The drive from Samson Point to Karratha and Dampier was a good Sunday drive. Lots of mining and camp sites along the way. Karratha had lots of new homes going up. We saw Rio has built a shopping mall and child care centre. Dampier was a smaller town but both had lots of ships waiting to load as well as plenty of fishing and cruise boats about.

Although a small town on the beach it was very neat and tidy with lots of different mines very close. We visited the towns Roebourne, Winham and Onslow. The ocean was warm to swim in and quite shallow at both Town and Honeymoon beaches. The wharf was very busy with at least 9 ships waiting to load all the time.

Although Tom Price is a few km off the main highway we did a detour to the highest town in WA. Mining has been the heart of this town and it was good to see some of the profits going back into the town to support the young families who have opted to live in the isolation. The Rio mine tour (formally Hamersley Iron) was enjoyable with our bus driver full of knowledge about the mine and the town. One the way we noticed lots of other mines and mobile camps dotted al...

Dales Gorge camping ground was our base for a few days so we could take in a couple of the many Gorges in Karijini. Some of the dirt roads were better than others so we took those ones. The walks down were often steep and uneven but we managed them to be rewarded with a swim in the waterholes at their bases. The rock formations were pretty amazing in waves or steps or combinations of both. Photos could not capture the beauty or magic of this national park so we d...

We stayed with Sean and Lisa who are currently working for Rio and BHP. The town was very impressive with lots of public gardens and parks decorated with sculptures. The new suburbs have cycle tracks and footpaths which all help the workers compensate for the limited shops etc. There was work going in for a new rail bridge and the soil is almost iridescent in the bright 38 temperatures. We did the BHP tour which covers the loading of ore onto the huge ships, six ...