide about jobs at the mine and how to go about applying for them! She later informed me that she could easily live here in the Pilbara for a few years while we both worked in the mines to help get us back on our feet again after the disaster we recently experienced with losing everything in the floods back in Brisbane. I’ve been thinking about this all afternoon, and the more I think about it, the more interested intrigued I find myself. The country up here is beautiful, and there is so much to see and do that we couldn’t possibly get bored. Mmmmm….

Bec asking about job opportunities at the mine...

After the tour, we headed west again into Karijini National Park, where we plan to spend at least a few days exploring this wonderland of gorges and waterfalls. We arrived at Dales Gorge campground, paid our $14 per night for camping fees, and set up camp before relaxing the afternoon away while Scarlett and the kids rode their bikes around the campground for hours on end.

Our camp at Karijini National Park

We talked to fellow travellers about places to visit, and we took note on a number of locations we plan on touring over the next 6 months. Grey Nomads are a wealth of information about this very big land of ours, and if you’re willing to sit back and listen to their stories, you’re guaranteed to walk away with a lot of useful tips.

Posted by Shane