Karratha: Life in the Desert

July 2015

Into the second month in Karratha and the novelty of being back in work was wearing off. At least I had made it on to the bar by now which is much more of what I'm used too even if that does mean handing out waters to be big drunk miners and listen to people moan that they have to wait half an hour between shots. It was nice to be settled somewhere for the first time in a while and to make some new friends. I had got to know everyone quite well by now, just in time for everyone to leave.

The hill looking good in the sun

Within a few days of each other Hayley, Anji and Bella all left. This was just after Beki and Hayden had gone too. That's a good chunk of the team gone. I felt like I just got to know them and then they left. It meant that those that remained got more hours which was good but that also meant I had very few people around for my birthday.

Birthday drinks

I had planned to make my return trip to Karijini but as the people had left who I had planned to go with I decided not to go. I wouldn't have been able to get the time off either as there was very few staff at this point. Instead I opted for drinks around the Corbett house. It was a bit of a chilly day. Look at me wearing a jumper in Karratha! Mental! The pool was really cold so we didn't go in that either. I'm not really one for sitting around drinking, I'd rather be doing something but there isn't much to be done around here.

Bobbi's birthday

A week later it was Bobbi's birthday and we did exactly the same thing! I think we both found it a bit frustrating that the core of the group had gone and we hadn't quite found their replacements yet. Both our birthdays could have been awesome but we were in all in mourning.

When I went to bed this beastie was on my window.

Good evening

The next morning I woke up and the ground was wet. Apparently water had fallen from the sky in like these droplet type things. Really weird. I think you call it rain. It was the first rain I'd seen since I arrived 8 weeks previous. I thought that was a shockingly long time without rain but it was nothing.

Rain

This was the last time I saw significant rainfall in Karratha. I still had over 4 months left and it didn't rain once in that time. There was one night it was spitting a bit and I got really over excited but that was it. I really missed the rain by the end. I'm English, if I don't get raining on I dry up. Karratha was to remain hot and dry for the remainder of my stay.

When you try to fit 4 people and a bike in a car

At the end of July we lost another couple of staff. The German 'lesbians' moved on as well. They weren't actual lesbians. Everyone just thought they were because they were so touchy with each other. Them leaving was a good excuse for a rare staff photo.

Current crew

Point Sampson

At the end of the month a chose to get out of town on my day off. I drove over to Point Sampson which is about a 40 minute drive from Karratha. The beaches here are much nicer. I saw an octopus whilst I was paddling which was very exciting!

Squidly

Colourful rocks

I went around to Honeymoon Cove which is probably the nicest spot in the area. The jagged rocks are quite colourful and the water would be nice to swim in if it were a bit warmer. Its only 25C outside. Far to cold to be getting wet!

Honeymoon Cove

The Indian Ocean

Sharp rocks

It was just about to leave this very pleasant beach when I came across a rotting turtle that was really stinking. Not so pleasant.

Ew

Next stop on my exciting adventure out of town was to Cossack which immediately became my favourite place in this whole area. The lookout out gave 360 degree views of the beach and the river estuary. It really was spectacular. I vowed to return to this place before I left but I left it too long and the flies and multiplied by a billion which made it impossible to get out of the car without wanting to self harm.

Nearly like Whitsundays

End of the river

Just before I headed back to the bright lights of K city I stopped off at Wyndam for a touristy pick with the huge truck that was parked just outside of the town.

Got myself a massive truck

I drove back to town and the next day I was back at work. I really needed a good night out by this point. I hadn't been out for a very long time thanks to some weird hip injury I managed to give myself and I was starting to go a little crazy. That drought was about to end. Spectacularly.