Covering an area greater than New South Wales, but with a population of only around 50,000 people, Western Australia’s Pilbara region has plenty of space to enjoy without thronging crowds. And with most of this population based in just a handful of towns, there’s every chance you’ll  be entirely alone at some of the area’s many scenic spots.

The Pilbara offers a diversity of attractions, from the spectacular gorge country of Karijini National Park (NP) with waterfalls and deep red chasms plunging as far as the eye can see, to the remarkable outback oasis of Millstream.

Then toss in WA’s two highest mountains, the spectacular Warlu Way Drive Trail, and the magical sight of Desert Queen Baths in Karlamilyi (Rudall River) NP. These add up to some of the most picturesque and unique sights you’ll find anywhere.

In Part One, we explored the coastal attractions of the Pilbara. Part Two sees us wander around inland to uncover some of the best the region has to offer.

KARIJINI CALLING

Heading inland, the Hamersley and Chichester Ranges are the dominant features on the landscape, and it’s here the real colours and rugged character of the Pilbara seems to jump out and grab you. The jewel in the crown of this inland region is undoubtedly Karijini NP – magnificent gorge country cutting through the heart of the Hamersley Range and creating some of the most spectacular cliffs and colourful landscapes to be found anywhere.

Make a stop at the first-class tourist information centre, constructed from rustic metal that blends seamlessly with the colours of the countryside (and is shaped like a goanna!). Here, you’ll find Karijini is not a place to try and squeeze into one day. The sheer, 100m-deep chasms, banded  rock faces, delightful streams and waterfalls, tranquil pools, splendid gorge walks and the beautiful natural swimming pools at Fern Falls, Circular Pool and at the base of the cascading Fortescue Falls are just a few of the attractions that will keep you here for a few days at least.

For those keen to really explore the park, to swim and climb the more adventurous gorges and see the beauty of these places in different lights, Karijini can certainly be considered a holiday destination in its own right.

There’s a campground with pit toilets and free gas barbecues at Dales Gorge, and the privately run Savannah Campground (and associated Eco Retreat) offer luxury cabin-tent style accommodation, plus a kiosk, bar and restaurant.

Cool off at Karijini’s Circular Pool

Water is available at several points in the park, but all other supplies and camping equipment must be brought with you. Bins aren’t provided and all rubbish must be taken away.

Most roads within the park are gravel and usually in quite good condition, but subject to some corrugations if not recently graded.

Access roads in and out of the park from Tom Price or the Great Northern Highway are fully sealed and provide easy passage to Karijini for all vehicles, including caravans and motorhomes.

Falls at Hamersley Pool

MILLSTREAM MAGIC

In striking contrast to the hot, dry spinifex landscape of the Pilbara is the oasis of Millstream in the Chichester Ranges. Here, 150km inland from the coast and reminiscent of a time tens of thousands of years ago when the region experienced much wetter conditions, the Livistona palmlined pools at Millstream are a real surprise and a delight.

In more recent times (just 100 or so years ago), this must have been a welcome stop off for Afghan camel trains as they carved their way through the countryside, carting supplies to and from the remote pastoral centres.

Millstream, on the Fortescue River, is fed by natural springs from an underground reservoir estimated to spread over 2000km sq and is a haven for animal, bird and plant  life – an ancient ecosystem, lush and green, in an otherwise hot and parched landscape.

The old Millstream Station homestead now houses the visitor centre beside the waterlily-covered Jirndawurrunha Pool.

Although now mostly cleared by park rangers, there are still a few date palms which sprung up here from those early cameleers. Only a few male trees have been left (for historical reasons) but those will eventually die out, leaving only the attractive native Millstream palms around the pools.

On the wet road to Opthalmia Dam

There are several national park camping areas at Millstream and with the Fortescue River providing fi shing, swimming, unpowered boating and bushwalking through the lush riverine countryside, you can be as active or as lazy as you wish.

The scale of BHP’s operation is aweinspiring.

MINES AND ORES

Also scattered across this vast region are the towns that owe their existence to the huge iron ore deposits nearby. Massive mining operations are centred at Tom Price, Paraburdoo, Pannawonica and Newman. The size of these developments is a real eye-opener – Newman’s Mt Whaleback Mine is currently the largest single-pit open-cut iron ore mine in the world.

