28^th July: Port Hedland

Another glorious sunset! The West Coast specialises in glorious sunsets over the sea. I suppose the red dust in the air enhances the colour as they certainly are red!

Today, we explored Port Hedland. First the Information Centre where I had lots of questions answered. It helped us make a few decisions about the future. The lookout over the shipping activities is just nearby and so we helped guide two bulk ore carriers out of port. Both were over 300 metres long by 45 metres wide and had taken on over 200,000 tonnes of ore (for China and Korea.) 4 tugs were requiredto move them each sideways and pull them out of port. By this afternoon, two more boats were in and there are at least a dozen sitting off shore waiting. It is one of the busiest ports in Australia and various ores are the staple purpose: iron ore, manganese, copper, gold as well as salt.

  

We then visited Pretty Pool which is aptly named. It is the inlet that becomes this little creek in front of us and at high tide is a very scenic place. This is the up-market area and land is worth a million dollars a block here.

Actually, land is at a premium here. This is in reality an island and any reclaimed land is the result of dredging the harbour over the last 50 years and between this ridge and the mainland proper is an accumulation of mudflats. The original port up here w as north of here on the De Grey River at Condren. When it silted up, Captain Hedland was sent to find a better location for the export of wool from the local properties. Since then it has developed into a world class port especially since the arrival of iron ore from Newman and Tom Price in the seventies. BHP Billiton is very big up here but there are other players as well: Gina Rhinhart, Twiggy Forrester etc. Beccause there is very ancient rocks mixed with volcanic intrusions and sediments, this area is incredibly rich in resources. Most of it is going to China by ship with some Japanese and Korean vessels.

We went on a History Tour today and learnt a great deal about Port Hedland. Like any town it has its attractions and its issues. We saw a museum of old road making equipment and some old train engines.  In the centre was a memorial to all the Torres Strait Islanders who were employed to build the railway for the Mt Newman mine because they were so strong and accustomed to working hard in the heat.  They were paid high wages to work in rough conditions.  

I have tried to find a helicopter fligh t over Karajini but they were stopped some years ago and a charter fixed-wing flight for 3 will cost $1500. We think that is excessive and so will not be flying over Karajini. But we will go there and do lots of walking/climbing.