australia:wa:start
Western Australia
see also:
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- see exploring Australia's Northern Territory for trips east to NT such as:
- via the Gibb River Rd to Mitchell Plateau and to Wyndham
- via Fitzroy Crossing, Hall's Creek, Ord River, Argyle diamond area, Kununnurra
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- camel rides on the beach at sunset
- star gazing in winter
- “stairway to the moon” optical affect at certain nights of the year
- pearling industry
- Derby, the Horizontal Waterfalls (take a flight to check them out)
- Broome is generally regarded as the southernmost part of WA coast to have crocodiles but a few isolated crocs have been found as far south as Exmouth
- a gateway to the Kimberleys
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- Karratha and Dampier on the coast
- Marble Bar - the hottest place in Australia
- most of its rain comes in storms or cyclones from Dec-May and it is usually completely rainless from Jun-Nov; a cyclone crosses the coast once every 7-10 yrs.
- Pilbara region
- covers an area of 507,896 km2 and has a population of around 45,000 (~15% identify as indigenous peoples), most live in the western third of the region, in towns such as Port Hedland, Karratha, Wickham, Newman and Marble Bar.
- contains some of Earth's oldest rock formations including the stromatolites from from extinct cyanobacteria Pilbaria, 3.4 billion-year-old sandstones at Strelley Pool, which preserve fossils of sulfur-processing bacteria, and 3byr old granites, and includes landscapes of coastal plains and mountain ranges with cliffs and gorges
- a large collection of World Heritage-listed petroglyphs at Murujuga near Dampier dated to thousands of yrs ago
- 1st mined in 1888 - Pilbara Goldfield but alluvial gold ran out by mid-1890s
- 1937, mining of asbestos commenced at Wittenoom Gorge.
- 1950s, three British nuclear weapons tests were carried out in the Montebello Islands, 130 km off the coast
- 1960's discovery of high-grade ore in the Hamersley Ranges
- off-shore liquified natural gas (LNG) through the North West Shelf Venture and Pluto LNG plant, both operated by Woodside
- three distinct geographic areas:
- Roebourne coastal sandplain - western third
- central third - inland uplands of the Pilbara Craton, including the predominant Hamersley Range which has a considerable number of mining towns, the Chichester Range and others
- KarijiniNP - some lovely gorges and refreshing waterholes, 4-6 day exploration 4WD trip consider base camp at Dales Campground
- Hamersley Gorge is 350km south of Port Hedland and 700km NE of Canarvon and 115km W of Dales Campground
- located near the asbestos mining ghost town of Whittenoom and the iron ore town of Tom Price
- eastern third is almost entirely desert - The Great Sandy Desert
- Canning Stock Route (CSR)
- Wiluna to Halls Creek
- total distance of around 1,850 km, it is claimed to be the longest historic stock route in the world
- most seem to prefer to drive it south to north and then explore the Kimberleys
- water wells are located along the route but some have been closed
- usually can get fuel at Wiluna, Cotton Springs, Kunawarritji and Billiluna
- the legendary Tom Quilty drove cattle south in the 1940's along this route
- can be lethal in the hot summer
- many say that the drive from Kalgoorlie to Wiluna to Halls Creek then down the “Tammi” to Alice Springs is the greatest drive in Australia with lots to see but needs lots of preparation
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- Shark Bay
- Shell Beach - one of only two beaches in the world made entirely from shells, beach is covered with shells for a 60 km stretch to a depth of 7–10 metres
- Ningaloo coral reef
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- famous wine region
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- fishing port on the southern coast
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- lovely clear remote beaches on the southern coast
- Twilight Beach is very nice
- multi-day hikes in WA:
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- 1000km walk Albany - Perth
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australia/wa/start.txt · Last modified: 2024/11/12 11:58 by gary1