Tom Price

We've had a great time here at Tom Price. The town itself won't win any architectural awards. Most of the buildings are typical mining town - big on practicality and small on asthetics. Inspiration seems to be from communist Russia.

Despite that, the town is very livable. There is lots of green grass and trees - a bit of a novelty in this part of the world (and Melbourne too!). There is the obligatory Chinese restaraunt (I thought it was pretty good but thats not saying much), a pub, supermarket, video store, hardware and a couple of cafes. The new swimming pool has just opened. The kids have been visiting the library and we've been twice to the open air cinema / drive in.

Darcy has played a couple of games of footy and the kids have been playing with a few of the other kids around the place. They've also made friends with and been walking "nugget" the fat labrador who lives across the street.

Our townhouse has been comfortable, and the neighbours have been good company. They work on the railway, straightening out the tracks each night after the big heavy trains bugger them up each day. Our place backs onto the golf course which is a pleasant place to walk despite not having a blade of grass on it. Fairways entirely made of rock!

The people here are friendly and the population is very young. People just come here to work and then they leave. The average age is 11 years! There seems to be lots of things going on here - its a long drive to look for entertainment.

Dales & Kalamina Gorges

The Dales gorge was different again to the others we have visited here at Karajini. It was much wider and more open than Weno and Hancock, but incredibly beautiful. The gorge looks as if has

been landscaped it is so perfect.

Around every corner there is something different. From the dry dusty Pilbara rock the landscape changes to lush tropical rainforest, waterfalls and swimming holes all in the mater of a few kilometers. The walking was interesting without having to climb like some of the others. This is one of the best walks I've ever done, perhaps because the kids didn't whinge once! The old legs were pretty gorn by the time we made it home though.

Tom Price mine

Tom Price is an Iron Ore mine that has 12 seperate pits. We went to check it out and got to wear hats just like Bob the builder!

The machines were absolutely massive. The dump trucks can carry 400 tonnes. They weigh over 200 tonnes empty and carry 4,000 litres of diesel. When they are full and go flat out up hill they get 20 litres to the kilometer! Makes the landcruiser look economical! Top speed is 40km/hr and the tyres are $100,000 each. If a big rock wedges itself between the back two tyres and pops them - there goes a quater of a million big ones.

The trains to the coast are 2.5km long, weigh 30,000 tonnes and have $5 million worth of iron ore on them.

All in all it's a pretty big dusty hole worth alot of money. Love to go for a spin in one of the trucks though.

Weno & Hancock Gorges

We explored the Weno & Hancock gorges with the Vallees. The road was pretty rough and slow so Darcy drove Matilda and Ruby, Anna and Edith drove our car. They should be pretty good drivers by the time they get their licences. Not quite as much traffic here as on Sydney Road though.

These gorges really were spectacular. It was pretty hard work climbing around to get through but after much grunting and groaning we finally made it after climbing ladders, handrails and a rope - and no one needed an xray at the end! Once again the water was pretty chilly but it was worth it to see the towering sides of the gorges that narrowed down so that you can actually touch both sides as you shimmy along. The pools inside were incredible, but only the kids were silly enough to go swimming.

Hammersley Gorge

We drove out to Hammersley Gorge in Karajini National Park from Tom Price. The gorge is a series of beautiful waterholes seperated by waterfalls. The walls of the gorge have an incredible array of colours and patterns. Its a great place to spend the day scrambling over the rocks and heving a dip, but the water is incredibly cold and its difficult to stay in for long!

Traceys Birthday

Tracey had her birthday a few weeks ago (not allowed to tell you which one - classified information). She had a lovely day walking and splashing around in Hammersley Gorge and even got a birthday cake, some presents and lots of calls!

School

We have been doing school through distance education. We took the first six months of work with us and have about three weeks of it to do. It was pretty difficult to get anything done at the beginning, but once we got into a routine things went much more smoothly. Having said that it's pretty rare for us to finish the entire unit before it's due. It's more about quality than quantity isn't it?

The units are divided up into 10 day lots and are due every 2 weeks. We usually try to do some school every day - 7 days a week straight after breakfast. If we are travelling or have something on we might just do 20 minutes or so, but usually we do 1 1/2 - 2 hours. If I'm not working I usually teach Rube and Darcy (Anna dosen't like me teaching her) and Tracey does Anna. When I'm working Tracey does all of it (not much fun). A class size of 3 is plenty for us! I have been travelling to another town called Parabardoo two mornings a week from Tom Price for work, so I have been taking one of the kids with me to do their school down there.

The process has been interesting for all of us. Tracey and I now have a much better idea of the kids strengths and weaknesses, and a whole new respect for the teaching profession. The kids have got to do their school work in some pretty incredible settings. Some very beautiful ones and plenty that have been hot, windy and fly infested. Hopefully they have learned something!

Showers

We try to avoid staying in caravan parks where possible and go for the free camping option. Unfortunately most of these don't have showers so we have become pretty skilled at spotting a potential shower whenever it presents. I think some of the locals have seen a bit more than they wished to from time to time, but no-one has been arrested to date.

Anna’s photography

Anna's photography career continues to blossom. If the camera is left unattended it usually ends up with a series of photos like these on it. We're not sure what the genre is or if she hasn't worked out that its meant to be pointing away from the operator.

Darcy’ debut for Tom Price Magpies

Darcy made his debut for the Tom Price magpies against the Tom Price Sharks (funny name for a team hundreds of km's from the coast). John Vallee (in the picture) from Paris also made his debut. The magpies went down narrowly, but have the opportunity to make amends next week when they play the Sharks again. You don't have to wait long for revenge when there are only two teams in the competition! The boys are both confident that the Magpies will make the grand-final.

John played a very servicable game considering he dosen't know one end of a footy from the other and can't understand the coach. Darcy managed 2 goals and won an award - a Rio Tinto drink bottle (surprise surprise). The boys had a Pilbara style recovery session the next day in the icy waters of the Weno gorges.

Dane

Well i'm still alive! Didn't think i'd make it this far. I've got used to the chaffing and I'm almost starting to enjoy myself. The broken arm is holding up well, but I don't have any fingers left.

Pretty happy with the pies at the moment, absolute certainty for the flag.

Ningaloo Reef

We spent many hot and sunny days snorkelling on the Ningaloo reef from Coral Bay and the Cape Range National park. The water was very clear and the snorkelling was great. We saw heaps of fish, some turtles, some rays and a white tipped reef shark.

We took a boat trip from Coral Bay and Monkey Mia. Visited a pearl farm. One of the blokes running it is on the next series of "farmer wants a wife", reckons he didn't do very well.

The only down side was that Collingwoods anihalation of Carlton was not on the either the TV or the radio! The premier will be getting a letter,

Ruby’s toilet report

Since I last spoke to you things have improved on the toilet front. I have had the pleasure of using a flush toilet in Merredin. However when I went back to the long drops it took a few days to stop turning around to look for the button!

I've seen perhaps the best long drop on the trip so far at Cape Range National Park. Here are the rules. Open the lid and clean the bowl with disinfectant, then do what you came to do, then clean the bowl with disinfectant again and hey presto - a nice smelling long drop! Something that I didn't think was possible!

Ruby thorn