Mt Nameless, Tom Price, Western Australia |
I had no idea that at 747 metres (2450
ft) above sea level Tom Price is the highest town in Western
Australia. I had no idea Tom Price is at the foot of the highest
Western Australian mountain with a summit accessible by road. And I
had no idea that the town was named for American geologist ThomasMoore Price, instrumental in founding the area's mining industry.
Who tragically died only two hours
after being told that a rich ore deposit had been discovered in the
area. But that's a story for another day …
Tom Price Township ... and Mt Nameless, Western Australia |
I didn't know any of this before
driving into Tom Price after camping in nearby Karijini National Park
for a few days.
And I didn't care.
RED Dust at Karijini |
Preferably one with a built in RED DUST removal filter.
But finding the unlikely oasis of Tom
Price in the red – actually, make that BEYOND red – heart of the
Pilbara region in the Western Australian Outback was a bonus.
And
even though we spent less than 24 hours in this top little town we
found at least 6 reasons to come back for more one day!
No, I haven't forgotten the name of the
impressive peak that looms 1128 metres (3700 ft) above the town and
manages to find its way into virtually every photo …
Mt Nameless, Tom Price, Western Australia |
… It really IS called Mt Nameless. By non-Indigenous people, anyway. The local Indigenous people know it as Jardrunmunhna, or 'place of rock wallabies'.
It's a 30 minute 4WD drive to the top
on gravel roads OR a 3 hour return walk for views of the ranges, the
Tom Price mine site and the town of Tom Price. Or so they tell me …
visiting the summit is something that is SO on the list for next
time!
Tom Price Tourist Park in the shadow of Mt Nameless |
After spending our first few hours in
Tom Price removing red dust from all exposed surfaces of the car and
camper trailer; much of our clothing; and ourselves, we had time to
admire the stupendous setting of this excellent Caravan park.
A short walk from the back of the
camping area ascends to a viewing area just perfect for both sunset
AND sunrise.
Mt Nameless on the one hand; the extraordinary
Hamersley ranges that dominate the Pilbara on the other.
All under a
sky so archetypally outback it immediately turns one's photos into
cliché shots ...
Hamersley Range from Tom Price Tourist Park, Pilbara, Western Australia |
3 The Wildflowers:
I don't know what they're all called.
And I don't care! But these are just a few of the remarkable array
of flowers growing in the iron-rich soil of the Pilbara within cooee
of the caravan park.
Tom Price Wildflowers, Western Australia |
All that red dust removal and
jaw-dropping scenery admiration can work up a healthy appetite. And
during our August 2012 visit, the Moon Palace Chinese restaurant
delivered the goods with one of the best meals of our trip!
Lake Knox, Tom Price, Western Australia |
Above the town, the lookout gives an interesting perspective. And just down the road
amidst all the RED, Lake Knox provides an unexpectedly cool, green
picnic area. But no swimming – the pond is part of the sewage
filtration network ...
Gateway to Karijini, Tom Price
makes a fine base from which to explore what is arguably Australia's
most dramatic National Park with the closest entry point only 50 km
(31 miles) east.
And Karijini is well worth visiting
with some of the most spectacular scenery, gob-smacking gorges, RED
rocks and magnificent mountains in the country.
Like THIS:
But … Tom Price makes an even finer
staging post for the RED and filthy campers who emerge from a few
days at Karijini looking for a pleasant spot to clean up, hole up,
rest up and eat up! (See #2 above … the Tom Price Tourist Park!!)
6 But Wait! There's MORE ...
Tom Price has more to offer those who,
unlike us, are able to extend their stay. So here's what we'll be
doing next time!
Town Lookout, Tom Price |
A drive (or walk!) to the Mt Nameless
summit is a must, and what adventurer could pass up the opportunity
to take a Tom Price mine tour to one of the biggest mine sites in the
world? Out of town is the Kings Lake recreation area and Mt Sheila
Lookout. And a number of tour operators offering Karijini and
Aboriginal Cultural tours are based in the town.
But I'll just be happy for the chance to
prove I'll never get tired of admiring Mt Nameless and the extraordinary Hamersley Ranges!
Read MORE:
such magnificent and spectacular red scenery; love it! The wildflowers are unique; another great post Red
ReplyDeleteYou make it sound attractive, and not a mention of Lang or Gina. The wildflowers look unique.
