Day 63 Karratha

Today we drove to Karratha. Before we left Port Hedland we drove along the historical trail and saw the Bangers Camp Bungalow built in 1918 by Charlie Bayman for William Theodore Banger, the place was originally located on the foreshore as accommodation for Banger’s Western Pearl Trading Company workers. It was the only reputable pearl fleet operator in Port Hedland at the time. Relocated to Egan Street in the 1930s, it remained dilapidated until refurbishment in 1993.



Lock Hospital (fmr) 15 Edgar St 1920
The Former Hospital Quarters built in 1920 as a traditional northwest vernacular bungalow, it dates back to the early medical operations tied to the Australian Inland Mission (AIM) hospital established nearby.




We then called into Cemetery Beach.





The road to Karratha is much busier than other roads we have driven and there are many occasions when we have had to pull over for large mining equipment to pass.





On the way we stopped at the historical towns of Roebourne & Cossack then continued on to Samson Point.

Roebourne, also known as Ieramugadu, is the oldest European town in the Pilbara region, it features 19th-century stone heritage buildings, and a rich local history tied to the Ngarluma people. Gazetted in 1866 and named after Surveyor General John Septimus Roe. It grew rapidly during the late 19th-century gold and copper rushes, serving as the primary port gateway via nearby Cossack.










Cossack is a historic ghost town located in the Pilbara region, established in 1871, it features 19th-century bluestone buildings from the early pearling and gold rush eras. Originally named Tien Tsin in 1863 after the ship that brought the first settlers, it was renamed Cossack in 1872. Cossack schoolhouse was built around 1896 to replace an earlier timber school destroyed by a cyclone. The Cossack Courthouse is a historic 1895 bluestone building designed by Western Australia's Government Architect George Temple-Pool. Post office & telegraph office built in 1884 as one of Cossack's earliest stone and multi-story structures. Handled vital telegraph and mail services during the peak of the north-west pearling and gold rush eras. We drove up to the Tien Tsin Lookout.








We continued onto Point Samson where we had lunch overlooking the waterfront towards the lighthouse which was built in 1888 and played a significant role in the development of the north-west region. It served the Port of Cossack until 1902 when silting in the harbour meant it could no longer service larger ships. From 1904 the lighthouse served the new port at Point Samson, until the Cape Lambert Lighthouse took over in 1985. Standing 50 feet tall with the lantern elevated to 96 feet above sea level, visibility of the lighthouse was to a distance of 15 miles. As the lighthouse lamp required winding every two hours, two lighthouse keepers had to live on the island until the lighthouse was automated in 1907.

The town and the peninsula was named Point Samson in honour of Michael Samson, a member of a prominent WA family, who accompanied the district’s first settler, Mr. Walter Padbury, on his journey in 1863. Mr. Samson was the second officer of their ship, the ‘Tien Tsin’, and it was during Walter Padbury’s expedition to Nickol Bay, that the town was named.