Hammersley Gorge. 23.9.12

We spent a few hours at the Hammersley Gorge after a very picturesque drive through the ranges. We walked down into the gorge and found it full of men from the Solomom mine who were building the rail link to the main line to Karatha /Dampier which moves the iron ore. It was an RDO for them and most of them were well primed by the time we got there. They had been bussed out from their quarters, fed a wonderful seafood barbie compliments of the company and were having a great time unwinding. They jumped off the cliffs into the deep water, lolled on truck tyre tubes which they'd thrown from the lookout above and generally had a rowdy, enjoyable time. We spent some time talking to a few of them and met Kevin Borovic who played for the All Blacks in the 80's. He has Maori and Croatian ancestry and told us some very interesting things about working for Brierity, the company building the rail line.

We swam through the lovely gorge and then went in the opposite direction to a pool which was filled from a waterfall which plunged into a tiny, deep, circular and almost completely covered pool. It was extraordinary to be in it.

We left the gorge in the late afternoon and bush camped not faraway. We were joined by David, a man whose job it was to pilot the wide load vehicles. It was interesting to hear about the job and all it entailed and the training he had to do. We had a beer together under the glittering night sky and he was gone by the time we got up the next morning.