Guided tours are available at many of these mine sites and are a great way to get an insight into the scale of operations, the people who work there and the value of the ore quarried out every day of the year.

The sight of those 2.5km iron ore trains, as they leave the mine and snake their way through the ranges to the coast, will be long remembered.

Two other Pilbara centres well past their historic mining heydays are Wittenoom and Marble Bar.

Once the centre of tourist activity into the spectacular Hamersley Ranges, and the largest town in northern WA in the 1940s, Wittenoom has since been dealt blow after blow. Following the closure of its asbestos mines in the mid-1960s, successive governments have progressively downgraded facilities. Its only pub closed in 1992, as has the caravan park, picture theatre, race course and service station.

These days, Wittenoom is almost a ghost town – but not quite. There’s a small band of hardy locals prepared to fight on. Despite being taken off most tourist maps and tour operator schedules, Wittenoom – with virtually no services provided to it – still has a certain appeal and many travellers find their way into the old town centre out of curiosity as much as anything else.

As a real bonus, a 4WD tour along a deteriorated track into the colourful and majestic Wittenoom Gorge, with the ever-changing colours of its towering cliffs and a series of pools, is a favourite among artists and photographers at almost any time of the year.

Bush camping at Marble Bar

PIECE OF HISTORY

Likewise, Marble Bar – a centre of extensive gold and copper mining in the 1880s and boasting a population of around 5000 people at that time – is a much less industrious place these days.

While the old gold mine’s 75m smokestack can still be seen on the landscape, mining operations around Marble Bar are fairly small scale nowadays. This leaves the town’s main trade to tourism, especially since the road from Port Hedland was sealed.

Marble Bar stakes its claim as the hottest town in Australia, following a record of 160 consecutive days of temperatures over 37.8ºC back in the summer of 1923-24. Some people simply go there to say they’ve been and continue on their way.

Of interest, however, is the famous ‘Marble Bar’ – in fact, a large outcrop of jasper that was originally thought to be marble – across the Coongan River. You can also fossick for gold or gemstones in the region, or visit the very appealing gorges and waterholes for camping and exploring.

Reflection perfection at Doolena Gorge near Marble Bar

Places like Coppins Gap, with its banded rock formations, Glen Herring Gorge, Coongan Pool and Doolena Gorge are all within a short drive of town. Most of these are also great spots for bush camping. There are no facilities at any of them – but that’s what bush camping is all about!

There’s even an opportunity for visitors to collect a piece of jasper – a souvenir of their Marble Bar visit, from a signed outcrop just 6km out of town. For those into history, the  WWII Corunna RAAF Airfi eld just out of town is worth a visit – a base which was never found by Japanese aircraft, despite extensive searches during the war.

Before leaving town, no visit to Marble Bar is complete without a visit to the town’s only remaining pub – the Iron Clad Hotel – and one of Australia’s great watering holes!

Red Gorge viewpoint

QUEEN OF THE DESERT

Further east, Carawine Gorge on the edge of the Great Sandy Desert and Karlamilyi (Rudall River) NP (Australia’s second largest national park after Kakadu) are increasingly popular destinations.

In such a vast desert region, finding spectacular gorges like the Desert Queen Baths, with its permanent waterholes and even an array of desert wildflowers, is a real delight.

Camping under the stars, listening to the howl of dingoes in the distance and watching herds of 20 or more wild camels within sight of your campsite is yet another Pilbara experience you won’t forget.

The contours of Hamersley Gorge.

Further south, the iron ore town of Newman offers 4WD adventures along the popular ‘Outback Explorer Trail’. Armed with a map and touring notes available from the Newman Tourist Centre, the trail takes in gorge country, outback streams and pools.

Further north at the Punda art site, there are fine examples of ancient Aboriginal rock art (petroglyphs) on a lonely hillside.

These etchings, like others elsewhere in the Pilbara, are thousands of years old.

Newman’s Ophthalmia Dam is a great spot to relax and picnic by the water, as is Wanna Munna Pool where, in addition to a waterhole, there are further examples of ancient rock art.

Whichever way you go through the Pilbara, the journey is certain to be a real adventure.

Offering vast coastline, sprawling deserts and some of the most spectacular natural scenery anywhere in the world, this is a huge area of contrasts, surprises and extremes.

Category: Destinations
Written: Sun 01 Jan 2017
Printed: January, 2017
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