DAYS 24-25 - TOM PRICE

23-24 March 2008

DAYS 24-25 Pilbara – Kimberley Trip


TOM PRICE

It is Easter Sunday and we spent it chilling out at the caravan park at the base of Mt Jundunmunnah, referred to on maps as Mt Nameless – a stunning mountain.


Yesterday evening we painted eggs, I made black bread and got everything ready for beetroot salad, potato salad, herring salad and roasted the meats. No cooking today.


We joined the local community at the Easter Vigil on Saturday. So this morning we slept in and had a very relaxing day. Took time out to wash all the bedding. Most of the day was spent swimming, reading or working on my journal – finally. We observed that all local cars are covered in an ochre colour. Only the tourists have cleanish looking cars. There are lots of birds here and many of them check out the camp kitchen in the morning.

As we had phone reception we caught up with our children. Our youngest rang us from the top of Mt Kosciusko. He had gone up for the day with his wife pushing his little 5½ month old son up in the stroller from Charlottes Pass. We had taken him up to Mt Kosciusko when he was about the same age in a child back pack carrier. It brought back lots of memories.

In the evening we decided to spend another day here exploring Mt Jundunmunnah and Mt Bruce.

After breakfast hubby did the usual checks and decided that the back tyre needed changing as the thread was lifting. What a saga. He had trouble undoing the nuts. In the process he sheared off an extension rod. A few minutes later he sheared off another extension rod. Then he had a go with a breaker bar and snapped that – sheared the end off. Then he got serious and got out the heavy equipment and with a two metre extension rod finally undid the bolts. And finally . . . the tyre was changed.

By this time it was lunchtime so we went into town and restocked on fresh fruit and vegetables and indulged on icecream and mangos. Tom Price is actually the highest town in WA. We went for a drive to see Mt Bruce. It is the second highest mountain in WA. It was too big and too hot to climb.

We then came back and went on to Mt Jundunmunnah. The drive again was interesting from the other direction.


It was a steep and windy four wheel drive track to the top. The going was slow but well worth the effort. We went up in 2nd low. The track was gravely with sharp stones. The 360 degree views were absolutely spectacular.

It is the highest mountain in WA that you can access by vehicle. My camera finger did not stop and I got into trouble when I asked hubby to stop up a sharp incline. Needless to say I got a funny look and he continued on.

Finally we returned to the campsite for a cold drink and to chill out again. Lots of quilt ideas are spinning in my head.

At the campsite today we ran into a Canadian couple that we had met earlier at Exmouth. We believe a comment she made really hit the nail on the head. She described the landscape here as being tired and having given up trying to fight the elements – wind, rain and heat. Yet at the same time it is grand, majestic and colourful.