Mining at Mooka - Phase One

We've just completed the first three weeks of this year's mining.

This is my third year of accompanying Glenn to mine rock and after the first year I started to put together a list of what we needed to take. (It's a 'woman' thing, I suppose.) Glenn's been doing this for years and has never had anything written down; he just throws everything in and off he goes. I need a list and this list has become "The List" and I wouldn't be without it. We're miles from civilisation for sometimes weeks at a time so I must feel organised.

We've done the 'big shop' (groceries galore), Glenn's done his packing which amongst other things includes every vehicle spare he can carry and I've got enough first aid and medications to open a chemist shop. Plus newspapers and books to last a year.

We got away mid-morning making it to Geraldton for dinner. There can't be many roadhouses that overlook the ocean as this one does; you can see the sea from the restaurant over the top of three or four roadtrains parked in the carpark.

As I still have coverage on my mobile phone there I usually call my sons and as I did so this year I realised that this time last year I could only phone Doug. Matt was in Iraq. What a lovely feeling it was to be able to call him in Melbourne where he lives happily with his new wife.

After dinner we get back on the road and do a few more hours before we pull off and unroll our swags to get some sleep. We are awake before the sun is up and make an early start. We get to Carnarvon and have eggs and bacon for breakfast, yum! As we head further north I'm amazed at how green the verges are when there is such a drought. The wildlife and cattle are attracted to this luscious growth and this makes driving hazardous. They can be very unpredictable and I've seen one or two cow's carcasses along the way. However, kangaroos are another story. Dead bodies all over the place! The crows and eagles have a feast (if they don't get collected by a passing vehicle themselves!)

Smartypants Woody, as soon as he sees the 'errant wildlife', pushes his way from behind the seats of the land cruiser and sits on the passenger seat. He decides he needs to ride 'shotgun' and proceeds to tell all wildlife where to go in no uncertain terms. I put a finger in my left ear.

I consequently have his breath misting up the windscreen and wet nose stains all over it too. But he's good company. He's excited. He knows exactly what's going on, where we're off to and what lies ahead. He's looking forward to lots of water to swim in and wildlife to chase.

Soon I can see the Kennedy Ranges in the distance and we turn off the bitumen and soon reach Winnamia which is where we bring the bags of rock to be loaded. There is a woolshed and living quarters here - all built of tin, run-down and completely abandoned. But there are still rain water tanks that fill from the roof gutters and when our supply has got low it has been a good standby as the water in the Gascoyne River and Mooka Creek is a bit too full of minerals to drink.
So we leave Glenn's truck there and drive to Jimba Jimba to collect the Mercedes. I have to say that I was impressed when Glenn told me he had a Mercedes. And here she is..



The people at this cattle station are quite happy for Glenn to store her there and have even done repairs on her for him free of charge. She's come in handy for the odd job for them too. I call her our "Rock Goddess". If not for this 6 Wheel Drive truck we would have to do an extra 160km round journey each time to get the rock to town. With the Rock Goddess we are able to transport the bags of rock from the mine across the Gascoyne River to Winnamia where it can be loaded on to a roadtrain.

Crossing the river the first time with fully loaded vehicles is usually a bit tricky. Woody couldn't care less - he's found what he came for:






The Land Cruiser is fully loaded and pulling a fully loaded trailer so I knew I'd be lucky to get across first time. I got so far but Glenn ended up towing me with the truck. I find this all a bit traumatic. He doesn't.

Before you know it, we're at Mooka, camp's set up, tarp's in place for shade, fridge is on the way to getting cold, tent is up and bedding in place and the kettle's on!



And it's not long before Glenn has unloaded the backhoe and is digging Mookaite. Turning this:

Into this:

And making lots of work for me!! Like this:

Digging rock like this:

To be made into things like beads, carvings,

or the really really top of the wozza stuff into things like this:

I now realise how easy we had it last year. Few mechanical problems and few flies. This year.. mechanical problems big time and more flies than you could poke multiple sticks at!

We came armed with numerous cans of personal fly repellant and a fly net for my face that I wore constantly. We cannot, however, carry a spare gear box for the Land Cruiser. Yep, almost completed one of our many river crossings when "Phhhht!" no gears. But never fear, bush mechanic is here. Glenn ordered a new gearbox from Perth, got it sent up to Carnarvon, we collect it, get the LC to the camp on the back of the Rock Goddess, and he fixes it. Amazing!

The offending article.

We tried a fly net for Woody as they'd made camp on his nose, poor thing.

Didn't last long, surprisingly.

The best times are early morning and evening when the flies go to bed and all is quiet.

Dog's are not allowed in the tent.