ACTIVITY ABOUNDS

 

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here’s an amazing number of road-trains traversing the Great Northern Highway. B-doubles, triples, quadruples … well, something like that. Where are they all going? What are they carrying? Some have massive machinery on board … going where? To do what?

And their cabins are so well-equipped: air-con, bed, fridge-freezer, a microwave, as well as all the technology to tell them what’s happening to the motor, and to communicate … especially to the late-night talk-back programs.  Plus the roads are all sealed, smooth and straight.

Not so very long ago, the truckies on these roads would have to stop when tired and hungry, light a fire to boil the billy for a cuppa, and warm up some ‘tinned dog’ to eat, then roll out their swag on the side of the road for a kip.

[It wasn’t really tinned ‘dog’ … they just called tinned corned beef that.]

So much of the up-graded highway now runs along the more stony Pindan country, where there’s a better foundation. Part of it used to run along the sand dunes nearer the coast, providing the driver with enormous challenges: could he get enough speed going downhill to have the momentum to get to the top of the next dune?

You don’t get many vistas along this route, which some people might find boring … but if you observe, there are subtle changes in the vegetation: change of species, colour, shape and textures, which could indicate presence of water, or rocks, or hills. Flowering wattle, grevilleas and banksia, and smaller shrubs provide endless variety, with suddenly an unexpected stand of paper-barks.

Occasionally you come across the grazing plains: Plumb Plain at Fitzroy Crossing, Roebuck Plains near Broome, and Anna Plains further south. Recent rains have boosted the fodder … and the cattle are in excellent condition.

We’re slowly getting nearer the Pilbara … nearer the obvious mining activity. It’s all fascinating.