Karratha, Western Australia
Encyclopedia
Facilities
A range of hotel, motel, B&B and caravan/RV accommodation is available for visitors. However, as the town is booming, accommodation is often hard to come by.The town has restaurants, a tavern, two hotels and two night clubs. It also has a large shopping centre an 8 story apartment and shopping complex named Pelago.
Education is provided through four public primary schools and one private primary school, one public and one private high school, a TAFE centre with remote university facilities, and a library.
As well as its professional medical services, the district is served by the Nickol Bay Hospital which provides a comprehensive array of services, facilities and training.
Karratha Airport
Karratha Airport
Karratha Airport is an airport in Karratha, Western Australia. The airport is 14 km from Karratha and 8 km from Dampier. The airport was opened in December 1983, and upgraded in 1998. The Karratha Airport is the second busiest Airport in Western Australia with Perth Airport being the busiest...
with frequent services to and from Perth, is the second busiest in Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
; it has three passenger airlines servicing the town with regular schedules: Qantas
Qantas
Qantas Airways Limited is the flag carrier of Australia. The name was originally "QANTAS", an initialism for "Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services". Nicknamed "The Flying Kangaroo", the airline is based in Sydney, with its main hub at Sydney Airport...
, Skywest Airlines
Skywest Airlines
Skywest Airlines Pty Ltd is a regional airline company based in Perth, Western Australia, Australia; servicing key towns in the state of Western Australia, Darwin, Northern Territory and Melbourne, Victoria; as well as charter flights to Bali, Indonesia....
and Virgin Australia. Qantas also flies twice-weekly services between Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
and Karratha—the first direct link between the Pilbara region and Australia's east coast. The airport also serves as the hub of the Pilbara's light-aircraft and helicopter services, enabling contractors to access destinations offshore and in other parts of the region.
Annual Festivals & Events
FeNaClNGEach year in August Pilbara Iron, Dampier Salt
Dampier Salt
Dampier Salt is an Australian salt company located in Western Australia, with operations in Dampier, Port Hedland, and Lake MacLeod, with headquarters in Perth...
, Woodside Petroleum Limited (WEL), and other smaller companies sponsor one of the largest festivals in the North West, over two days. The name FeNaClNG Festival is derived from Fe (iron), NaCl (salt) and NG (natural gas).
Christmas Lights
Beginning in December 2009, the town of Karratha is also host to one of Australia's largest Christmas lights competitions, with a total of $6,000 cash prizes (First prize of up to $3,000). The competition is a partnership between the local newspaper Pilbara Echo http://pilbaraecho.com.au, Woodside Energy, and Horizon Power.
Media
RadioRadio services available in Karratha:
- Karratha FM 93.7 - "Today`s Hot Country" (country music format)
- ABC North West WAABC North West WAABC North West WA is an ABC Local Radio station based in Karratha. The station broadcasts to the Gascoyne and parts of the Pilbara regions of Western Australia...
(6KP: 702 AM) - (Part of the ABC Local RadioABC Local RadioABC Local Radio is a network of publicly owned radio stations in Australia, operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.ABC Local Radio stations broadcast across the continent using terrestrial transmitters and satellites...
Network). - ABC News RadioABC News RadioABC News Radio is the radio service of ABC News, a division of the ABC Television Network. Formerly known as ABC Radio News, ABC News Radio feeds, through Cumulus Media Networks, newscasts on the hour to its more than 2,000 affiliates...
(6PNN: 104.1 FM) - ABC Radio National (6ABCRN: 100.9 FM) - Speciality talk and music.
- TAB Racing Radio - FM 101.7
- Triple JTriple Jtriple j is a nationally networked Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners between the ages of 18 and 30. The government-funded station is a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation...
(6JJJ: 103.3 FM) - Alternative music - WAFM (106.5) - Top 40 Music
- The Spirit NetworkThe Spirit NetworkThe Spirit Network is a Commercial Radio Network covering the Remote Areas of Western Australia. Formerly known as North West Radio, Spirit targets the 35+ Listeners with its Adult Contemporary format...
