Millstream Chichester National Park

It’s funny how it’s possible to build a picture in your mind of what a place is like, but then arrive there & find it to be quite different.
Millstream Chichester was one such place for us. Nothing to do with our tortuous entry to the park, but more to do with the promotional material associated with it.

The two most advertised ‘drawcards’ are photos of Python Pool & the water lily laced pools at Millstream. What we had not expected was the extensive spinifex encrusted hills nature of the park (albeit with a company owned twin rail line running through it’s middle to carry iron ore to the port in Karratha), the Fortescue River with apparently unique Millstream Palms along it’s side & the Millstream Pools themselves were also a bit of a surprise. We had had no idea that these essentially formed a ‘backyard/garden’ to the now uninhabited Millstream homestead. Nor had we realised that these were artesian pools with beautiful green tinged crystal clear water. Maybe we should have done more research prior to arriving, but we enjoy being surprised now & then. 🙂

Our intended stay at the ‘4wd only’ campground near to Python pool was thwarted – it is no longer open. Instead we stayed at the generator-free, but nicer (we thought) of the two other campgrounds – ’Stargazers’. 15 individual sites & minimal facilities. We found it a very pleasant & relaxing place to be & ended up staying 3 nights. Volunteer campground hosts were keen to help folk get the most from their visit, & we enjoyed a little socialising with other campers in the evenings.

We walked to the ‘Cliff Top Lookout’, – a somewhat uninspiring walk with, to us, a big surprise at the end which more than made up for the walk. The Fortescue River, a large & flowing body of water below us was unexpected. Mostly we have found very large inland rivers to be temporary rivers, all dry until now. Seeing it below us brought forth gasps & exclamations from us both. Later we returned there again by car, & before leaving saw another couple walking toward the cliff top as we had done. I ‘intercepted’ them shortly before they reached the cliff top, keen to see their reaction on seeing the river below them. They struck up a conversation as we we walked along the cliff top, saying they too had found the walk there a little disappointing. I suggested they look to their right & enjoyed their gasps & exclamations that such a sight was right there & until that moment they had had no idea.

Further downstream a picnic area together with shade structures, concrete paths, bbq’s & steps into the river. A swimming spot we assume is mainly for folk who come in for day tours – via Pannawonica in 2wd cars or coach trips. A large & very full river, but with infrastructure not to our taste, although we don’t begrudge it to those who prefer something like that.

Millstream Homestead itself we enjoyed. It now houses a number of information boards plus rooms with a variety of station & aboriginal artefacts. We particularly liked that these artefacts were just sitting there, & later commented to the camp host how pleasing we found the trusting nature of the park authorities in regard to items which could be easily stolen. His response was that we were very lucky to have seen them like that as the next day he was going to be helping rangers catalogue what was there prior to them being removed for safe keeping as with the relatively recent increase in visitor numbers to the park a number of items had indeed been stolen. Eventually the artefacts will be returned to the homestead, but will then be locked in glass cabinets. We all agreed that this was a sad but unfortunately necessary state of affairs.
The pools & streams flowing from the springs at the rear of the homestead are in a beautiful area shaded by introduced palms (date palms we think). On a hot day it made for a lovely wander, even though one of the main pools (Crossing Pool) had been closed off due to bank erosion making it unsafe.

A highlight was seeing several Star Finches sitting together on a tree branch, striking little birds, olive green with bright red faces. Only ones we have ever seen. Unfortunately my efforts to photograph them were hampered by the lens I had fitted at the time, & were rather disappointing.

Out on the homestead lawns were more roos than we have seen since leaving home. Many folk have commented along the way about how much less visible wildlife seems to be around this year. Personally I saw the first roo just over 5000 kms from home, & until Millstream had seen a total of only 5. The ones here were not large but had a lovely reddish colour, different to the ‘Big Red’ desert roos.

We almost gave Python Pool a miss as it was back up in the Chichester section of the park, meaning we had to travel back up & down that horrendous section of road. However, wisely as it turned out, we chose to once again grit our teeth & go. Travelling northward (& in daylight) was bad, but nowhere near as bad as travelling south & in the dark. Once off that section of road it was ‘normal’ corrugations for a few kms & the road then unexpectedly & inexplicably became a beautifully smooth sealed road which snaked up & down & in & out of hills affording the most gorgeous views.

Python Pool was just like in the brochures, but very cold. My dip was brief, over to the far side & back, then out , only occurring after MrsTea had been in for a little while, cajoling me to come in & telling me that it wasn’t that cold. She lied!

