Dampier

The statue of RED DOG (the Pilbara Wanderer) had a steady stream of visitors whilst we were in Dampier. Whether it had something to do with the release of the movie 'Red Dog' we're not sure. Red Dog certainly plays a part in the history of Dampier, there is even a table of press cuttings and books set up in the local library for viewing. The movie was filmed outside the caravan park where we stayed.































We loved this humourous sculpture in the Dampier salt beds






Historic Sam's Island off the Dampier foreshore.
Sam Ostojich arrived in the Pilbara in the 1960's. He fell in love with Tidepole Island and by hand he turned the rocky site into an oasis, building his own castle which he called home. He died in 2005 and is buried on the island.







Long Iron Ore Train of 200+ carriages















Train Museum






















Container Ships lined up waiting for iron ore

NEW NORSICA

Australia's Spanish Town, New Norcia is the only monastic town in Australia. The New Norcia Mission was founded in 1846, a vision of Benedictine Monks Dom Rosendo Salvado and Dom Joseph Serra.


New Norsica Hotel






















St Joseph College

&

St Gertrude College



















The Monastery















The Abbey Church














The historic Flour Mill

Geraldton

We were fortunate to be in Geraldton to witness the arrival of the 'Endeavour' replica which is currently circumnavigating Australia. It was quite a ceromony with a reproduction of the 'BATAVIA' longboat rowing out to meet it amid a cannonball salute before escorting it to port.



















HMAS Sydney II Memorial - Geraldton. The centre of the memorial is the 'Dome of Souls' sculpted from a flock of 645 stainless steel Silver Gulls (each gull represents one of the 645 men lost)











The Geraldton Cathedral and its usual interior striped paintwork

The Pinnacles & Leuseur National Park

We were surprised at the size of the area covered by the Pinnacle formations. We drove the 7 km circuit stopping at designated spots to walk among them, looking at the many different shapes and sandstone colours












































This Pinnacle reminded David of 'Casper the friendly Ghost'












A selection of wildflowers we saw on our walk through Leuseur National Park.

Sandy Point Conservation Park, Lake Thetis

We spent three nights bush camping close to the beach at Sandy Point Conservation Park with its turquoise water and white sand. We had one night of extreme weather with gale force winds accompanied by lightning and thunder (long & loud). We survived the night and shared our experiences with fellow campers the next morning.










There are lots of large sand dunes leading up to the beach and tobogganing is as much a sport here as swimming and fishing.





We walked across the top of the sand dunes as the sun was setting








The sand dunes at sundown










New pier at Jurien Beach















The old pier



























Lake Thetis is another location where stomatolites continue to grow. There are two types known as Microlbial cousins - stromatolites are built in layers while their relatives, thrombolites are clotted structures. Both are present at Lake Thetis