Pilbara

The Pilbara is Aussie for "no cell phone coverage". It's in the Northwest corner of Australia and, if it weren't for mining, the only thing living here would be snakes, kangaroos, and whatever else lives in the bush of Australia. So, me and two other colleagues board the plane in Perth accompanied by about 100 other miners and 4 ecoresort tourists and head to Paraburdoo, Western Australia. A pretty full Boeing 717 (2 x 3 seats x 25 rows) landed on a runway just long enough for the plane. There's not even a taxiway- the plane did a U-turn at the end of the runway, motored back and pulled up to an airport that held less people than the plane.. It was definitely the smallest airport I've seen. Yes, that white shack of a building is the airport terminal. The whole thing.

We headed to the rental car office and got our 4x4 ute, fully equiped with mining safety lights, flags, radios, and the works. Yes, the only reason these people are here is for iron ore mining. You can thank them for all of the steel that goes into your cars, buildings and appliances.

Turns out you really need this truck just to get to the mine. I expected the mine roads to be dirt with rocks in them and all, but it turns out of our 3 hour drive from the airport to the mine, at least 1 hour of it was on a dirt access road from the highway to the mine. Thankfully, no flat tires.

For Joey and Ryan, I got to take a picture of a loaded ore train heading to the port. Three locomotives were pulling 230 cars loaded with ore from the Tom Price mine. It used to be Mount Tom Price, but 40 years of digging and now it's just Tom Price...

It was a long day, but interesting, nonetheless. It felt the opposite of the Christmas season - 41°C (106°F) of "dry heat" - dry, it's still bloody hot.

Cheers,

Tim

Ski Lift in Perth!

I got as close to skiing as I will get until I fly back to NY today. Perth has a small amusement park called "Adventure World". Amongst the rides, they have a chair lift to bring you from the bottom of the park to the top where the water slides start. It's really slow, but I had to ride just to stir some memories of winter and snow. It just doesn't feel like Christmas down here.

Adventure World I'm sure is fun for kids- I was there for the corporate kids' christmas party. Over 1,000 employees plus their families invaded the park after regular closing hours. It was quite an event. The park does not have huge rides, but good fun was had anyway. The "power surge" and "rampage" are like no other ride I've seen and you are thrown against the safety bar hard enough and often enough to make you wonder if their safety inspections are up to snuff.

I would not recommend the park for anyone that's looking for thrill rides. If you want to take the kids and get wet on a hot day, the water slides looked good and there was a bungee jumping tower right next door.

Water Skiing Search

Hi all,

I've been way behind on blog entries, so here are some catch ups.

Another bike ride across Perth today- today's mission was to find water skiers in Perth. I headed to Burswood- right next to the Casino, there is a water ski club. I found the slalom course (actually, two) and a Ski Nautique. Guess the demand for Mastercrafts that they can't make enough to export to Aussies...

I found out the skiers try to get on the water every Sunday morning- next weekend will be another ride to try and get a pull.

Next was a ride through the neighborhood that Bonnie & I plan to be living in next year, Como, WA. Nice place, great tennis club and park 2 blocks from our rental house. Across the river in Melville, I found Bonnie's dream house - the flowers made me think of her garden back home.

Melville is a great place with a linear park along the river (Perth has a lot of those) and a park at Deep Water Point where all of the wakeboarders go. They make a day of it, packing BBQ, tents to get a break from the sun and boats, tubes, boards.. I met a guy, Gary, that is part of a ski club that owns a boat and is a family-oriented social ski club. They do after work, weekend and trips into the bush for holidays. I got a very warm welcome to join them and I look forward to their next trip out.

Cheers !!