ExplorOz News

ExplorOz - David & Michelle

A quick thank you and kudos to you both for the nicely put forward stories on your East Pilbara adventures.

I was quite refreshing, reading about and seeing through your eyes, images of the place I call my backyard, but more truthfully it is home and has been so for over 33 years, much has changed regarding the landscape and environment, but it is still a magnificent and beautiful part of Western Australia.

Hopefully your connection to these special places remains strong and meaningful for many years to come.

Safe travels : Joe

G'day ExplorOz

Michelle, if you could elaborate just a little on what you call the 'memorial' some where along the Crater access track, if it has anything to do with me as such, I'll be more than happy to explain the reason for it's existence.

I had previously marked 17 of the 'close to' what was the accepted vehicle track, mounds with steel fencing pickets, this was done to try and preserve the active mouse mounds, sadly many of these have not survived as the track has been realigned to allow easier access for mining equipment into the area.

Pseudomys Chapmani Kitchener (species) the Pebble-mound mouse is not yet rare or endangered, though they are still studied and researched, scientifically.

There are several other sites along the journey into the Crater area, which had relevant information about the geology and flora.

Lastly, the Logbook station.

With the advent of documentary YouTubers who venture into places like the Hickman Crater, it was painful to see their efforts in accessing the logbook let alone trying to write 'words of wisdom' in the logbook which was perched on the original letter box, it served it's purpose for around 16 years, it was never weather proof as such and it became the domain of a rather large hairy legged spider, so technically the spider got evicted to make life a little easier for the folk who dare to explore, then write words of wisdom in a logbook.

Thanks for your interest in this most remarkable part of the Pilbara.

Safe travels : Joe

G'day ExplorOz

I should have guessed this might have been the sign leading to your question and curiosity.

I've not revisited any of my previous Blogs simply because I never thought it important once I had posted the original story, but this particular sign dates back to the wet season of 2009, reference to ExplorOz was in order for the curious enough adventurer to take a look at the story if they wished to do so.

The actual scenario unfolded a few days before the end of October2009, it was brutally hot though not unusual as the wet season was already brewing, big clouds high humidity but no meaningful rain, though I was hopeful.

Back in the day I was actively running my tag along tours to all points of the compass but only within the East Pilbara shire boundaries, reasoning there was always some place interesting to visit in this 379,571 square kilometre tract of land ~ the inland Pilbara.

My wife and I had a couple with us on this personal charter tour, so it was purely a solo vehicle x 4 adults just wandering around the region going to a select few petroglyph sites as our guests were keen to see these sites, as city based Indigenous people, neither had ever been to nor had they ever touched ancestral petroglyphs, to be honest their reaction at seeing and touching these rock carvings was quite emotional.

Okay, we are out and about in the late afternoon and on a whim, I asked if they had ever been to or seen a Meteor Crater ~ no not ever was the response, so we made our way in towards the crater.

The track back in 2009 was purely two wheel tracks across the Spinifex and rock sheet country, and nothing like the well formed track it is today, about two kilometres into the crater access track, I saw something that genuinely concerned me, my wife commented saying that does not look good at all.

The concerning sight was engine oil, straight down the middle of the track, near perfect line marking originating from a big chunk of geology on a high point crest of the track, it was low range 4wd territory and relatively hard going at the time, so the vehicle responsible for line marking the Hickman Crater access track was somewhere ahead of our position. The distance travelled was about 3 kilometres from point of contact with the geological feature to where the Nissan Navara eventually stopped.

Two blokes, one dead 4wd and no one knew they were out there outside of family in Munich Germany, these blokes were intent on hunting Meteorite rock from around this newly discovered impact site, a good plan at the time, but a holed sump and seized engine stopped these rock hounds in their tracks.

Their situation was serious enough at the time, until we chanced along and a whole new scenario unfolded, I managed to convince them to reposition the Navara just off the track proper, set it up so they could access the holed sump, then for them to clean the area around the gash - the preparation had to be good enough for a repair using a two part epoxy bonding agent known a KNEED IT ~ I never leave home without a couple of tubes of it.

The preparation/clean up was left to them, I continued on to the Crater with my guests, on our return journey Carlo and Warwick were waiting for what might have been good news, but I suggested they camp the night with their vehicle and that I would return 'some time tomorrow' and after the sump was repaired and new oil added we could travel out together, Carlo was not too keen on being out there in the dark, especially after being warned about the wild dogs and other critters that want to come and roost up with you in the dead of night ~ I did say to Richard, my guest that he'd laid it on just a tad too thick.

The following day/afternoon I was back with Carlo and Warwick, we effected a repair, visited the crater them made our way back to Newman, hence the sign Carlo and Warwick's Camp.

The big twist in this true story, is both Carlo and Warwick were in Australia holidaying after the successful launch of the Rosetta Space craft in 2004, this European Space Agency mission was to intersect the orbital path of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasmenko where the lander craft Philae was deployed on to the surface of the comet to take samples for science.

This Scientific mission was at the time quite remarkable with many firsts ~ Carlo and Warwick were Mission Engineers with European Space Agency, the space craft was launched in 2004, intersected the Comet path 6th August 2014 ~ the mission ended September 2016 ~ but there is a massive twist to this part of the story.

I trust your questions have been answered to a degree.

PICTOURS is my vehicle licence plate identification.

I closed my tag along tours five years ago, after 17 years of being 'out and about'

Safe travels : Joe