Newman 31/5/15

Destination Karijini NP, but due to the unseasonal rain, the Ashburton Downs road is closed and we have been advised to take the Woodlands turn off to the Three Rivers Road which we did, via Newman. However, we drove and plodded along on this grass paddock road, very little signage and what was there was quite obscure. Fortunately Steve has a sense of direction and we were heading the right way. There were visions of headlines 'couple stranded in the outback' - silly old fools using a mud map!! The road was not too bad, but some runoff crossings were very rocky and Steve negotiated those well. Fuel was foremost even though we had backup of 20 lt which was used. Refuelled at Kumarina Roadhouse on GNH. This is edging quite close to Little Sandy Desert. A full days travel and set up on dark at the workers camp/ caravan park( as a sideline business) to the mine workers. Stayed a couple of nights, met and had drinks with a couple of other interesting campers. Newman is a well set up town, good facilities and operates 24 hrs. We were able to ride our bikes regularly, great bike paths. The Mt Whaleback iron ore mine tour ( BHP operated) was very interesting particularly for Steve. It is the largest single open cut ore mine in the world and operated from Perth, no supervisors or managers required on site.The mine depth is about 140 mts. Photo-taken from Radiohill Looking over a small area of Newman.