Going down

From Twin Falls it was definitely way back home. But there were two memorable stops.

Weipa - a mining town with  rules dictated by an all-protective company -  Rio Tinto..

Here are the richest in the world deposits of  bauxite. Additionally it is extremely easy to mine. Just strip half a metre top soil and here you are - 24 million tons per year. For me it was some disappointment. I expected deep excavations, enormous mining machnery, kilometres of conveyer belts. Instead there was just a loader and a truck... 

We took a 2 hours tour of the town and mine. Our guide worked for years in the mine as a truck driver. These monsters cost $3.5 million and burn 140 litres of fuel per hour. Each procedure is defined to the smallest detail. For example preparation for filling the fuel tank contains over 20 steps. People are supposed to work like robots, but then they do not have to worry about the rest. It reminded me Aldous Huxley's Brave New World - everything taken care of by the omnipotent Company - housing. health, education, recreation and work. Company rules are that at least 30% of employees must be Aborigines and at least 30% must be female.
The Company has a special agreement with original owners of the land, which makes it practically independent of Australian Government.

We hit the road again and soon we are hit by another surprise. Doors of one of luggage compartments broke off and one piece of luggage dropped out. Luckily it was immediately noticed and recovered...

We blocked the faulty door with sticks and straps and moved on.

There was some traffic on the road...

Crossing more beautiful rivers and more crocodile warnings...

And, after 3 days we reached again familiar hills, green and dense vegetation and a town. Not just a town but Cooktown...

This was a place of not the first collision of ship Endeavour with the reef. Captain Cook is commemorated in many places...

Another notable visitor was The Queen in 1970 on the 200th anniversary of captain Cook's landing. The solid memory of this visit are the steps...

now accessible to any commoner.

The real treasure of memories and information we found in James Cook Museum...

There I noticed a board with quotes of some great people about Captain Cook...

There is one smart quote of certain Paddy Waiub (?): Too much captain Cooks! It is followed by a proper rhyme:

Captain Cook chased a chook
all around Australia.
He lost his pants in the middle of France
and found them in Tasmania.

Full text HERE.


But there is more in Cooktown that just Captain Cook. Wait for the next chapter...

Jump to - earlier entries - Part1, Part2, Part3, Part4, Part5, Part6 - Later - Part8