Friday 10 July 2009

Weipa

We arrived into Weipa looking forward to some town action – people, shops and sightseeing! The first afternoon was so hot though we decided to wait until morning to explore. The next morning was no better and by the time we hiked the 5ks into town we were roasted. The heat was aided by the bush fire alongside the fuel storage depot!


Without a car we quickly discovered the only sightseeing to be done was shopping and the mining tour. Oh, and fishing but we’re still trying to give away our last catch! So the mining tour it was – at least the bus was air-conditioned.



Weipa was quite an interesting town as Rio has now sold most of the properties it owned and private ownership is about 80%. Apart from services, limited tourism and a few government agencies popping up there seems to little other opportunity for employment and development. With 40-60 years of mining estimated in the area, it will be interesting to see what becomes of the town. The locals were really friendly and it was a nice place to visit.

1 comment:

Amanda said...

Don't you still have a little folding bike? One could have sat on the handlebars while the other pedalled!