Karratha, Dampier, Miaree Pool

Most of the towns along the coast do cater to the mining workers or anyone working with Natural Gas, the shipping and port workers. As a result most campground charge fees, the likes of which I have only come across in Sydney. The Big 4 Park at Karratha charges $44 per night, obviously getting that too as there were no sites available when I arrived. I drove on to Dampier where I had stayed already last year, looking out onto the Bay, at $22 its only half of what I was quoted at Karratha.

There is a large shopping mall at Karratha, the majority of people I see are dressed in overalls with reflective markers on the sleeves and many of the vehicles in the parking lot outside are rental vehicles from Thrifty, obviously provided by the mines for their workers. There are also brand new housing estates along the road to Dampier, as well as a really large new development without any buildings under construction at this point but its obviously aimed at the steadily growing number of families working in the area

I also check out the airport for parking my 'Home' while I head down to Sydney next week. Here too, hundreds of parked cars in the overflow area with the Thrifty Logo on most of them. They obviously have been left by workers that commute to other main cities, so they leave their vehicles until they return in a few days. On the news I hear that Karratha Airport has in excess of one million passengers a year (by my estimation that equates to close to 3000! passengers per day, 365 days a year). Quite a sizeable number for such a small town!

After a few days at Dampier cooling my heels, I drive out and head west for about 40km to a campground I remember from last year, Miaree Pool.

The campers call this "Telephone Hill" as you need to get to the top to make a call.

A free site above the river, surrounded by hills that provide some shelter from the winds that seem to kick up every morning, they are covered in grass and spinifex that seem to hold onto the dust, as that seems to only be kicked up from the parking area when the wind gusts start up every morning. From my window I look down straight onto the river, mirror-like in the early morning before the wind sets in, some silver gums and many large paper barks along the river banks.

The view from my 'Home' after sunrise

A multitude of birds flock to this place, the most prominent being eagles, galahs, cockatoos, in the early mornings and before sundown hundreds of little finches with their red beaks and faces, foraging on the tall grass. At the slightest perceived threat, they take off in a cloud of wings to the nearest bush, where they rest until they feel the coast is clear again, then swarm back to the grass. Despite the bright colours of their heads they are hard to spot, melting into the background of nature.


Just before sunset, shot through my dusty window.

Peaceful it is, no outside power to plug into, so I am relying totally on my Solar cells to provide power for my fridge and my lighting at night. The skies are blue so there should not be any problem with the re-charging. I have noticed though, that there is not a lot of extra power left in my house-batteries each day, so I think I may have to replace those in the not too distant future, but will need to have them checked first somewhere in town soon.