Experience the best of Karratha

Karratha lies on the north-west coast of Western Australia, in the Pilbara, a region of red ranges, spinifex plains and coastal flats. It was planned in the 1960s to house workers for the iron ore port at Dampier, and today it also serves the natural gas industry of the North West Shelf. Wide roads, shopping centres and suburbs of low houses spread across the plain.

The Burrup Peninsula, Murujuga, reached from Dampier, holds one of the largest collections of ancient rock engravings in the world, many thousands of carved animals and figures in the dark boulders. The islands of the Dampier Archipelago offshore are fringed by reefs. Inland, Millstream Chichester National Park has freshwater pools and palms in dry country, and Cossack, a former pearling port, is now a heritage townsite by the sea.

Pilbara menus are plain and hearty, with fish from the coast and beef from the inland stations. The land is red, hot and dry for most of the year, and the cyclone season runs from about November to April.