Karratha-Dampier

Hi everyone, we arrived in Karratha on Tuesday, about a 3 hour trip south of Port Hedland. The countryside is quite desolate.  We are still in the Pilbara region & of course  the mining industry dominates everything.  There are stacks of road trains and the caravan parks are full of people working for the mining companies.  We have been paying really high camp fees in the last few weeks! Karratha is on an inlet about 20 kilometres from Dampier which is on the coast. We can't see the inlet here as there is a lot of flat marshy land around the town.  It is a small country town, as opposed to Port Hedland  which was a sprawling industrial mass. We leave here on Sunday & travel to Coral Bay which has been recommended as a beautiful spot.

Thank God for UHF radio- we were warned to get off the road as the trailer on this truck completely covered both lanes.

Some views of the countryside, very few trees.

Roebourne Goal, about 35 kms east of Karratha

Yesterday we visited Dampier, a tiny town with a very busy port. This is a sculpture of Neptune, set in front of the only patch of green in town!

Loading the iron-ore ships

The two white lumps in the distance are huge stockpiles of salt

RED DOG!! Loved the movie, based on his life & travels.  This sculpture was erected by his "friends" long before the movie was made to honour his memory.

Got him now! It is so life like, it looked as if he was about to walk off the rock

Willem Dampier, visited this area twice, about 80 years before Captain Cook sailed the east coast.

Road between Karratha & Dampier- salt flats either side

Some wag did a few "sculptures" beside the Dampier road- this is a miner surrounded by sharks!

The Titanic!

Sea serpent