ReplyDeleteWow, great informative post! landscapes looking fetching to visit. really, you have an amazing account. To know about India travels then please visit.
ReplyDeleteThe scenery is breathtaking! Like country begging to let be as is! Let it be beautiful Nature's way! Love the drama of colour in that first photo and such a magnificent variety of wild flowers! Extraordinary to find that they grow so well in such a harsh and dusty environment!
ReplyDeleteI want to hear more about Tom Price.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ashburton.wa.gov.au/visit-ashburton/tom-price/history/
ReplyDeleteSort of a short story I guess
Tom Price? What a name! Don't the locals have another name for Mt Nameless? It's so... creative haha By the way, I posted my first traveling stone photo on my latest post. I can't forward it yet, since it's the first time I've mentioned it. I have to drum up my readers' interest first :D How's the other stone? Sorry for the delay!
ReplyDeleteA rather 'neat' little town!
ReplyDeleteOf Thomas´s death I didn´t know but the rest of your first lines I did for a change, aww Tom Price!
ReplyDeleteDon´t remove Red dust too often, right? ;-)
Heck, didn´t know you can drive on Mt Nameless - we had a Nissan patrol LWB 4WD... There is a mine tour? Awww - didn´t know that, either.
Can´t wait to retire (ha-ha) and come back with all your tips at hand, Red!
G'day Red, I just love our rich red soils and stark but beautiful landscapes that seemingly go on forever. And those western wildflowers - swoonworthy for sure!
ReplyDeleteAwesome scenery at Karijini National Park!
Wow, so much red! The landscapes and views are beautiful. Love the Mt. Nameless and the wildflowers look pretty. Thanks for sharing the town and the park. Beautiful images. Have a great day!
ReplyDeleteLooks a great place but don't know about that bull dust. Haven't been there as yet to Tom Price.
ReplyDeleteThe pink and purple flowers are called Pink Mulla Mulla, Purple Mulla Mulla. Don't know the names of the others. It's amazing that no matter where you go in Australia you always see some flower :)
You take such fabulous photos Red! I love that first one and Lake Knoxwith the perfect bridge reflection.
ReplyDeleteI find it hard to believe now that when my sister went to work at Mt Tom Price mine in the 60s, in the early days of its development, I thought she was nuts. I had no idea the area was so beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI want to hear the Tom Price story too. It is a place I have often heard of but never seem so thanks for showing me around.
ReplyDelete@Carole - So RED it's BEYOND red!! And one of the most extraordinary landscapes I've seen! Glad you enjoyed it!
ReplyDelete@Andrew - It IS attractive when you're not thinking of Lang or Gina!!! But you could probably say that about almost anything ...
@ercotravels - It IS amazing - but I'm thinking totally NOT like India!
@Gemma - There's been talk of allowing mining in Karijini National Park which horrifies me. You can't drive anywhere much in the Pilbara without encountering mining and/or its effects. But between it all the scenery is AMAZING and more of it should be proclaimed National Park!
@SFlaGuy - Thanx for the link, I've added it to the post! There isn't really much info about him - maybe if not for the circumstances of his death, he'd have dropped into oblivion??
@Aleah - This is SO typical of Australian place names, haha! But the local one (see above) is almost unpronounceable!! Look forward to reading about the Stone's adventure - I've lost track of the other one!
@FruitCake - It doesn't much matter what the town itself looks like when it's surrounded by scenery like THIS!
@Iris - We were still removing red dust after we got home ... it's possible some of the attractions weren't allowed when you were there?? And we didn't do some of them either - maybe we should meet up & do them together!
ReplyDelete@Rose - Haha, it's ALL red and ALL good!! SO different from NNSW where I am now!!
@eileeninmd - Thank you! Not much to find wrong with this place, huh?!
@whiteangel - Thank you!! And you're right - wherever we go, whatever the time of the year, there's at least one wildflower waiting to be found!
@River - I was so excited when I saw the landscape for the 1st one I got Pilchard to stop the car immediately!! I took several trying to get it right - but the 1st one was the best! Go figure ...
@Pauline - Haha, she WAS nuts!!! Just because the scenery is beautiful doesn't mean I'd want to live there all year round!!!
@diane b - Hope you get to see it one day!! In the meantime, I've added SFlaGuy's link to Tom's name in the post. There really isn't that much info about him!
That´s a great idea, Red, to visit there together!
