Cossack, W.A.

I have always been interested in the effect of water on survival—not just that of plants, animals, and humans, but on cities and even civilizations. A river changes course, and a city disappears. That’s less true these days, as we now pipe water into all sorts of inhospitable places that were never really meant to [...]

Chichester Range

Millstream Park is actually part of the combined Millstream-Chichester National Park. It’s all one region, but Millstream is an aberration—an oasis in the midst of general aridity. The Chichester Range contrasts sharply with the lushness of Millstream. It presents a rocky, rugged face that borders on looking like a different planet. As formidable as it [...]

Millstream Park

Millstream National Park is a wonderful oasis in the midst of the arid Pilbara. Between the Hamersleys and Millstream, we’d spent a night on the outskirts of the iron ore-mining town of Mt. Tom Price, which was pleasant enough, but we were delighted to get back to wilderness—especially this wilderness. It was a real change [...]

Spinifex Pigeons

Despite the fact that much of the Pilbara is dry to the point of crispness, there is a surprising amount of flora and fauna, particularly close to places, such as the gorges, where water is available much of the year. Wildflowers, eucalypts, acacias, and spinifex dot the landscape and offer homes to birds, bugs, lizards, [...]