Tanami Track

The Tanami Desert
When mum and dad said that we were going to travel 1000 km across desert plains on the Tanami Track,I pictured a hot place with no vegetation, no animals or interesting events.  well it was hardly that.

The first day we travelled to Wolfe Creek Crater and the next morning we went to see the crater where a meteorite had hit.  It was so amazing to be able to see a real crater. We started back on the Tanami Track. After lunch we stopped and saw strange footprints but the next day we saw some camels and the mystery was solved. The footprints were made by camels.

Along the way we stopped at Yuendumu to look at the  art gallery.  There were so many beautiful artworks that we even bought some paintings. Many of the artworks were dot art. It was so fascinating to see so fascinating to see the artists paint.

Facts about Wolfe Creek Crater
*The meteorite hit the earth 300,000 years ago.
* The crater is the second largest in the world.
* The crater was thought to be 120m deep when the meteorite first hit but is now only 20m deep.
* The aborigines tell the story of the crater being formed by two rainbow snakes coming to form Wolfe Creek and Sturt Creek. The crater was formed when one of the snakes came out of the ground. The snake's name was Karlputa who came from the coast south of Broome. The centre of the crater is salty because Karlputa came from the sea.

Gibb River Road

We have finished our quest of the Gibb River Road. We started off by going to Windjana Gorge and seeing a number of freshwater crocs. On the second day we went to Tunnel Creek, this is a very important site to Aborigines because this is where Jandamarra, an aboriginal legend survived for three years. The police had blocked both ends so he couldn't get out but he still did. He had escaped as an aboriginal tracker and was on the run for three years until he was found and shot by another aboriginal tracker. This story is very important to aboriginal culture.
We have seen so many gorges lately, it hard to count them all but they are all special and unique. There have been so many exciting adventures and places we have seen and done. I am sure that if we ever do another trip there will be alot of "have to come back" spots. We have a month left and I hope it doesn't go too quickly. We have alot of places yet to come that will satisfy the human eye. I have also included a photo of a G.T I caught this was not on the gib river road.

Croc Facts

Crocodiles
There are two types of crocodiles found in Australia. Estuarine crocodiles (salties) and freshwater crocodiles (freshies). Both types are only found in the north of Australia and both are protected. Any killing, poaching, or interfering with crocodiles, their eggs or habitat  has penalties up to $10,000.

Freshies
Freshwater crocodiles inhabit freshwater rivers and creeks. They feed on fish, insects and small aquatic animals. Freshies are small compared to salties and rarely grow longer than 3 metres.

Salties
Despite what their name suggests, salties are not found only in saltwater but are sometimes found  in freshwater. Salties are the largest of all crocodiles. They can grow up to  7 metres long. They mainly feed on fish and water birds but occasionally feed on large animals like wallabies. Their size and large snout make it easy to recognise them in the wild. Salties are dangerous to humans.

The Whale Shark

FACTS & FIGURES
Whale sharks normally range from 5-10 metres but have been reported to reach the length of 20 metres. They can swim up to 13,000 km across the ocean.  In its lifetime the whaleshark can give birth to approximately  300 pups. Whalesharks have the thickest skin of all animals.

SAVING THESE GENTLE GIANTS
10 %  of the countries the whaleshark is known to visit have laws for protecting the whaleshark. This means that in many countries it is still legal to kill these harmless animals.  In asia you will find that whaleshark fins are sold at high prices to be on display at things like restaurants and weddings.

Despite some protection, whalesharks are still threatened in many parts of the world. To ensure the whalesharks future  is safe, governments need to facilitate and encourage:
- research programs to establish better understanding of movements and habits of these animals
- an international program to identify the survival of the species eg breeding habits
- a formal international agreement to protect whalesharks from fishing and other threats.

Australia is researching to find out why whale sharks come together each year in certain places for example Ningaloo. Reseach programs are also finding out general information e.g how deep whalesharks dive, with satellite tags.

More photos from Karajini

Here are some more photos from Karijini. Sorry it took so long to get them up.

Swimming With WHALE SHARKS!

Wow well it was an unforgettable experience. On friday morning we were at the jetty by 7:45am. By 8:00 we had been on a smaller boat that took us out to our boat that we would go to see the whale sharks on. When got about 700m away from shore we snorkled on the reef I was a little unsure at first but the I realised that instead of thinking about the bad things in the water I  thought I should look at the beautiful Marine Park. At 10:00 the spotter plane went up and that's when the fun started. When we found our first whale shark the water was too choppy to see the shark so we got back on the boat. The next time we had a bit more luck. When we got in the water the guide told us where the whale shark was and there it was right next to us. I was a bit frightened to see it right there. After we swam with it we got on the boat a bit over whelmed. We swam with four sharks and were wowed by the experience. Then we snorkled on the reef one last time. It was amazing.

Pilbara Mining - Mt Whaleback

Mount Whale Back Mining

Mining at Mount Whale Back is very profitable.  It is producing 600 train cars of iron ore a day, which could be increased. It is located in the Pilbara.

Pit Statistics

Mount Whale Back is currently 5.5 km long and 1.5 km wide. The mountain was originally 805 metres above sea level. The miners are currently mining down at 135 metres below sea level.  Each of the steps in the pit is 15 metre high.  These steps are called benches.

History

Iron ore was first discovered in Whale Back by Stan Hilditch (who turned a hill into a ditch LOL) in 1957 and mining started in 1967.

Railroad 

Mount Whale Back has the longest privately owned railroad in the southern hemisphere. It stretches 426 km from Newman to Port Headland.

Machinery

Machines are important in the mine. Mount Whale Back owns 22 of the 30 200 tonne Wabco ore trucks produced in the world. Tyres cost up to $30,000 and and last up to 12 months.

Where are the trucks?

Look at the picture of the trucks lined up waiting to be filled. Can you find these trucks in the photo of the main pit?