The road to Newman

We have arrived in Newman in the Pilbara and I will give you a glimpse of the trip up here. For those who don't know Newman is 1186km from Perth and is in the heart mining.

Trucks: our car looking out

Once past Wubin, the road up north belongs to road trains. Wubin is on the interface between cropping country and station country, uncleared grazing land. The road trains are feeding the mining boom up north carrying all sorts of weird and wonderful payloads from food to ammonium nitrate to tankers of oil to
enormous pipes, concrete structures, one caterpillar track weighing 60 tonnes and tyres which are so wide they have pilot vehicles flashing before and after. Whole hillsides are being carved away in the production of metals like gold and tracks disappear off the highway chasing precious metals. Near White Wells they were cutting awaya hill with matchbox sized machinery, flashing lights and meccano set steel structures. The size is deceptive, the machinery is actually huge making the hillsides appear small until you see the drivers tiny cab perched up high. In stark contrast, we passed a big pond of water near the Ningham turnoff with a battalion of lovely black tailed native hens feeding in the shallows. They strutted off into deeper water as we drove past, their tails held high.

Main street Mt Magnet

We camped out of Mt Magnet at the Amphitheatre, in breakaway country

Breakaway with quartz base

It is ancient sedimentary red rock, worn and hollowed, with white quartz scattered on the lower slopes. Visitors to this spot had put the quartz rocks to good use, leaving messages on the flats between the outcrops. Scattered sage grey mulgas are the dominant vegetation, a few earl golden flowers wafting their heady scenton the breeze. Goats abound keeping the lower vegetation heavily grazed.

In the early morning a flock of little woodswallows swooped up and dived from rockface to sky and down to cluster in a rock hollow only to swoop up into the sky again, stretching their wings after a night of slumber.

Little woodswallows

While out walking I heard the distinctive call of the red capped robin, a strong 'tchek...tchek', but only saw the female. We came across a party of white-browed babblers which also are distinctive with their churring and wheezing chatter as they forage in family groups close to the ground. They always sound like they are having fun following one another in the shrubbery along inland watercourses (waterless usually of course).

The Amphitheatre: our car is the white dot in the middle distance

Gold was found at Mt Magnet in 1891 by George Woodley which initiated white settlement in this area. Aboriginal use of this area goes back thousands of years. The Hill 50 Gold Mine 'Harmony' operation is visible from the Warramboo Lookout. This mine is a large open cut with underground workings as well. The Checkers Gold Mill was completed in 1989 and milled it's millionth ounce in 1997. It is still operating.

Hill 50 Gold mine 'Harmony' in distance

Breakaway on Hunt Oil Rd

This is a spot we camped at a couple of years ago in the middle of winter. Despite the name the road, harking back to heady oil exploration days in the 60's, it is just a rough track heading north from the Great Central Highway near Warburton. This area had been dry for some years and the vegetation was very parched, threadbare, sage greys and golds, and the ground a bare rusty red. The spinifex was tired and grey.

The pebble mounds were found in the shadows of this breakaway

Pebble mounds at base of breakaway

This little pebble mound was at the base of the breakaway on the southern side where it is cooler. It is the mound of the Pebble Mound Mouse, supposedly only found in the Pilbara these days, being extinct from its former more extensive range in the Gascoyne and Murchison. I presume the mounds we found are no longer inhabited but would love to go back to check. The ground was so bare I could hardly imagine a mouse finding anything to eat.

This is taken from on top of the breakaway

Up on top of the breakaway there were even some flowers to be found. I just loved these tiny white flowers nestled in the hairy protective bush. So well adapted to the harsh climate. Despite the aridity we heard the melodious call of the butcher bird and saw black faced cuckoo shrikes and the willy wagtail. As evening fell we heard the soft chirrups of little birds settling in for the night. 

Edge of breakaway in the evening light

We were woken in the middle of the night by a fantastic storm, thunder, lightning and ... rain. We were camped below the breakaway in an open area that was already soft and spongy from recent rain.We knew it would become slithery and slimy with just a touch more rain. The track in was already deeply furrowed by vehicles negotiating thick red mud after previous storms. We made a cuppa while we decided whether to stay or go. The storms just kept rolling in, so we upped sticks in the storm and moved to higher safer ground further down the road. The storms continued all night and we awoke the next morning to a grey and cloudy sky. In the morning light the wet but parched foliage was a glowing gold.

Throughout this trip we had been dodging 'road closed' signs, either arriving just as the road was being reopened, or getting through just before heavy rains closed the road. In this region the roads are dirt, and after heavy rains they are slippery, muddy, and often covered in water.