Karratha WA
We sort of had a little panic attack when we realised that WA school holidays were coming up and everyone kept telling us to make sure we had something booked. After a lot and i mean a lot of calls (most of them unanswered !!) we managed to score a week in Karratha Caravan Park. When we arrived the caravan park wasn’t exactly in the hub of Karratha but out in the industrial estate. I think it was set up for FIFO miners as there were a lot of onsite caravans plus every morning around 5am every mining ute that left the caravan park went over the half dozen speed humps on the way out with a THUMP THUMP !!! We met some great people in this park and had quite a few nights sitting having a few drinks and laughs !!
Karratha itself is quite a new town and has pretty much everything you need including a couple of pretty nice eating places. We spent 8 nights here and explored the whole area from Dampier to Point Samson, Cossack, Wickham and the Millstream Chichester National Park.
On our first day we visited Dampier which is the home of Red Dog. There is a plague in honour of Red Dog and a trail that you can follow around Dampier. Interesting how far he wandered and his story. Dampier is also a major port in the Pilbara which exports iron ore ,LNG and salt. There is a great visitors centre that tells you all about the North West Gas Shelf Project we spent a couple of hours looking through this place and learning all about the project. It looks over the gas plant and shipping port – its huge !!! We also visited the Murujuga National Park whilst we were here which has some really amazing rock art and lots of beautiful Sturt Desert Peas. In fact the whole area was just covered with Sturt desert peas which i have never seen so many of – they are the most beautiful flower !!! The many different types of wildflowers was just amazing. We were told that the area is usually just red dust but because they had a lot of unseasonal rain the area was covered in wildflowers and sphinifex.
We also visited the Millstream National Park which featured Python Pool and the Fortescue River. This was a day trip as it was about 150km out to the Homestead which was the original homestead and is now a visitors centre. From here you can drive out to the Deep Reach Pool and a lookout that overlooks the Fortescue River. Beautiful spot to have lunch and a swim- it wasn’t hot enough for us !!! We then drove to Python Pool on the other side of Millstream which is a beautiful rock pool surrounded by a rocky gorge – apparently there is a waterfall here at certain times of the seasons. There were lots of people swimming here but most people were jumping in and then running back out saying how cold it was !!! Again, not warm enough for us !!! The drive to and from Millstream was beautiful as there were so many wildflowers and rolling hills.
We also spent a day and drove over to Point Samson which is a beautiful little town that people from nearby districts holiday. Lots of fishing here of which we both don’t really enjoy – unless of course the fish are jumping on to the line, which never usually happens when we pull out rods !!! We also popped in and had a look at Wickham which is a mining town but has a fantastic information area with a large mining dump truck and locomotive on display – Great photo !!
Cossack was a great place to visit. In fact we were so impressed by it that when we were told they did a tour the next day we decided to come back and do it. Cossack was first set up as a pastoral and pearling port back in the 19th century but was dissolved in 1910 and deserted in 1950. The town has since been restored but the history of the town is amazing. It was one of the first pearling industries in WA but due to cyclones this was all shifted to Broome. Lots of interesting history to explore here and also a great lookout overlooking Jarman Island Lighthouse and a great beach – Settlers Beach. A must do if you are ever in this part of the Pilbara.
We enjoyed our stay at Karratha as there was plenty to see and do…. Next stop Onslow.
