The road to Karijini National Park, the Pilbara (WK 9)

A long drive day on 18/05/2021 inland towards Karijini National Park (NP) our next big destination. Before then we have a couple of stops, firstly to Cheela Plains Station for 2 nights, a working station that has diversified into a camping destination and secondly Tom Price for 2 nights to visit the big mine and stock up.

On 18/05/2021 setup and checked out what was on offer. We headed up a hill overlooking the station to watch the sunset. Just the right amount of cloud cover to create an amazing sunset. We even got to see cattle being mustered in the distance. After sunset we had a home cooked meal at the station cafe by an Estonian chef.

On 19/05/2021 we went on a self drive 4WD around Beasley Gorge on the Station. We followed the ‘Beasley River Time Trail’ that provided a window into the distant geological past. Apparently the drive covered 400 million years including the Great Oxidation Event. Great notes were provided but the information was a bit beyond us (🤓) so we enjoyed the scenery instead which was breathtaking. The highlights were Parentie Fall and the Wall as well as the river crossings. The second one looked deep plus we couldn’t see the exit point so Paul got out the reef shoes (always need to be prepared 😎) and walked it. The water only came up to his calves and the base was river stone. A great day out.

On 20/05/2021 we headed further towards Karijini NP staying at the mining town “Tom Price”. Tom Price town and open cut mine are named after the first General manager of the mine which we visited on 21/05/2021. Very interesting but what an eyesore. We were assured that the day they start a mine, they are planning how to regenerate the land after mining has ceased, including a Lake in approx 50 years. We were bused into a lookout over the ‘hole’ and told that we were 70m below the original hill height and looking down at least another 400m. Mind blowing. The mines in the area produce approx 300 million tonnes of iron ore in a year, transported by train to the northern ports and shipped world wide.