Packed up early and drove the 120km back to Tom Price in time for a shower at the visitors centre, donned my hard hat and safety glasses and joined a tour of the mine which I had booked a few days earlier. This area was named after the man who first discovered iron ore here but died shortly after so never got to see the results. There are 22 pits (mining areas) on the lease of which we got to see 1, called Southern ?, the crushing and processing plants and the train which takes the ore for this and the Paraburdoo mine up to Dampier near Karratha ready for export and to be turned into iron. The Pilbara region is very rich in iron ore and the mines operate 24 hours a day, with many FIFO employees based in mine camps nearby.
There were a couple of routes to Karratha with the shortest one being via the 240 km dirt railway access road which requires a permit and watching a 20 minute safety DVD at the visitors centre which I had already done. The DVD showed lots of dust, rail trains, road trains, heavy mining equipment being transported, people getting their cars submerged in water and people getting pulled over for not obeying the speed and other restrictions imposed by Rio Tinto. This was still my preferred route as it would take me through the Hamersley Ranges and via the Millstream NP but I was a bit unsure about doing it alone so I hung around the visitor centre where others were getting their permits and met a group of 4WD travellers with camper trailers from Surrey Hills in Victoria (John and Peter, Brett, Nicole & Alicia, Tracey and Steve and their son Scott). They didn't seem over the moon about the idea of me joining them but after chatting for a while John agreed and handed me a UHF radio so I could keep in touch with them along the way. I did share some info about camping in the Cape Range NP and Ningaloo Reef, a small consulation but it seemed to help my case. As we set off down the road at about 1:30pm I felt very fortunate to be included in my very first 4WD convoy.
Occasionally they did say over the radio that my 80kms per hour was slower than everyone else's. Due to delays caused by a puncture in one of the camper trailers it was decided to camp along the way and go to Millstream tomorrow instead. Even though there was a lot of dust, there was very little traffic and I was surprised at how good the road surface was. I probably could have done it on my own but it was much more fun and safer this way.
After 1 wrong turn at the start, one of the guys blowing a radiator hose and me quietly realizing that I didn't even have any spare things like that, we reached the gravel dusty road alongside the railway line and pretty soon could see the very long ore trains going back and forth from Tom Price to Dampier and the scenic ranges all around. The front driver called any obstacles over the radio which was very helpful for me and we all travelled with our lights on and followed the speed restrictions (maximum 80kph).
We found a big dry river bed, put the wagons in a circle, cooked dinner on the fire with a golden syrup cake cooked in a camp oven for dessert and topped off with ice cream, compliments of John. Yummy!
The ore trains rumbled past regularly in the distance and some people grumbled about being close to the railway line but I felt it was all part of the experience. Brett's daughter Nicole brought out her guitar and played along with me on the ukelele. It wasn't until she started to sing in a very soft but beautiful voice that I realized her amazing talent and with the right encouragement and confidence building she will go places.
