4 weeks later & we are just about to leave Karratha & hit the road again...YAY!!!!! I really wasn't sure what to expect from Karratha & I have to admit it is much better then I had pictured it in my mind...it has Coles, Woolies, K-mart & Target...woohoo! We had been told coming here by people we had meet that Glen would have no problem getting work here & he'd be on at least $50 an hour so we figured we had to give it ago & while everyone was right about plenty of work they weren't so spot on with the money thing & they also failed to mention when you get work here the van parks won't let you take up a tourist site you have to take a permanent site for which they have waiting lists about 3 mths long! Anyway Glen had a job within 2 hours of us being here & he got it at the very first place he walked into to apply for work, so jobs are plentiful here, the pay wasn't quite what we were hoping for but it was still worth our while to stay so we did & Glen started working as Bridgestone Tyres. (Although since then in the 4 wks we've been here he has had 4 job offers with "the good money" we were told about so they do exist! The most recent offer was today & they wanted him to start straight away for Rio Tinto & then she asked me if I would like to work as well but I said I was busy home schooling 3 kids & she said "That's a shame but if you decide to stay & put them in school we will have work for you as well" Plenty of work! ) The first week we spent here we camped at a beach called Cleaverville about 20mins north of Karratha which was really nice but the sand flies were starting to eat poor Glen & Ty alive so when Glens new boss offered for us to stay at the back of the workshop in town we accepted, although we were giving up beautiful views of sunsets over the water, morning & arvo walks along the beach collecting shells, privacy, peace & quiet, we were also excited at the thought of having electricity all day without having to run the generator, running water out of a tap not having to pump it or worry about how much we were using, hot showers without having to boil the water on the fire first & then worrying about every precious drop we were using & a flushing toilet that we didn't have to empty every few days....simple things you may be taking for granted everyday but things we call little pieces of heaven & we miss after a few months without them....hahaha.
Anyway so now we have money coming in & a place to park the van. The kids & I have spent most of our time while Glen is working catching up on heaps of school work, & any spare time I get has been spent hand washing yes good old hand washing as for some reason that I can't figure out a town like Karratha that caters for 1000's & 1000's of people most of which are men flying in for work this place doesn't have a laundromat...what the?! I can only assume the red dirt ruins the machines & the rent is crazy for a shop to have one so it's not worth it, I'm really not sure, but anyway I have now become the hand washing queen.
The real estate in Karratha is quite interesting too. I found in the paper the other day a 3bedroom 1 bathroom renovators delight for the bargain price of $725 000 but I decided on the brand new 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom unit instead at the grand total of $987 000 but I'm debating whether to buy it or rent it at only $1500 PER WEEK!!!!! These prices I could understand in a place with a gorgeous beach & tonnes of facilities but here not so sure I get it.
While Karratha isn't the prettiest of places we are very lucky to see it after a huge wet season for the locals so there is a lot of green & we think the contrast of green grass & red rocks & dirt is pretty awesome to see. It's also been really interesting seeing the mining side of Western Australia. We have been pretty focused on work & schooling while here but we have also had heaps of family fun at the parks, seeing the beautiful Stairway to the Moon, fishing (I caught my first Queen fish on the weekend!), splashing in lots of red dirt mud, Tiana had her 10th b'day here & we had a ball at the speedway.
We leave here in a few days time to heap north up to Broome & make our way over a few weeks to Darwin where we get to catch up with my Mum, Dad, my Aunty, Uncle & some friends we have up there so very excited for that!!!!!! Also can't wait to explore Darwin & especially Kakadu NP. Still having a brilliant time!
