Iron Ore and history

Last night we stayed in a hamlet on the coast called Point Samson. A lovely beach which we took advantage of for a swim because there were no nasties, but as always, there is a downside. Apart from the fact that it blew a gale in the night, there is a plague of flies in the region. It's that time of year, and for the first time we have had to get our personal flynets out to cover our heads. It is surprising, as soon as we got ours out we saw that everyone is wearing them- it is the fashion here.But there are millions of the b*****s, and they are b***** persistent.

Today we took a trip with a tour bus and guide from the information centre in Roeburne, actually the old jail. He told us stories of the way the aboriginals were treated in the past, how when they were jailed they were chained to the floor in big dormitories and saw very little daylight. The Europeans were treated quite differently, just two to a cell and exercised regularly. The jail was built in 1886 and was still in use in the 1980s. Now it is the visitor centre and museum, but still has the rings in the floor that the locals were chained to.

As I said yesterday, one of the largest industries in this area is the export of iron ore. The product of over 30 mines in the Pilbara  are shipped from the twin docks at Dampier and Point Samson, many many millions of tons each year, which earns a lot of taxes for both West Australia and the Federal Government, to say nothing of the foreign exchange.
We saw trains of two kms long pulling into the unloading area, which lifts two wagons at a time and turns them upside down. Then the ore is sent by conveyor belt to holding piles, until big grabs once again puts it on a conveyor to be sent out to ships two kms offshore.
We had to wear safety gear before we were allowed into the site, perhaps a good idea as there was iron ore dust everywhere, not very pleasant. A lot of the machinery is operated by remote control from Perth, some 1800 kms away, and soon the trains will be driverless, again controlled from Perth. Eventually there will only be maintenance people on site.
This whole area has been irrevocably changed now, one wonders what will happen when the mines are worked out. But it earns a lot of money, as do the workers here. In fact this is one of the most expensive areas in Oz to live, with many house prices topping a million, and it is reflected in the camping charges that we have to pay, over twice that in other areas just a few miles away.
Onwards to nearby Cossack, once the largest coastal town north of Perth, now a ghost town of just a few buildings, and two caretakers. Housing some 900 people in the 1890s, it was the first pearling area in Oz, the local aboriginals were forced to dive for the oysters before the government banned it, and Asians were brought in to collect them from the sea bed using diving gear. There was also a turtle soup factory here, as well as a fish cannery, so in its day it was a thriving community.
Now there is just the court house museum, an old shop, and a couple of other houses in excellent repair, as the town is preserved for posterity by volunteers and local fundraising.