Tuesday, May 09, 2006 at 18:57
Footloose
I have just finished a three month locum up in
Tom Price and absolutely loved the place.
Summer???? They didn't have one up there this year with mostly 35 degree days and balmy evenings. Rained most days and with the number of cyclones dumping more on the region, all water holes are now full with plenty of running water.
When I initially flew in, I did wonder as to wether
the pilot had flown south instead of north. Green is the word and having spent many years up there, can't remember ever having witnessed the area like this with the contrast of vivid green against the abutments on the ranges of the famous
Pilbara Red colour.
As the region abuts Karajini, it's a special place to be with good people abundant. A thread of the other day questioned wether people still waved to each other on the highway. If you venture here, do exercises before you arrive to strengthen the waving mechanism.
As you can probably guess, I'm a convert. Camping is terrific with plenty of
waterholes and spots by the running creeks with grass fior the kids. You only have to pay fees if you enter Karajini National Park where the
ranger looks after things but elsewhere in the region you can pretty
well free camp - just find a track and go down it.
The best and most picturesque way to Para is down the coastal highway and in from Nanutarra to Para - Super drive and don't rush it as it circles through the Hamersley ranges around the back of Karajini.
It is breathtaking stuff and if you are a camera buff, make sure you can do wide angle on film or with digital. stitch your pics together so you can take panorama pics. It's actuall a bit hard to stuff the grandeur of the place onto a single frame.
The towns of
Tom Price are basically mining towns and though the word "closed " no longer applies, the company is pivotal in its ownership of the majority of properties and providing the dollars for the
infrastructure.
RioTinto is the player here and generally looks after its own pretty
well.
Population is super
young with heaps of kids and pregnant mums.
At my send off, one of the wags reckoned the average aqe to be 7 years and when I left this would drop to 5.
Anyway. Go - Take a swag and a thirst and enjoy.
Cheers
AnswerID:
171783