19th Nov Tom Price

Myles has been asked to write the latest blog. Mainly because it involves big machines and manly things. 

We started the day off early not for any real reason but because it was an absolutely gorgeous morning. We sat outside the camper van absorbing the Australian vitamin D that was provided by the rising ball of heat in the sky. Eventually we had to get up and leave, so we packed up the camper and headed out, but first there was a problem, we must have missed a step in closing the awning as we stripped a bolt out of the side. So we bodged it and headed to the local department store. Purchased some massive self tapping bolts wound them in and pretended it never happened. 

We then headed to the visitor centre of Tom Price. Tom Price was a mining town, that in the 70's was only open to mine workers. If you didn't work in the mine you couldn't live there. It's also the highest town in all of Western Australia.

So the surprise from yesterday was that Deb had made some phone calls and had arranged for us to have a tour of one of the biggest mines in Australia. While we waited at the centre a bus then arrived with Rio Tinto on the side. We boarded and headed out to the mine. It was only a short ride and after about 10 minutes we arrived. As we were driving along the road we were driving next to a railway. The bus driver then said that this was the biggest privately owned railway network in the world and was driven by autonomous trains. (and southern rail are arguing about conductors)! Australia have trains with no drivers!! 

The trains that run on the railway are 2.5km long that's 1.6miles.

A loaded train of iron ore is worth between $1.5 - $2 million dollars depending on the ore type. Normally 5 trains a day leave the mine.....

We then entered through the gate and had to wait before we were given clearance to enter the 'pit' the mine itself if referred to the pit as its just a big hole in the ground basically. Clearance granted and we started a drive in avoiding the massive trucks that were hauling ore out of the mine. When I say massive trucks  I mean massive. 

Each truck will carry around 240 tonnes of iron ore. The total operating weight is 376tonnes. 

The engine is a caterpillar 16 cylinder quad turbo 4 stroke diesel.  That produces 2160hp at 1700rpm. It's also a hybrid. The Diesel engine drives electric motors that drive the wheels and when going down hill the engine shuts down and the motors spin in reverse to generate electricity. That still doesn't stop it using more than 1000 litres of diesel a day. That machine runs 24 hours a day and are driven in simulators on Perth. There's nobody actually in the machines in the mine! 

Anyway we headed up to the pit and were told to get off the bus after a long lecture of where we couldn't go and what we could/couldn't do. We headed up to the edge and it was similar to looking into the Grand Canyon. It was massive. These trucks that towered above us were little dots in the pit. 

Right at the bottom there was a vivid blue lagoon of water which is constantly pumped out and recycled. It's sprayed on the roads for dust suppression. It's such a vivid blue because of the shale that seeps out of the rock. 

Deb being Deb runs and waves at the water tanker that's driving past who waves back and sprays the massive water cannon vertically.

We then got back on the coach and did a circuit of the mine looking at all the various aspects of the project. There were some massive mounds of iron ore that are being stored on site as currently supply is outstripping demand so they are stockpiling for a rainy day.

We headed out of the mine and headed back to the car. Programmed the satnav and headed out to Ningaloo reef. Brimmed the truck with diesel and headed out. The satnav said we would arrive at 22:07 driving at dusk/night is very dodgy, the kangaroos like to jump out at cars for some stupid reason. So Ian put his toe down a little to try and take off some time. The drive was 707km (442 miles) and we completed it in 6 1/2 hours. Which was pretty impressive. We actually arrived at 18:03 to be precise. 

We parked up in our bay and let the car tick itself cool after its 42degree desert blast. It was so hot that the transmission wasn't changing gear by itself and the suspension wasn't coping through corners. The air con also wasn't blowing that cold either....

Dinner was the classic Aussie BBQ which was waffed down and we headed to bed early as it was a rather tiring day!