Heavenly Beverley : Twenty-Four Terrific Hours In Tom Price

Ladies and Gentlemen, do yourselves a favour. When on a Northern Odyssey, make sure of a stopover in Tom Price. This hidden gem, the highest town in Western Australia and the gateway to Karijini was a revelation. We should have stayed longer. We will next time.

We rocked into the excellent Tom Price Caravan Park early afternoon. The exceedingly helpful reception staffer found us a powered site, near the laundry and the bathrooms, as well as the ability to "drive through", so we needn't reverse Digger into position. What a star!

Nestled at the foot of Mount Nameless (somebody had no imagination whatsoever...), we quickly settled in. Although we had both visited Tom Price once each many years ago, we remembered the town with great fondness. And Tom Price did not disappoint. In fact, Tom Price surpassed all our expectations.

The ablution blocks were huge, caught in the seventies time warp as far as the decor goes, but clean and functional. Having no hot water in Digger meant we both enjoyed hot flooding showers in the amenities. The laundry has a row of washing machines, all with the same cycle. Some bright spark had removed the wash cycle choice knobs, but I could still choose a large or small wash. I picked large loads. Twice. Worked for us.

There were long lines for hanging out washing, so we had no trouble finding spots for our two loads. I did have an earnest conversation with the resident galahs, asking them politely to desist from dropping any pooh on my clean items. Thankfully, they concurred.

Tom Price Coles on a Sunday afternoon was very much a multicultural affair. Families, shift workers and tourists all rubbed shoulders together. Although I usually loathe supermarket shopping with a passion, the atmosphere there was one of cheerful cruising through the aisles. And after ten days on the road, we needed to restock certain staples. Thus, I was able to concoct a fabulous dinner that evening, with ingredients courtesy of my shopping spree.

The only less than ideal circumstance was our inability to find any television stations, even the ABC. Hmmm...we may need to investigate this issue on our return. Not that we'd missed telly that much. I just occasionally enjoy the opportunity to view such images as the delicious naked torso of Aidan "Poldark" Turner.

Morning! Another glorious Pilbara day. Washing was stacked away, dishes were done and water tanks filled. After chatting with our neighbours, we left the caravan park at eleven o'clock, not bad for us. Official checkout was ten o'clock...

We stopped at the only chemist in town. The single pharmacist was snowed under with prescriptions. She and her assistant were run off their feet. So, we found ourselves with an hour to fill. This proved to be the easiest of tasks.

The very pleasant park and covered walkway from the shopping precinct to the tourism office were tidy, clean, shady, colourful and home to a variety of sculptures, An emu with chicks, a couple of goannas and a family of kangaroos were all features of our delightful stroll. The facilities, adjacent to the tourist information, were spotless. Susanna was a fund of information about Tom Price and Kariji and we bought two books to add to our collection.

After a walk through the beautiful Doug Talbot Park, we retraced our steps. Much to the amusement of a couple of the local girls, I tripped over the tail of one of the kangaroo sculptures. I then uttered a phrase similar to "golly-gosh". This verbal response left the two girls rolling with laughter. My job there was done.

After sitting outside to consume an early lunch, we picked up our scripts and finally waved goodbye to Tom Price at twelve thirty. Onward to Karijini Eco Resort and my birthday celebrations!

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