We arrived in the mining town just before lunch and found our way to Kalgans Rest. This is the only caravan site in town unless it is full and an overflow one allows caravans. This is primarily a work camp that they have left room for some 40 powered sites. The park is nicely laid out with a fairly modern amenity block. Unfortunately, it was one of the dirtiest amenity blocks of our trip. 1 Star which is a shame as the design is excellent but let down terribly by the lack of maintenance.
We got setup before Sandra did several loads of laundry. Once they were drying we headed out to the Visitor Centre to book for the BHP Whaleback Mine Tour. We booked the 4 of us in for the following morning. From there we hit the local Woolworths for some groceries. A bit more laundry was completed upon our return to the caravan park. John got busy catching up with some computer/blog work during the afternoon as well. Got to talk to both of the girls via Skype as well. Justine is off on Thursday for Europe but unfortunately is suffering from a virus of some sort.
Thursday morning saw us off to the Visitor Centre for our Mine Tour. Sandra walked up to the counter to tell the lady we were here for the "Wine Tour". This got the morning off to a good start and greatly amused the staff of the Visitor Centre. Eventually they were able to advise that the tour was going ahead but unfortunately no "Wine". We all got fitted for hardhats, safety glasses, vests to go with our long sleeves/pants/closed shoes before loading onto the bus with 20 others.
The trip to the BHP Whaleback Mine was very short as is practically joined to the town. I would estimate less than 2 minutes and basically the main street through Newman just turns up at the mine security gate. The bus proceeded through parts of the mine and across a heavy hauler road up to the mine lookout on what used to be Whaleback Mountain. From the lookout you had a good 360 view of the mine below. The overhead view proved beneficial as our tour guide was able to show us the different areas of the mine and what took place at each. The Rail section was impressive as each loaded ore train heading for Port Hedland is over 2.6 KM long.
After we were finished at the lookout we drove through the administration area of the mine before returning to the Visitor Centre for complimentary Scone and Tea/Coffee. Still no wine but was an enjoyable morning regardless. The afternoon saw some more laundry and shopping taking place.
Friday morning we got a permit to tour some local sites located on the BHP property. Was a bit of a wasted morning as we drove some 150 KM but didn't really see anything of note. Ended up on a fairly muddy track at one point before we gave up and returned to the caravan park.
We enjoyed a relaxing afternoon and had a nice BBQ Chicken dinner to finish off the day. Back on the road tomorrow continuing South. The sky was cloudy and we got a bit of rain during the evening/night. Cooler temperatures are with us for good now as well.
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