Port Hedland

Dampier Salt Stockpile

Our first impression of Port Hedland - it's a wonderful shade of rust! We are now in the Pilbara region of Australia which is known as the 'Engine Room of the Nation' and home to massive resource projects, natural gas and iron ore mining.

As we hadn't planned to stop here, we called into the Information Centre to help us secure a site in a Caravan Park to stay for a couple of nights and organise a mechanic to fix the air conditioning. After the new fan belt was fitted to the air conditioner the next morning, we set off to look around this industrial town. The Dampier Salt Stockpile is a most impressive sight as well as the huge trains carrying iron ore to the port for export. 682 cars and 8 locomotives set a new world record in 2001 here in Port Headland, for the heaviest tonnage and longest train carrying iron ore. Love those world records!!
The Japanese Iron Ore Ship

The port itself is quite a sight and we watched 4 tugs positioning a huge Japanese ship to the dock to be loaded with the crushed ore. I counted 20 more ships out to sea waiting to enter port. The town is almost insignificant compared to the massive crushing machines and equipment all around in the BHP Billiton sites.

Port Hedland Wharves

We toured around the Port Hedland coastline and South Hedland where the main living and retail areas are located. The waters off the coast are well known for fishing enthusiasts but the beaches are uninspiring. I was expecting to see Fred Flinstone jump out of the "Pot Wagon" a Japanese artist's sculpture we came across in one of the parks. It was donated by BHP and it's made of copper, zinc and lead.

Fred Flinstone's 4WD

Marble Bar, the hottest recorded place in Australia,(162 consecutive days of over 37.8C or 100F in 1928) is inland about 250 kilometres from the coast. Newman is further inland where iron ore is also found and like Marble Bar is also known for its gold deposits. Further south east is the town of Tom Price in the Hammersley Range, home to Rio Tinto's open cut iron ore mine, and it is also the gateway to the Karijini National Park. It is interesting to identify the whereabouts of these well known places while we are travelling even though we don't have them on our agenda.

Our unexpected stay at Port Hedland was enlightening and enjoyable. Time to move on down the road.