Point Samson and the Pilbara (& of course ‘Red Dog’)

Most of the towns up in the Pilbara are mining towns. We based our stay at Port Samson, which is a quiet coastal town (& very windy). We visited Honeymoon Cove, but I am sure there are much better places for a honeymoon (just a bit!). There is not much here apart from fishing, but a good place to explore nearby Cossack, Karratha & Dampier.

Honeymoon Cove - you be the judge

Cossack was a great place to visit filled with history. Today it is basically a ghost town with empty buildings or ruins, as the town was abandoned in the early 1950’s. Cossack was first declared a municipality in 1877 primarily as a pearling town, but after the turn of the century the pearling fleet moved to Broome and the gold rush had finished in the area. There was an attempt to save the town, but after World War II it was all lost. Everyone had moved out.

The old court house - now a museum

A view of the town of Cossack

The old school

Matt in prison again - The Cossack Gaol

Karratha is quite a sizeable mining town (it has Mackas, Target & Kmart – I guess that’s how to gauge the town size) and was an opportunity for some shopping and banking. The town itself appears to be really expanding with the mining in the area. There is so much road and housing construction going on. It is very similar to Port Hedland.

Just up from Karratha along the coast is a little town known as Dampier. It is big on iron ore mining and salt. However, most people will know Dampier for ‘Red Dog’. We got the classic photo of the Red Dog statute and had to purchase the movie to watch that night. It was very moving and had us all in tears of sadness at the end. Having been to Dampier, seen the movie and Red Dog’s statute we wanted to learn more on Red Dog. We just had to return the next day. For those who are yet to see the film, Red Dog is the incredible wandering kelpie who hitched his way to Dampier in the 70’s. He was the town’s dog, also known as the Pilbara Wanderer. He did have a special place for a master named John. It is worth watching if you haven’t. Red Dog was a lot like Tayla and really touched us.

The amazing Red Dog

As we made our way back to Point Samson, we got 2 more stone chips in the car window. It could be a good business opportunity for someone to replace windscreens up here!

It is now time to move further south towards Exmouth (Ningaloo Reef) for some amazing snorkelling.