Port Hedland to Carnarvon
November 15th, 2005
Hello everyone, we are now on our way to Denham and will stay there until early January. On the way down the coast we have been experiencing a lot of wind but we have managed some fishing and we have visited some interesting places.
PT. HEDLAND A very interesting iron ore mining and big port facility. The whole town is covered in millionaires dust from the iron ore mining. Salt mining is a big industry also. We had good fishing on the harbour watching all the big bulk carrier ships coming in to port to be loaded for export, while several other big ships waited off shore for their turn to be loaded. Some of the iron ore trains that run from the mines inland to the port are very very long, in fact the world record for a long train was established here it had 682 ore cars, 8 engines, payload 82,262 tonnes of are and a total weight of 99,732 tonnes, it was 7.35 km long !! A new the business, shopping and housing area has been established at South Hedland away from the dusty port, and the B.H.P. facility . There are several housing estates in the South Hedland area and a couple of caravan parks. We stayed at Black Rock which was good but sites were small for boaties like us.
POINT SAMSON Very pretty small fishing village with great boat ramps and a fleet of trawlers. W.A. looks after it’s boating fraternity extremely well. There is a small caravan park and a very large one being built at the moment, so it should be a great stop for the fisher people in the future.
COSSACK A very small historical place- it was once a port for the area but later moved to Point Samson, and was the first port for the pastoralist in W.A. It was also the first pearling port in Western Australia in the 19th century .There are a few remants of old heritage buildings and talk of Cossack being brought to life for the tourists - selling blocks of land and developing the whole area in the future. There is a good boat ramp and access to the open sea if the weather is good.
KARRATHA Driving into Karratha looks like a great red rocky area until you go over the last hill and you can sea the blue sea. The rocks are right in the town which is quite big for a country town. There are good facilities and several caravan parks. The area has several industries - iron ore, salt mining, and the big gas plant off shore. The housing situation is very scarce as the wages are so high and everyone wants to live there- if only for a short time to make their fortune. Rents were very high so many people opt to live in the caravan parks during their stay in the town. As well as the abundance of work it is a great fishing place.
DAMPIER The town of Dampier is only 30km up the road from Karratha and has a big harbour/port for all the bulk LPG tankers and ore carriers. Surrounded by little islands it is a great place to try for a fish. We ventured out on several occassions- it was very windy at times which is not good for tinnies. We caught a big 10 to 12ft long shark at one point and cut the line very quickly when we saw what it was.
ONSLOW We stayed at Onslow for a couple of nights and enjoyed the sleepy little place. The spinifex termite mounds were very facinating and are everywhere. Some of them are very old and quite large. It is a dry place but the termites burrow down many meters to find water to make their homes.
CORAL BAY The town is full of backpackers due to the lovely coral reefs and diving and snorkelling. The bay is a beautiful blue/green colour - the town is very small and ther is a water problem, Caravanners and campers cannot connect to the water supply which is bore water and not suitanble for drinking. Drinking water is in very short supply There are a couple of caravan parks and large backpackers accomodation- a small supermarket and lots of white sand.
CARNARVON Carnarvon was a moon exploration tracking site during the moon exploration space shots. A large jetty was built in 1897 to export wool and livestock, but is now only a tourist attraction. They have a tourist train running out to the end of the jetty. Carnarvon is now a significant fishing port and a market garden area. The Gascoyne River runs along side the town, but like a lot of rivers in Australia it only flows during heavy rain. The rest of the year it flows several metres below the river bed. Carnarvon has an ideal climate - not too hot or cold, but it is very windy . The trees are all leaning away from the prevailing wind on real angle.
Entry Filed under: Diary
