Way Away in WA 2023 – Day 16

Today, we enter the Pilbara with some of Australia’s most stunning ancient natural landscapes dating back 3.5 -4.3 billion years. It has significant national parks along with the iron ore industry, one of the leading contributors to Australia’s economy.

Back to Radio Hill Lookout for the daytime view.

Spinifex

Mount Whaleback Mine has the largest iron ore open cut in the southern hemisphere (only seen by the public on tours)

But you can see a bit of the action from Radio Hill.

Haul truck 793B at the entrance to Newman – this model has a Caterpillar Diesel engine with 16 cylinder quad turbocharger with 1611KW of power.

Haematitic iron ore from Mount Whaleback with an iron content up to 68%. Harry Potter was fond of unprocesssed metals – he was an ore fan.

Welcoming creatures at the town entrance. Everything is big in Newman.

Another day in the WA northwest, another wide load.

Leaving Newman, the plains disappear being replaced by sweeping red mountain ranges clothed in spinifex.

Mount Robinson from the Rest Area

Pick the odd one out at the rest area – although joining the grey nomad crochet circle can be very rewarding… they’re a clothes knit group.

We went for a short hike up a gorge at the back of the rest area.

The Governor from Mount Robinson

I was taught in primary school that Mount Bruce was the highest mountain in WA. More modern surveying now has Mount Meharry (in the distance) as number one just a few metres higher. We were now in the majestic and vast Karajini National Park – 6274km².

Landscapes from Karajini Drive

Mount Bruce – the Aboriginal name for Mount Bruce is Punurrunha. At 1,234 metres high, it is Western Australia’s second tallest peak. It is a standalone mountain making it very imposing.