Staircase to the moon @ Karratha

Living on the east coast it is not unusual to watch the full moon rise over the ocean, however, in certain parts of WA, the full moon rising over low tidal flats creates a phenomenon known as staircase to the moon. It is really only seen 3 days of the month (around the full moon) and only from March to October. It doesn't occur in the summer months because the low tides do not line up with the lunar cycle.

We are at Karratha, which is the main city for this area. Once again, Karratha is not very old, being built to service the mining industry and has all the facilities a city needs, including an airport, probably mainly for FIFO workers. Even though it is on the ocean, the city doesn't really hug the shore like most other coastal towns or cities.

A short drive from Karratha via a causeway, is the island of Dampier - a pretty little town that has a port for exporting iron ore (from Mt Tom Price) and other industries such as Dampier Salt and a gas plant. It is from the eastern side of this island that we witness staircase to the moon. Dampier is also the home of Red Dog - the kelpie that wandered the Pilbara in the 1970s - and there is a statue there in his honour. I had never seen the movie so I found it on Stan and watched it. Nice movie - bit of a tearjerker.

The other interesting sight in the area are the petroglyphs (rock art), estimated to be up to 40,000 years old. It was fun trying to match the particular image on the sign and finding it in the rocks. There was even one believed to be the Thylacine (Tasmanian Tiger). Another picture, thought to be made by a sailor whose ship - the Mermaid - had run aground, is dated around the early 1800's. (However, when I went to add the photos, Brad had not taken one of these - Thylacine or ship - he said they were too faint on the camera or some excuse)Read more