Day 50 – Karijini to Millstream Chichester

31 July 2019

The Pilbara continued to amaze today. Bill, Dad and I headed off in the Ranger this morning to have a look at Wittenoom – famous for being a blue asbestos mining town back in the days of asbestos mining. Such an interesting place, not least of all because the WA government have been trying for years to kick the remaining three residents out (with compensation for their houses) so that they can completely shut off all access to the town, and it will cease to exist. They cut all services off years ago, and degazetted the town in the early 2000’s. The remaining residents refuse to leave though, so the government now plan to have legislation through by the end of the year to force them to leave. The town will be removed from all maps and it has already been removed from all signposts (although a major road in the area continues to be called the Roebourne-Wittenoom Road). So, needless to say, this all made us very very curious. To see a town that will completely cease to exist. And it was so interesting. We drove past many signs warning us not to stop, until we found a huge pile of asbestos! So we got out of the car of course to have a closer look. It is everywhere. Everywhere! It is very perplexing as it appears so fragile, and yet forms as rigid layers within the rocks. There were a few campers in there, although not in the worst places, and we got a wave from one of the residents as we gawked out the windows whilst driving through the town. It was once quite big, and now there are roads to nowhere, with hardly any houses left. The drive out there was really beautiful, with the Hamersely Ranges on one side of us. All in all, definitely worth the 100 km.

Back at camp, we packed up and drove the 2 km in to Hamersley Gorge. Now, at the risk of repeating myself, INCREDIBLE. The rock formations are like nothing I’ve ever seen. Beautiful colours and patterns. The gorge walls had wave patterns in them. And the swimming holes were stunning, starting with one up the top, and cascading down. We didn’t swim, and we had to keep moving to make some miles. I could have spent at least half a day there swimming and exploring.

We headed down gravel road for 150 km or so to Millstream Chichester National Park. 80 km of the road was the Rio Tinto railway access road, and it was quite interesting driving alongside iron ore trains.

We set up camp at Millstream, had a cuppa and then off to the closest swimming hole. We all felt pretty grubby (Karijini red dust gets in to your pores) so the swim went a small way towards helping us feel a bit cleaner. The swimming hole, called Deep Reach pool was enormous and completely unexpected for the dry season. Millstream Chichester was made a national park to protect the aquifer in the area. It is beautiful clean water that comes up in permanent springs, forming places like Deep Reach. Understandably, these areas were essential for the Aboriginals, and so the national park protects significant cultural heritage as well. The water was the perfect temperature.

Beer and chips followed by dinner and triominos. Another fantastic day in the Pilbara.