Mines, mines, everywhere there's mines

  After Leona the traffic on the Goldfields Highway seems to be nearly all ore trucks and other mine vehicles.    Hardly any tourists.  

  The gold mines are gradually giving way to nickel  mines.  As we came over a crest we saw what we thought was a small mountain range.  It was just another overburden dump but this time incredibly big.

  We stopped at Wiluna to visit the old hospital which is now a museum and art gallery.  We were the only tourists there and received a huge welcome.  They boiled the kettle, told us about the free WiFi and said to put the tables and chairs anywhere we wanted to sit in the sun or shade.  

  After a coffee we looked through the art gallery, were impressed by the quality of the work and spoke to a couple of artists.  Each couple came away with a local painting in hand.

  Next destination was Meekatharra. We had been warned a couple of times about the road condition and were advised to take a long detour.  We decided to stick to our original plan and take the direct road along with its corrugations and sand.  As it turned out the road was better than we expected although it was lined with a quite a few abandoned cars and ripped up tyres.

 Soon after Meekatharra  we entered the Pilbara with its rust red landscape.  The iron ore mines are on a huge scale and so are the 2km long trains taking the ore to the ports.

 

The Wildflowers are out in the Pilbara

On the road into Millstream National Park

There seems to be a constant stream of ore trains

The red Pilbara landscape in Millstream NP

Sturt Desert Pea in Millstream NP


Standing by the Fortescue River

We got permits to use the Rio Tinto Rail Access Road.  They said it's not recommend for caravans.

A very oversized load

Our little campsite at Peace Gorge, Meekatharra

The whale and dolphin rocks at Peace Gorge, Meekatharra

Something from a bygone era.

Luckily the lions weren't there for a picnic when we were camping



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