Tom Price.

As with Marble Bar, our perceptions of this town were quite apart from reality. Sitting at 747m above sea level, the town is picturesque with beautiful trees and gardens. It was established in the early 60’s initially as a closed mining town but since then is open to anyone, although most of the population are connected to the mines. 

The shopping centre is compact and the supermarket is well stocked and competitively priced. We are staying in the caravan park and have some grass, water and a view of the nearby mountain, called Mt Nameless. 

This mountain provides a challenge for 4WD enthusiasts as it a very rough and  rocky incline to the summit of some 1100m. Darryl took up this challenge and tested out the Ranger. It was certainly rough and gave Darryl lots of opportunity to test out all the features such as diff lock and hill descent. On our trip down, the car did all the work - and very well too The view at the top was terrific and worth the effort (although at times Tops and I had to focus on the scenery, not the road!) 

Dennis’s kitchen fired up again and we enjoyed a vanilla mud cake for our morning tea - we’re being spoilt!

Upon advice from many visitors, we undertook a Rio Tinto mine tour which was as informative and amazing as predicted. The tour took us into the mine site and we were bombarded with information which is mind boggling!

With 10 mines in this area, the income generated is enormous - each automated train is 2.5km long and carries 3.2million US $$ and 4 trains run a day! That’s a lot of money!

The cost of fuel, tyres, maintenance and labour is enormous. Some of the big tyres are worth $250,000 and would have enough steel in them to make a Toyota Ute! The big red  excavator  has been  decommissioned and replaced by even bigger machines!

I found it amazing that amongst all of this mining work, wild flowers still manage to bloom! We have been told that later in the season the wildflowers are spectacular.

So with our tour completed, cars and clothes washed and cupboards restocked, we head off tomorrow towards Newman, another mining town. We will be heading more into the outback as we head south so our days will be spent longer in the cars with less sight seeing. The days are still warm and sunny but cooler nights mean the van heaters are firing up! This is luxury camping! We hope the long weekend is enjoyed by everyone - keep safe and well. Love from the lucky wanderers! ❌❌❌