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Unable to get into Port Samson Caravan Park we opted for a night in Dampier. Spellcheck wants to spell it Dumpier which is probably a better description despite it having a nice harbour. Dampier is the site of a huge gas plant, Woodside, the largest in Australia.

Below is just a small part of the plant, & this is what they wanted to build at James Price Point on the Cape Leveque Rd just north of Broome.

Enjoying James Price Point

James Price, a beautiful place hopefully saved as the peninsular is virtually undeveloped. A part time Broome/ Perth lady I got chatting to at the weekend couldn't see the point in not going ahead with the gas plant as there was plenty of beach, they only wanted 30sq kms, it would create jobs for the local indigenous(?), the pearl market had fallen, developers had already bought cement to build units in town that Woodside had promised to rent for FIFO's & it wouldn't change Broomes character as a town despite the influx of miners!!!!!! I bit my tongue!

 

A sculpture at the plant commemorating those who died in the construction & miners who had died while working.

 

 

 

 

 

Dampier is also home to the statue of Red Dog of the movie fame who wandered the Pilbara & further. Tony's nice photo of us, I'm in front of the dog!

 

Part of an ore train with 127 carriages.

Stopped for a train, the traffic in front is pretty typical of vehicles out here. Trucks, more trucks, fourbies - with & without caravans, and 100's of white utes associated with the mines.

 

The town of Karratha is another typical mining town. Red dust & rock with the basics needed for a town though their shopping centre is a little larger. After visiting these towns we didn't think the pay for the miners was that great all things considered. We don't know how the other town residents survive as rents are high, $800 - $1000 for a basic house, miners subsided by their company around $600 per week. A basic house sells for $800,000 - crazy?

 

Looks like a couple of miners decided to hang up their boots as they had one last look at the town from the lookout.

 

 

 

 

 

An interesting spot on the highway in the Pilbara where the road becomes an airstrip for the flying doctor. Not sure how they stop the traffic, there is a roadhouse not far so maybe they do it as this is in the middle of nowhere.

The runway/highway

Photo at Port Samson where you can just make out the jetty above the water. Plenty of ships here waiting to be loaded.

A new jetty is being built alongside where they will be able to load eight ships simultaneously. It currently loads two.

The amount in $$ of ore coming out of the ground & being shipped each day is mind boggling. They are digging holes everywhere & carting ore for miles to various ports yet in the scale of things it is like equating it to an ants nest in a football field.

Port Samson is a nice little coastal town.

 

 

The historic towns of Cossack & Roebourne are near-bye with some lovely old stone buildings restored by the Govt. Cossack is now only a ghost town with a scattering of restored & derelict buildings waiting for the next cyclone.

 

Got Tone locked up but he managed to get out.

 

Roebourne is an old town but there are quite a few new subdivisions going in looking for buyers amongst the mining community, there is an indigenous community here as well.

In town this old pub which has seen better days was still operational.

 

 

While fuelling up Tony got talking to another guy who ended up coming from Tinbeerwah (near Noosa) who was a FIFO. He was happy with his job & said you get used to the heat in the high 40's over summer. Life is work, home to an air conditioned donger & flight back home every three weeks.

The life out here for these miners is far from easy & far from normal me thinks!

 

 

 

 

There are donger suburbs surrounding these towns with over 100 dongers containing about 4-6 rooms. One of the many new dongers being transported through the Pilbara. The escort cars warning of 4.3 mt loads over their two way . The widest we encountered was 8 mts, a big bulldozer, we made sure we were well over for that truck!

 

A sign in the Roebourne takeaway shop - didn't see any amongst the selection of deep fry though.

Soup anyone?

 

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