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.