Karratha was our stop before we got to Point Sampson and was the closest place to get any shopping. It was so nice to get civilisation and a small but real shopping centre! And a proper Coffee! Although…. our stop for a few groceries and a quick lunch was not a cheap trip! With a special of 2 Sushi rolls and bottle of water we weren't going to be rushing back. Crazy! But i Guess thats what you pay when you are in the middle of no where in a town full of miners.

Dampier was one of our day trips from Point Sampson and here we got to see the statue of the Famous Red Dog. Red dog if you haven't read the books or seen the recent movie, was a friendly kelpie cross who lived his life hitching rides and travelling throughout WA's north before he died in 1979. Pretty cool guy really! Dampier itself used to be a whaling Port back in the 1800's and then moved into pearling in 1978 the town back then consisted of a population of around 500 and only 67 of them were white men. The rest of the population were Aboriginal and Malay and sadly many of the men, women and children were forced into pearling. Now it is mainly used for mining Iron Ore, which is the most used metal in the world. There are 11 mines and 1300 kilometers of rail transporting it. It is a bit solemn to see these huge holes in the earth everywhere, what are we doing to the poor land? It certainly stops and makes you think! Point Sampson was just a small coastal settlement consisting of a population of 298 people with a great caravan park and nice spot to walk along the beach. It was surprisingly littered with blue asbestos it was everywhere! They used to mine it before realising the danger of its use it would get sent and get milled in Wittenoom. Sadly now more than 2000 of the residents in Wittenoom have passed due to Asbestos Diseases. So to say the least i was overly excited to see it everywhere i was walking!