DeleteNah, guess we just didn´t know about it all. 1999, or rather '98 (planning-phase) - Internet in Germany? Pffff... s.l.o.w and expensive, forget about that. All we had was "The lonely Planet - Australia"...
@Iris - it's hard to imagine planning a trip pre-internet!! I didn't even really know it existed back in the 90's!! At least LP Australia showed you some good stuff, right?? I'm just filling in the blanks!!
DeleteKarijini is a fantastic place to visit, and Tom Price is great to explore too. Did you go on a mine tour? I am not sure if Lake Knox was there when we last visited in 2004 - it looks cool and inviting. And the views from Mt Sheila are nothing short of spectacular! I wish we could have camped up there overnight to see the sunset sunrise.
ReplyDeleteLove the name,love the scenery, love that campsite hate that dust.
ReplyDeleteLike your collage of wild flowers but you will have to wash your car.
ReplyDeleteGreetings,
Filip
Certainly there was enough RED in this post! Perhaps you should bottle a bit of the dust? It looks like you will have plenty to do next visit. I hope you make it to the summit soon.
ReplyDeleteGreat photos and story behind the photos!Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the trip down memory lane Red, it's been years since we went up to Tom Price..you must have been in your element..sooooooo much red :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a great post this is. It looks like the kind of place I'd love to explore and photograph if I was in Australia. I love those interesting wildflowers you've shown and the canyon looks so much like areas in my own territory, Arizona. Now I'm off to find this place on Google Earth.
ReplyDeleteWow! The area around Tom Price is stunning. I do love the name Mt. Nameless, someone's fantastic sense of humour. :) The photo ops appear to be endless. Oh how I would LVE to explore Tom Price!
ReplyDeleteA fabulous series - thanks so much for sharing the beauty of this region and accompanying background; it's the only way I'd ever get to see it!! (Thanks too for visiting my blog).
ReplyDeletetotally awesome place, love the flowers, the bridge and the gorge... thanks for stopping by my post yesterday... and i like viewing other parts of the world i can't see to
ReplyDeletewow! my eyes are wide as eyes can go!
ReplyDeletetotally gorgeous place. the scenery is truly stunning!
always a delight to pop by your lovely spot for a visit.
happy weekend~
missed you!
Tom Price sounds like a person and not a town.... again you out did yourself with the pictures.
ReplyDeleteExcellent set of pictures! Did you ever get all that red dust off?
ReplyDeleteAnother great post, OZ. I have learned so much about Australia by following along with you on your travels. I can't imagine having to deal with all that red dust!
ReplyDeleteGreat place...we have one thing in common in our travels and that is that there are so many places where we've been that we want to go back to...so many places and (in our case, I'm afraid) so little time....but we keep trying.
ReplyDelete@Jill - We really SHOULD have stayed at least another day!! Sometimes we look back at places we rushed through & wonder why we didn't stay when we had the chance ... and we're actually considered 'slow' travellers by most people's definitions!!
ReplyDelete@Fun60 - Haha, the dust is the best part - NOT!!!
@Filip - Hahaha, you're right! But we actually had to wash it several times ...
@TMWH - Actually, I DON'T have to bottle the dust ... we're still finding little stashes of it in places we missed when we washed the car!!!
@Steffi - It was almost as much fun to write about as to visit!
@PDP - Actually, it's BEYOND red!!! And such a pleasant surprise when I was expecting just another mining town like Port Hedland - ARRRRGGGHHH!
@Sharon - You're right, it IS very similar to Arizona - although I can only compare via pictures, I've never been there! Maybe we should do a swap one day and see how similar it REALLY is!!
@EGCG - I'm sure your fabulous photos would do it more justice than mine did ... although it's pretty hard to take a BAD pic with scenery like that!!
ReplyDelete@Valerie - There's a lot to be said for armchair travel via blogs, isn't there?!?!
@Sandra - I actually run out of superlatives to describe the landscape!!
@Betty - Missed you too! Lots of personal drama ... but blogging keeps me sane!! Thanx as always for your kind words - so great you could drop by!
@MJWC - It's actually a person AND a town - and an American person to boot!!
@Linda - Are you kidding?? We're still finding pockets of it in out of the way spots on the car & in our camper trailer!
@Cathy - One day I'll do an OZ food post ... if I can get out from beneath the cloud of dust!!
@Sallie - However much time we have it's too little ... the more we explore, the more we find to do!!
superbe merci pour ce beau partage
ReplyDelete