New Year's Resolution

[Swampy]

Safe Journey Digger!!

Swampy

[Digger]

Hello Slackers,
Update - End of day two.
We have arrived safely at Murchison Settlement. We have experienced a bit of rain over the last couple of days which may affect the road conditions from here to Mt Augustus. We will know more tomorrow (Monday) when we check with the local Works Depot prior to leaving. We could be off the grid for the next 48-72 hours.


Manarra Homestead ruins. Circa 1902. South of Mullewa



His Royal Griceness overlooking his Kingdom. Coalseam Conservation Park. Some of the group (6 cars at the moment) had not been here before so we decided to deviate off the main road to visit the Park. It means visiting places some of us have been to already previously but it’s important to get bang for buck for the newbies (no disrespect intended).



Restored Well 9 on the LT. Hooley Stock Route, Murchison. Grey skies and showers for most of the day.

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[Digger]

Hello Slackers...

Update - End of Day 6 (Thursday 27 May).
So far, the journey had gone swimmingly. We are finding we have lots of time with no rushed days to get to each nights destination. We are currently bush camped just outside of Tom Price and will continue toward Hamersley Gorge, Wittenoom, Auski, Carrawine Gorge and Marble Bar.
See captions below.


Wooramel Gorge in Murchison Shire. I’ve done this road several times before on the motorbike but never realised this Gorge was here. Stunning vistas.



Stayed at Mt Augustus Tourist Park for 2 nights allowing the opportunity for some of the group to climb the 12 km return journey to the summit. The loop drive explores many trails and walks around the base of Mt Augustus.



Some of the Aboriginal carvings in one of many sites around the base of Mt Augustus.

More to follow...

[Digger]

Day 6 cont...


Hahaha. Sue practicing her shadow puppets on the rock face (zoom in on Sue’s right hand shadow).



Yalaweerie lookout with Mt Augustus in the background.



Ring me...I’ll do anything for a dare!

More to follow...

[Digger]

Day 6 cont...


The view from atop Mt Nameless with Tom Price in the background.



A plaque on top of Mt Nameless...the highest vehicle access in WA.

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Back to work Slackers!

[Cookie]

Great photos, good to see you are hard at work... Enjoy the trip and ask HRH Griceness to smile for the photos

[Digger]

Hello Snowflakes,

Update - End of Day 10
We are currently at Marble Bar, reputed to be the hottest town in Australia. The last few days have seen us lose one couple who had to return to Perth to attend urgent business. That leaves us down to 5 cars for the time being. We continue at a relaxed pace and are taking full advantage of the sights and scenery.
See captions below.



8 metre wide load. It was travelling at a snails pace due to the corrugated road conditions. Thankfully we were going the opposite way.




Hamersley Gorge. Spectacular.



Lots of Earths history right there!

To be continued...

[Digger]

Day 10 cont...


The ‘Spa’ at Hamersley Gorge.



We ventured into Witenoom Gorge where blue asbestos was mined. Lots of tell tale signs of the town and mine still exist. Pleasant scenery. Deadly, but pleasant. The whole area is littered with asbestos fibres just sitting on the surface.



A typical ore train en route to Port Hedland from Roy Hill. All 236 carriages. By my estimations that is 236 carriages at 20 tonne each at $275 per ton sale price to China. $1.3 million worth...and probably 8 trains a day. Not bad for a days work.

To be cont...

[Digger]

Day 10 cont...


Our bush camp at Carawine Gorge. Exposed to the elements but we had good cloud cover so we didn’t fry. Where we are parked would be part of the river bed and under water during flood times.



They have had some serious flooding here from a cyclone earlier this year. The angle of the trees is testament to the force of the water.


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[boomer61]

Hi Digger and crew,
Looks like you are having a good trip.
The nett load on a iron ore wagon is around 118-120 tonne of ore.
BHP trains at 312 carriages with a nett load of 37,000T at a ore price of $265T AUD give a $9,805,00 per train set.
It runs an estimate 14-16 train sets a day so a days work is $147,075,000 AUD.
Making hay while the sun shines.
That is BHP only so with the others it becomes a really big number.

[Digger]

Hi Digger and crew,
Looks like you are having a good trip.
The nett load on a iron ore wagon is around 118-120 tonne of ore.
BHP trains at 312 carriages with a nett load of 37,000T at a ore price of $265T AUD give a $9,805,00 per train set.
It runs an estimate 14-16 train sets a day so a days work is $147,075,000 AUD.
Making hay while the sun shines.
That is BHP only so with the others it becomes a really big number.

Hi Boomer61, thanks for setting the record straight. I was surprised you were able to chime in before Bozo.

[Digger]

Hello Slackers,

Remember me?

Update - End of Day 12.

We continue slowly heading Northish toward Broome where Jacki and Camille will fly in on Saturday. It has been an interesting 48 hours exploring Marble Bar and its environs.
We could be off the grid for the next 48 hours or so.

See captions below.

The ‘Marble Bar’ after which the town was named. It’s actually a Jade or Jasper seam all around the town.



We ventured South and visited an US Airbase from WW2 at Corunna Downs. They flew bombing missions from here to destroy Japanese bases in Indonesia (Java at the time). The flights were a 15 hour turnaround. There was little knowledge of the Base at the time.



The ‘Bomb Dump’. Lots of reminders of an previous era.

More to follow...

[Digger]

Day 12 cont...


‘Bomb Crates’. The name given to these protective blast walls to protect three sides of the aircraft between sorties.



The intersection of the two runways.



Sunset at Cape Keraudren where we camped last night (Wednesday).

Back to work Slackers...

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[Digger]

G’day Slackers,
Update end of Day 16.
Jacki (and Camille) flew in on Saturday to join the group as did another vehicle from the Club who made their way independently. They will do the Gibb River Road part of the journey and then depart. The last 48 hours has been about resuppling, seeing the sights and resting. We could be off the grid for the next 72-96 hours.
See captions below.



80 Mile Beach. It actually goes for about 200 km. Go figure.



Beachcombing on 80 Mile Beach.



‘Hi ho, Hi ho, it’s off to work we go’!
The Camels going to work for tours along Cable Beach, Broome.

More to follow...

[Digger]

Day 16 cont...


Cable Beach, Broome. It was named Cable Beach because the first communications cable entered Australia from overseas linking Australia with the rest of the world.



Sunset (and fish and chips) on Cable Beach.

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