Karratha - WA

Robbo,
I lived in Karratha for many years and having been back in Perth for a few years would go back there anytime. It's got all the amenities you'd find in the metro area as well as being in a great part of the countryside. If you like any water sports or land activities such as 4wd, camping etc then you'll love it. Great for families too. Feel free to ask me any questions.
Regards..Keith

Rob,

We were up there 2 years ago. A beautiful part of oz. I could easily have stayed there and not come home. Good luck with the job!
Lynn

Rob, Twelve years ago we lived in Karratha for 18 months and loved it. We had housing provided but it could be expensive if you have to arrange your own. Definately a great base to see the Northwest from and I still enjoy going back there for work from time to time.
The town is clean and tidy and it has all the facilities you need. It gets a bit warm in the summer months but is great the rest of the year.
Cheers

Rob, I fly in & out of Karratha on a regular basis (offshore oil & gas). I've spent a lot of time around the area since Woodside first started up there (20yrs). If you don't mind heat in the summer, higher than normal living costs (10%) and rugged country, but enjoy winter warmth, excellent sea fishing, top 4WD country, the odd drink and a barby, good old Aussie laidback lifestyle and a smaller community feeling, then you''ll fit right in.

It's not yer usual small roughhouse mining town.

Bilbo

Hi Rob, This might help? :-))

Who wants a posting to Karratha?

Nov 30th
Just moved to Karratha. Now this is a place that knows how to live!
Beautiful, sunny days and warm, balmy evenings. What a place! Watched the sunset from a park lying on a blanket. It was beautiful. I've finally found my home. I love it here.

Dec 14th
Really heating up. Got to 36 today. Not a problem. Live in an air conditioned home, drive an air-conditioned car. What a pleasure to see the sun every day like this. I'm turning into a real sun
worshipper.

Dec 30th
Had the backyard landscaped with easy care plants today. Lots of cactus and rocks. What a breeze to maintain. No more mowing for me. Another scorcher today, but I love it here.

Jan 10th

The temperature hasn't been below 36 all week. How do people get used to this kind of heat? Too bad it's not a dry heat. Getting used to it is taking longer than I expected.

Jan 15th
Fell asleep by the pool. Got third-degree burns over 60% of my body.
Missed two days of work, what a dumb thing to do. I learned my lesson though: got to respect the old sun in a climate like this.

Jan 20th
I missed Tabby (our cat) sneaking into the car when I left this morning. By the time I got out to the hot car for lunch, Tabby had swollen up to the size of a shopping bag and exploded all over $2,000 worth of leather upholstery. I told the kids she ran away. The car now smells like Kit E Kat andbleep. No more pets in this heat!

Jan 25th
Dry heat, my arse. Hot is hot! The home air conditioner is on the blink, and AC repairman charged $200 just to drive by and tell me he needed to order parts.

Jan 30th
Been sleeping outside by the pool for three nights now.Fifteen hundred dollars in damn house payments and we can't even go inside. Why did I ever come here?

Feb 4th
Forty degrees. Finally got the air conditioner fixed today. It cost $500 and gets the temperature down to about 30. Stupid repair manbleepin my pool. I hate this F*@#king state.

Feb 8th
If another wise arse cracks, "Hot enough for you today?" I'm going to tear his F*@#king throat out. Damn heat. By the time I get to work the radiator is boiling over, my clothes are soaking wet, and smell like roasted F***NG Garfield!

Feb 10th
The weather report might as well be a damn recording: Hot and sunny. It's been too hot to f*ck for two damn months and the weatherman says it might really warm up next week. Doesn't it ever rain in this barren desert? Water rationing has been in effect all summer, so $1,700 worth of cactus just dried up and blew into the #@*&$!% pool. Even a cactus can't live in this heat. What the F*ck!?

Feb 14th
Welcome to Hell! Temperature got to 44 today. Forgot to crack the window and blew the #@*&$!% windscreen out of the Statesman. The installer came to fix it and said, "Hot enough for you today?" My wife had to spend the $1,500 house payment to bail me out of jail.

Feb 30th
Worst day of the damn summer. I'm not leaving the house. The #@*&$!% monsoon rains finally came and all they did is make it muggier than hell. The Statesman is now floating somewhere in the Timor Sea with its new $500 windscreen. That does it, we're moving back to Victoria for some
peace and quiet.

We liked it there.

People there are ok.

Dampier is an older but nicer place to live.

Not much to do around town which makes it easy to save money providing you don't gamble it away at the pub.

Great fishing all year round.

Weather is hot but not as bad as Darwin.

Housing was very expensive. 2 years ago I applied for a job there and couldn't find a decent place for under $500.00 per week. In fact, the firm I was going to work for was offering $600.00 per week rent assistance.

I would live there for a year or 2,

your favourite colour is red you will love it.

cheers

Rob,
as great place to live if you're the outdoors-type of guy.
If you have a partner, she may find the initial adjustment slow, but once you're there and catch up for a few beer with people, it all comes together.
The social BBQ scene is popular, and the fishing is amazing.
I spent 12months there and will go back if I can.
The best way to go there is to be sponsored by your company/employer if you can. Rent IS exhorbitant, and the power costs with running the a/c is huge.
I loved it there; I live back in Perth now, and didn't miss Perth a bit. It's good to be back, but if work took me back to Karratha, I'd be returning (although with a different boat!).
The best part was my partner loved it there, so this made life all the more easier for us to get along in the town.
The locals I found to be very friendly (cagey with fishing secrets though!), and offer to help where they can. They'll also make an effort to help you feel welcome - I was invited to several BBQ's where I could meet similar people who were also new to the town.
It has a transient population due to the Woodside Gas Plant, plus the Rio (HI) Iron ore loadout, in addition to Dampier salt. A new project (BUrrup fertilisers) will be hitting their mechanical construction phase soon, which will see the town's population swell again somewhat.
If you're a single guy, there's an unfair advantage to the women in Karratha (10-1!!) when you head out for a few beers.
Bottom line: If you like camping, fishing, 4WD'ing, etc, then you should love Karratha. Broomw is only a 6hr drive, Coral Bay only 4-5hrs away.
Millstream, and Karrajini aren't far away either, but better done as a camping trip.

Hope this helps,
Dave

Rob my family and i live in Wickham (just up the road from Karrachi) and love the place. Mrs especially loves Karratha as the shopping here in Wickham is cr*p. Housing is very expensive but if the company is paying get the best/most assistance you can. Weather at the moment is absolutely perfect 27C down to 12-15C at night COLD. Great time of the year for any outdoor activities though fuel is pricey $1.20/ltr for ULP yesterday and $.76 for Autogas. If yoou,ve got a boat or love your fishing this place is the spot to be. Recent paper showed a nice black marlin caught during last weekends fishing comp.
All i all an enjoyable place to live if you can afford the housing , best time to come especially if you have a family is now as you can acclimatise before it gets HOT. Good fun during cyclone season up here too.

Cheers and cold beers
Clarky

For "Pesty",

Pesty, I said I fly in and out of the place. I don't work in Karratha. I'm an Operations Manager for a few offshore projects out there - "The Boss", unfortunately. I've got some good mates up there in Woodside, so as well as the chopper rides to platforms, I sometimes get some drinkin' and fishing in before I HAVE TO (aw what a shame eh!) go back to Perth.

But I must agree with a few of the comments about "the heat". It does get bloody hot up there! The poster from Victoria woulda been struggling there in summer.

Sorry, but I don't know your mate "Ernie B".

Bilbo