There's gold in them thar hills

(and iron ore and manganese and ... )

From Punda we headed for Nullagine further inland and in the heart of gold country. Part of the road to Nullagine was being upgraded and it was very dusty, staining the roadside vegetation a rusty red. Visibility was often reduced to no more than a car's length when passing the ever present trucks servicing the mining and exploration boom. Bulldozed mining tracks criss-crossed the hills as we passed Cloud Break Mine (iron ore) and Hancock Prospecting Roy Hill project.

Dust on the Marble Bar Road to Nullagine

It is beautiful country. The ancient hills have been eroded down to stubs of orange and pinky brown, studded with creamy white. The vegetation is sparse lime grey spinifex dotted with straggly blue leaved acacia and gnarly white trunked eucalypts in the gullies that drain the hills. As we moved into the gold country the termite mounds changed from dark chocolate red to soft grey brown. 

Nullagine is a pretty spot, surrounded by low hills with big trees lining the 'river' running through town. The river sported a small pool of water lined with bulrushes on the edge of town. In the late afternoon a group of children played in the sand heaps beside the caravan park, sliding down the slopes on scraps of wood and tin. I remember doing the same when I was a child.

Contorted tree on the Skull Springs Road

We met a prospector there who had been out with his metal detector on the hunt for gold. Him - "you out looking for gold?" Us - "no, we've got a detector here 'cause someone said it'd be a good idea, but we haven't taken it out of its box." Him - "Oh, so you're here for the scenics? ... do you want to see what I found?"

Prospector on the Skull Creek Road

He reached into the deep recesses in his 4wd and pulled out an old 35mm plastic film container, tipping out some minute flakes of gold  - "That's about two hundred dollars worth there ... just a day's work. I've been checking out some spots. I'm taking a party of prospectors out in a couple of weeks and they need to find something - to keep them happy - otherwise I'll be out of work."

Low hills with acacia on the Skull Springs Road

I couldn't imagine trolling up and down over the ground for hours listening for the golden beeps from a metal detector. But there is always the lure of that 'big find' that gets people excited. Later on in Marble Bar we met a couple who had spent the last ten days "wandering aimlessly up and down" for five hours a day each. They showed us a nugget of just over one ounce that they had found. A bit more impressive I must admit - but it took about a hundred hours of trolling to find it. I think I'll stick to the 'scenics'.

Rocky outcrops

Travelling along the Skull Springs Rd out of Nullagine the road negotiated a series of steep gullies draining the low hills. The road was closed to vehicles over four tonnes, I expect due to the sharpness of the dips. Further east we took a detour down to the Woodie Woodie manganese mine. Here were huge stockpiles of mine spoil with giant trucks traversing the top of the spoil heaps, dwarfed by their surroundings. As a reminder that this is station country, there were cattle grazing at the foot of the heaps.

Cattle feeding below one of the Woodie Woodie spoil heaps

Along sections of the road where the traffic rate is high, and especially on unfenced sections, there is an ever present parade of cattle carcasses in various states of decomposition. Once we came across the poignant scene of a cow standing beside her now dead calf, not yet ready to leave. The only good to come from these deaths is the feast it provides for the crows and wedge tailed eagles. It is a common sight for them to be sharing the repast.

Australian bustards

Just out of  Woodie Woodie we came across this pair of bustards crossing the road. Mark took this photo as they headed into the spinifex. Australian bustards grow up to 1.2m high and can weigh in at 14kg with a wingspan of up to two metres. I must admit I have never seen them fly. Their habitat of choice is tussock grassland adjoining some denser vegetation to provide some protection for the single egg they lay on the ground. It is always a thrill to see them. They are not as common as they used to be and their range has reduced as well.

Lakes, mines and trucks

We spent a bit of time looking around Lakes Austin and Nannine, found either side of Cue. Behind the ridge above Lake Austin is a tumble of mine workings. There are diggings, shafts, heaps of rubble and an assortment of rusted bits and pieces. From the road you would never guess. I knew there ruins of old timers' stone buildings there and we found them nestled in the rocky ridges.

Old stone ruins and my travelling companions

 The rocks are a deep black red banded ironstone. Very beautiful. The lake is of course dry but has a lovely range of colours from the red dirt and samphires.

Rusting and rocky relics overlooking Lake Austin

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View to Lake Austin through quartz studded walls

Lake Nannine likewise has a rocky ridge from which you can overlook the lake but the rocks look like limestone.Creamy white with soft fluffy pale sand between, a salty crunchy layer on the surface. The landscape is natural - obviously the geology here keeps the lakeside safe from mines.

Samphire

Dewy petals 

 Beautiful samphires grow on the flat lake margins. Tiny fragile white shells are 'washed up' in layers on the 'shore'. Equally fragile flowers can be found were in the margins. The eucalypts have richly coloured young stems of red and gold. We watched black faced cuckoo shrikes swooping after flying insects in the afternoon light.

Eucalyptus stems

View across Lake Nannine

We camped here overnight amongst the black stockinged eucalypts. Their young stems were richly coloured in reds and golds. In the middle of the night a red half moon hung over the horizon before sinking out of sight.  Overnight the number of trucks passing reduced to a trickle, starting up again at first light. They are first visible as tiny points of light on the far side of the lake heading down from Meekatharra.

On the road again at first light, Lake Nannine

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