Detours to Newman and Port Hedland 17th to 22nd June

Back in Alice we systematically responded to each of the challenges thrown our way with perseverance and fortitude. Dirty gas from somewhere in Alice meant that  by the time we had reached Jupiter Well on the Gary Junction Rd our gas burners had completely clogged, and we were back to old school using the “Bidgee Barbie” over a black fellas fire scraped together from the leaf litter and dead mulga around us. Easy and very effective although grubby. Hence the diversion to Newman where BHP Billiton has its largest Iron Ore mine at Mt Whaleback

and owns a lot – like the only caravan park with great facilities, best loo paper and free washers and dryers! We frequented the pub round the corner every night for their $15 specials. You would think a mining town like this would be a gift for our sorts of repair (clean out gas jets or buy replacements, fill up the gas bottles and leave). Not so easy! It took a day to sort those issues with the senior gas plumber taking the jets home at his lunch break so he could use his home gas welding kit to blow the jets clear. If I had had to use a trailer to bring the jets in they could have dealt with it on the spot! But everyone is so helpful. No charge.

We took a morning tour around the mine, which is extraordinary. Only photos and statistics tell the story so we’ll include them here. The hole was an 805 metre mountain, it’s now 5kms long and 2 wide. Its 135 metres deep. 45 million litres of water flows in and is removed each week, lowering the water table all around (ho hum). Over 1 billion tonnes of ore has been sent to Japan and China since 1969. The trains are over 2 kms long and haul 33,000 tonnes each. There is about a train a day and each train is worth about $2m. When you look at the infrastructure costs you might wonder if it is enough!

Helen of course used this down time to research the opportunities around Newman, in between adding to her encyclopaedic knowledge of country butchers by chatting to the mobile butcher and finding hogget chops (2 tooth or 18month old sheep, so much better than lamb).

She found a fine rock art site 75 kms out, hundreds of petroglyphs scattered across broad rock faces either side of a river gorge. Our own mini Burrup. And another site up another track to which she lured Ian with promise of the Hickman Meteorite Crater, found in 2007 via Google Earth. The art site involved some scrambling through an overgrown creek and up rock faces.

Catfish

Whilst only about 80 kms from Newman it did involve some tricky driving across the tops of these rocky ranges before arriving at the crescent shaped rim of a crater about a kilometre or so across, with very steep walls. We left the rim about 3:30 pm to get back before dark. I hate making mistakes and my father’s words always stay in mind “slowly does it”. Why I didn’t slow, slow down as we picked our way around a muddy drowned section of track, through the mulga that had been burnt leaving short but stout sticks poking up, I don’t know. We both felt the car sag onto it, accompanied by the death sigh as an otherwise good $380 tyre departed. So like Alice, Newman was not going to let us go that easily. Another day was taken trying to find a matching tyre and sorting a fridge that had ceased during the night, but being charged $200 to ship one tyre overnight from Perth was beyond reasonable.

$2m ore train

While we waited for the details to come through I fixed the fridge plug and another potential disaster was averted! The advice was to go to Port Hedland 450kms distant, where sure enough, they had some of our Toyo tyres. Taking the Great Northern Highway is a pleasure apart from the 50 or so 60 metre long road trains we had to pass. With a Prado lacking in herbs this was interesting to say the least. The road train drivers are very good helping you out. They radio ahead to their buddy in the next train who tells them if they have clear road, then they use their blinker to say “go”, or if you are showing signs of wanting to pass when it isn’t safe they dab their brakes. As dusk was falling towards the end of the journey we were happy enough to go at their pace. So, no Nullagine back on the red roads, but a day of blacktop driving and a visit to the other end of that railway where the ships are loaded and sent on their way. 

Rio Tinto's salt at Port Hedland

In 2008 Port Hedland really was a desperate place, with rust coated asbestos clad 10 square houses fetching $1m. Since then something of a miracle has occurred because those prices brought in the developers who have created a very attractive suburb with palm trees, facilities, BHP have contributed a new yacht club although there is a great paucity of yachts (we established that the nearest chandler where I could buy some replacement rope is in Perth). What goes up comes down and since the GFC and the mining “downturn” in WA those now attractive 20 square houses are worth about $0.75m. But things are moving again as major new finds especially in the rare earth department are getting the pundits excited again. Perhaps the next big one is just around the corner.