Day 13 Port Hedland

Feeding time at Pardoo Station.

The residents.

Salt, mined by evaporating seawater.

Part of a kilometre long iron ore train.

Port Headland and a freighter being loaded with iron ore.

We transfer our gear from truck two to truck three.

A galah drinking from a tap.

The west is alive with blooming wild flowers.

A swag with my sleeping bag in it. It's the first time I used my sleeping bag.

Thursday, September 22^nd.

When we got up we had our usual breakfast and I went exploring the station to see the cattle and the corelas. Damien told us another truck is on its way to replace our faulty one but, that one had a problem too and had to turn back so, we would be delayed today. But no worries, he said we would drive on to Port Hedland and the new truck could meet us there.

We arrived there a couple of hours later and had a short tour of this town. It only exists as a mono port for the mining industry. They found gold in the area first and then manganeese. But now the main mining is iron ore. We also saw an area where they let the tide come in, dry it out and mine the salt. Then we went to the local plaza and did our grocery shopping while waiting for the bottle shop to open.

Once we got all our supplies we drove to the harbour area to have lunch. We could see a large tanker and a couple of tugboats from there. I saw a sea eagle flying overhead.

I used the public toilet here and it was like nothing I'd ever experienced. It was a brand new, shiny, metal, structure that had a flashing light outside to tell you if it was occupied or not. When you went in you locked the door with a button and music came on: 'What the world needs now' There was a sign that said you had 10 minutes to do your business before the door opened automatically. Inside there was a disposal for 'sharps' or needles, a sink operated by push button, the toilet paper dispenser was push button, and issued you 5 sheets. I was fascinated by the place and happily had my pee but then I could not figure out how to flush it. There were no instructions either. I came out of mine and talked to Anja who was in the other one and she explained that you had to wash your hands. When you activated the sink then the toilet flushed. Boy am I bad!

Today Damien talked to us a couple of times about the mining companies and how they are stripping the land and getting closer and closer to Karijini NP. He didn't mince words and told us exactly what he thought of them. They have no regard for the environment, aboriginal rights, or land claims, the water table or the park. You can see all around area evidence of their work.

We hung around for another half hour before our replacement truck arrived. Then we had to move all of the stuff from one to the other. Finally we were underway and off to Karijini National Park. It was still about a six hour drive with a couple of pit stops at roadhouses for toilets and snacks.

At one of our toilet stops there were a couple of the huge road train trucks. I went over and talked to one driver who was wiping down his cab. I asked him if he ever had to back the truck up. He said with three trailers you could do it if you were good. But with four trailers they were only allowed to back up a couple of metres because they get entangled. He went on to say that he works 6 weeks on and two weeks off and the job is a 'fifo' which means fly in, fly out. He stays in Port Hedland when he is working but flies to all sorts of places on his time off. He said some of the guys live in Bali or Thailand between work. He also said that the mine is 800 kms round trip from from the port and he could do it in about 13 hours, unless they got held up either end. He said by law they are 'only' allowed to drive 17 hours shifts!

We made another stop to see some beautiful blooming walla walla flowers. We arrived at the park after dark. Here we have tents that are already set up for us, with cots and swags. It is supposed to get cool so, for the first time I opened my new sleeping bag and put it in the swag. Damien made us a barramudi and couscous dinner and we sat around talking for a bit before bed. I talked to Amber, the young woman from London who just finished 5 months working for this company as an assistant guide. She did a circle trip from Darwin to Broome nine times and really enjoyed the job, the people and the remoteness of WA.