- Radio 6KA (1260 AM) - Classic Hits / Adult Contemporary Music format aimed at 35 years + audience.
Television
Television services available:
- The Australian Broadcasting CorporationAustralian Broadcasting CorporationThe Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
(ABC) - ABC1, ABC2/4 (Extension of ABC TV/Young children), ABC3 (Tween/Teen), ABC News 24 (digital channels) - The Special Broadcasting ServiceSpecial Broadcasting ServiceThe Special Broadcasting Service is a hybrid-funded Australian public broadcasting radio and television network. The stated purpose of SBS is "to provide multilingual and multicultural radio and television services that inform, educate and entertain all Australians and, in doing so, reflect...
(SBS) - SBS One, SBS Two, SBS HD (digital channels) - WIN TelevisionWIN TelevisionWIN Television is an Australian television network owned by the WIN Corporation that is based in Wollongong, New South Wales. WIN commenced transmissions on 18 March 1962 as a single Wollongong-only station, and has since expanded to 24 owned-and-operated stations with transmissions covering a...
, a dual affiliate of both the Nine NetworkNine NetworkThe Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...
and Network TenNetwork TenNetwork Ten , is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country...
. - GWN7, an affiliate of the Seven NetworkSeven NetworkThe Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...
.
The programming schedule is mainly the same as the Seven, Nine and Ten stations in Perth with variations for News bulletins, sport telecasts such as the Australian Football League
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
and National Rugby League
National Rugby League
The National Rugby League is the top league of professional rugby league football clubs in Australasia. The NRL's main competition, called the Telstra Premiership , is contested by sixteen teams, fifteen of which are based in Australia with one based in New Zealand...
, children's and lifestyle programs and infomercials or paid programming.
Both GWN7 and WIN provide local news services that screen Monday to Friday.
GWN7 News screens at 5.30pm before Seven News
Seven News
Seven News is the television news service of the Seven Network in Australia.National bulletins are presented from Seven's high-definition studios in Martin Place, Sydney, while flagship 6pm bulletins are produced in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth. The network also produces Seven...
Perth. WIN News
WIN News
WIN News is a local television news service in parts of regional Australia, produced by WIN Television. 20 regional bulletins are presented from studios in Wollongong, Canberra, Ballarat, Rockhampton, Toowoomba, Mount Gambier, Hobart and Perth.-History:As well as its flagship nightly...
screens at 5.30pm before Nine News Perth.
New Digital television services from GWN7 and WIN are now broadcasting in Karratha. A new digital-only channel branded Ten West
Ten West
Ten West is the official name for a digital television station broadcasting in rural Western Australia. It is jointly owned by the WIN Corporation and Prime Television Limited and is an affiliate of Network Ten, broadcasting a direct feed of NEW-10 from Perth....
commenced transmission on Thursday 10 June 2010, it is a sole Network Ten
Network Ten
Network Ten , is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country...
affiliated channel.
Newspapers
The current local classifieds for Karratha and the wider Pilbara region is the weekly publication The Pilbara Echo.
The local newspaper is The Pilbara News (Owned by The West Australian).
Newspapers from Perth including The West Australian
The West Australian
The West Australian is the only locally-edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia, and is owned by ASX-listed Seven West Media . The West is published in tabloid format, as is the state's other major newspaper, The Sunday Times, a News Limited publication...
and The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times (Western Australia)
The Sunday Times, owned by News Limited, is a tabloid Sunday newspaper printed in Perth and distributed throughout Western Australia.-History:...
are also available, as well as National Newspapers such as The Australian
The Australian
The Australian is a broadsheet newspaper published in Australia from Monday to Saturday each week since 14 July 1964. The editor in chief is Chris Mitchell, the editor is Clive Mathieson and the 'editor-at-large' is Paul Kelly....
and The Australian Financial Review
The Australian Financial Review
The Australian Financial Review is a leading business and finance newspaper in Australia.Fairfax Media publishes it in a compact format six days a week, Monday to Saturday....
.