Karratha is an Australian city adjoining the port of Dampier in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, which was established in 1968 to accommodate the processing and exportation workforce of the Hamersley Iron mining company and, in the 1980s, the petroleum and liquefied natural gas operations of the North West Shelf Venture. At the 2011 census, Karratha had a population of 16,475. The city's name comes from the cattle station from which land was reclaimed for the development. Karratha in the local Aboriginal language means 'good country' or 'soft earth'. The city is the seat of government of the City of Karratha.© Wikipedia
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Karratha is a large mining town on the coast of West Australia about 1500 kilometres north of Perth. We stopped in the area for a few days on our caravan adventure around the country. We parked our caravan at Point Samson about 57 kilometres north of the city - a beautiful spot. There are several caravan parks in the area and this is a popular stopping place from May - August. It can be very hot during summer.
While in town we ate at the Soul Cafe near the centre of town - a lovely friendly place with good food and very nice coffee. After stopping at the Visitor Information Centre we drove up to the lookout and were lucky enough to see Sturt's Desert Pea flowering beside the dirt track. Of course the view was great overlooking the ocean.Burrup Peninsula lies between Karratha and Dampier where you can visit the North West Shelf Visitor Centre overlooking the North West Shelf Gas Plant - very informative. We also called in to look at Hearson's Cove (beautiful) and Burrup Peninsula is home to a large collection of Aboriginal Rock art with hundreds of sites - amazing.
The city occupies a large area and you will see salt mines along the main road - sea water is pumped into large flat ponds and the sun evaporates the water, leaving salt. The historic towns of Cossack and Roebourne are nearby with lovely restored stone buildings and the Gaol Museum.
We had no trouble filling our days.