Newman 27th August

Monday 27^th  

We took our lunch to Ophthalmia Dam – on the Fortescue River. (It is in the Ophthalmia Range).

 

** There is a raft on the dam like we had at Mt Martha!!

 

This huge dam was constructed by BHP (like everything else here) for the sole purpose of recreation for the community – there is even a sailing club....

and is good for a paddle.

On the way, lovely scenery

 

 

Some Corkwood - a Hakea - in flower

 

  

Along the road we had to pull over for a police - escorted monster haul truck

The main open cut iron ore mine here is 5 1/2 km long!

Nearly all the vehicles around town have a high flag like an aerial, no doubt to enable them to be seen when mixing it with the big equipment. At night it has a red light on it.

“This tyre is a bit flat! I think I’ll get Caroline to change it”

 

Bird Report from Rob for the birdos:

Since leaving Leonora we’ve seen a few more birds, but overall this trip has been notable for the lack thereof.

Between Meekatharra and Newman we saw numerous flocks of Budgies – (some very large >200) –a few small flocks of Cockatiels and many small parties of Zebra Finches.

Interesting sightings – none.

Lack of roadkills has meant a lack of raptors, although between Meekatharra and Newman there were a few, both kangas and cattle, resulting in us seeing many Wedgies and Whistling Kites.

A most noticeable non-sighting has been the Black Kites...not a single bird since we started on the Nullarbor. Checking their distribution I found that they are absent on the Nullarbor and up through central WA…. something I was unaware of.

At Ophthalmia Dam I was surprised to see a few Common Sandpipers ….. I will report this to Birdline.

Absence of Parrots has been another surprise for me – although Bourkes Parrot and Princess Parrot have been seen in this area – so here’s hoping.

Nice sighting of a pair of Black Honeyeaters a few days ago.

To Newman

Sunday 26/08/12

 

On the way to Newman we pulled off the road for many road trains, but also many huge oversize vehicles with escorts – some took up more than half the road

all taking equipment to the mining areas. The road trains going the opposite way were mostly empty. Not many caravans.

A glorious day, 25 deg by 12.30 pm and not a cloud in the sky.

We passed through gibber plains

 

On one break we found some Bush Bananas – bush tucker.

A couple of flood plains as we reached further north

 

Some very tall Spinifex

 

A different fence construction for this part of the world – one hot wire, and an end post that was a hollow metal tube full of concrete.

 

The road side was lined with masses of thick blue Solanum bushes for long stretches

 And little white papery flowers

 

We saw many wildflowers that were the same as those growing at Newhaven….similar latitude, but about 800km west.
Yellow Desert Grevilleas, white Grevilleas and Turkey bush - Calytrix. Nectar from the Grevillea dripped all over my camera...Rob S will remember that.

 

 

 When we stopped to look at carpets of pink flowers,

We found that the flowers were not everlastings, but had soft petals

 

Rob spotted this little Ringtail Dragon when we went for a walk up to the look-out in Newman.

 

To Meekatharra

25/08/12

An easy drive today but the road was not very interesting, ...a remote, desolate place. Lots of mining.

From the lookout

Some different Mulla Mullas

and Eremophila trees with red flowers

Not much to do, but the sun was shining and we enjoyed the beautiful day, (too hot to go walking in the middle of the day) ...reading and planning for the next couple of weeks where we'll probably be out of range and away from shops etc, once we pass Newman.

Late afternoon we went for a walk to the Granites...beautiful....rather like the Devil's Marbles in the Centre.

 

 

 

Not surprising its getting warm, because we'll cross the Tropic of Capricorn tomorrow...same latitude as Rockhampton.

 

Mt Magnet day 2

As we took a lay day here, we could spend time driving around the tourist trail and having a good walk, after a leisurely start to the day.

Mt Magnet is the oldest continuously operating gold mine in Australia, and the extent of mining in the area is astounding.

 

The trucks look enormous but are only 1/3 the size of those used in the Super Pit at Kalgoorlie!

It has literally changed the landscape - massive waste heaps look like small mountian ranges.

For a change, we saw some good birds - White-winged Wren, Black Honeyeater, and a Mulga Parrot. We also had good views of a Wedge-tailed Eagle that flew directly overhead

and some Little Woodswallows.

The walks were beautiful around the Amphitheatre.

Grave of a mother and child who died of typhoid in1908.

 

 

 

 and The Granites .

"Look, there have been tree martins nesting in here"

 

 

 

These flowers looked like hairy caterpillars!

 

Tall Eremophila shrubs

And the first carpet of Everlastings

 

 

To Mt Magnet

23/8/12

Another really exciting day with flowers along the roadside – we wished Sue and Sal could have been there to share it with us!

 

 

 

Magnificent, tall Hakea shrubs...some with pink flowers, (look at the colour of the sky!!..a beautiful day)

 

 some with cream flowers,

and also some yellow Grevilleas like we saw last year.

Solanum and Ptilotus lined the road for kilometres, and there were many new flowers as well. (Yes, MORE flowers...sorry)

One little creeper had the shape of an old fashioned True lover's Knot

 



 

Filling up with diesel at Sandstone...only one bowser, and a lady with a shoulder bag processed the credit card. She's also the librarian and runs the museum...quite a character.

 

Most exciting of all, was seeing a Thorny Devil…Rob spotted it with its tail up, in the middle of the road. We did a U-turn and couldn’t find it, so turned back again and saw it there! In the meantime, a road train had passed over it without harm!!

After safely escorting him off the road, (he didn't run away but stayed still when we approached) we had a really good look at him. He was only about 15 – 20cm long and his camouflage was amazing.

To see such an iconic Australian reptile was a thrill.