Millstream Chichester NP was we feel a place greater than the sum of it’s parts, hard to quantify but overall beautiful & a worthwhile visit.

From Millstream we took the ‘back road’ south eastward to the Auski Roadhouse on the Newman – Port Hedland Road.

This took us through the now almost ghost town of Wittenoom. Once an asbestos mining town where now only a couple of individuals still live. The asbestos was mined a little south of the town in the Wittenoom Gorge. We thought it wise not to go there, instead contenting ourselves with a slow drive around the streets & houses. The camera remained in it’s case as I felt uncomfortable filming the dereliction of a place where folk still lived. Most accounts of folk who have visited Wittenoom that I have read, focus upon the near ghost town nature of the place. None that I can recall have mentioned what a beautiful location it is for a town, nestled as it is into the northern hills of what is now Karijini National Park (One of Australia biggest gems in our view – but a park we have chosen not to return to this trip, but will doubtlessly visit again in the future) & looking out over pastel plains to huge blue skies & hills on the horizon.

A little anecdote I can’t resist sharing.
Not too far from Millstream Chichester we encountered a large dual axle caravan being towed, & recognised as one we had seen the previous day. It had approached us in the middle of the road & at what we thought a fast & somewhat reckless speed. Clearly the driver was one of a breed, thankfully small in number from our experience to date. This breed appears to think they own the road & unlike most who slow & pull well left when passing in the opposite direction, making less dust to assist with visibility, & less risk of throwing up rocks to damage windscreens, seem to expect others to simply give them a wide berth. On that occasion the size of his rig & the speed he was approaching at suggested even if we pulled over as far as we could & stopped, there was a high possibility we would still be peppered with rocks. In the circumstances I chose instead to pull over into the middle of the road also, remaining there until I could see him slow down, before moving back to the far left. It worked & we passed each other without incident. He did however fail to reciprocate my wave as he passed, such wave being standard outback ‘protocol’.

Anyway back to seeing him again on our way to Wittenoom. We were travelling at a slow pace, around 40Kph when he approached from behind. He was coming up fairly quickly. Next moment he was no longer in view. For a short time we were puzzled but thought perhaps he had stopped for a cuppa, or possibly had a puncture. We continued on confident there would be others on the road to assist if he needed it. 10 minutes later we saw him pass us on another track off to our left – a private track along the rail track, for maintenance purposes & not for use by the general public. Although tempting to take it ourselves (it was a much smoother track) we had respected the rules & remained on the rough stuff. Mr BigVan had not. We swore about him as he passed at twice our speed feeling both envious of ‘his’ track & annoyed by a chap who in our minds was one who lived in his own little world to the exclusion of everybody else’s. A pig headed chap with questionable parentage we thought.

20 or 30 kms further on we reached a junction & rail crossing. Turn right to go to the town of Tom Price via a private Rio Tinto company track, requiring a permit (having done a short OH&S course to obtain it) or straight on across the rail crossing to Wittenoom. A train was passing – this can take a while as these ore trains generally have two locomotives, one at the front & one in the middle, & with so many ore carriages the train can reach 3 kms long! Whilst sitting & waiting we noticed Mr BigVan sitting at the end of the track he had taken. Problem for him was that blocking his way was a locked & unmanned gate. Not only was he going to have to return to where he had turned onto that track, but he was going to have difficulty turning around given the length of his rig & the width of the track. Perhaps cruel but we both found his situation more than a little amusing. Karma! It made our day! 🙂

On the outskirts of Wittenoom we took just one photo of a now derelict fuel servo & then continued eastward ,

following the breathtaking Karijini hills on our right. These are stunning & dramatic hills, coloured & vegetated in a manner which make them unique in our experience. Eye magnets.

About 5 or 10 kms short of Auski (Munjina) & the Port Hedland Rd, on the Munjina Rd we took a punt & followed a small track off to our left. The map showed it taking another route to the highway but also coming out near to the roadhouse. It turned out to be a disused road, but made a perfect overnight camp spot, nice & level, a view of those hills & hidden away a couple of kms off the main road.

Next morning we refuelled at Auski, MrsTea refused to buy eggs at $12 per dozen, but then bought two hardboiled eggs for $4, an odd decision I thought, but nevertheless enjoyed the egg sandwich I had for lunch. In hindsight it was a good move, until then we hadn’t thought to boil eggs to have cold for lunches, now we do.