Port Hedland

Fri 27^th June 

A ship laden with ore leaving the dock.

Jan & George’s freezer stopped chilling overnight and some of the meats etc. were thawing. Luckily we weren’t using our other fridge, so were able to fit some of their stuff in it. We went into Port Hedland to the information centre to try to find a fridge mechanic – there wasn’t much joy at first, but eventually they found someone who blew out the pipes and re-gassed it for $300+ (they really know how to charge up here – an average house costs in excess of $600,000 and rents are sky high. We saw an ad for house and land packages starting at $650,000). While Jan and George were mucking around trying to get help, we sat in a park down by the water’s edge and watched a big ship being loaded and then manoeuvred out of the dock by three tugboats. It was a lovely little park with a little kids’ playground at one end and tables and chairs dotted around under gazebos. There were a lot of young mums with their tots, a few dads and some oldies like us. As we were leaving the park a young Thai lady approached me and asked if she could pick some of the leaves and flowers off the cassia tree near us. She and her husband had just moved here because he works in the mines. She uses the cassia leaves and flowers in Thai curries. She said if they are boiled and then the juice squeezed out and boiled again three more time, the liquid from the last time is good for stomach ailments. I think that’s what she said; she didn’t know the word for the ailment it cures but pointed to her stomach and said, “Medicine.” The local caravan park cost about $50 so we went to South Hedland and found one a little less flash for $44. We spent the rest of the day getting rid of the dust and getting the washing done. There wasn’t a problem sweeping the red dust out the door because it just blended in with the red dirt we were camped on.

The salt works on the edge of town

Sat 28^th June

Although Jan and George’s freezer isn’t working properly they have been able to temporarily solve their problem until they can get to a big enough place to get proper service and advice. In the morning Mick did some washing and hung it out. From start to dry only took about an hour. Then we went shopping and found a huge shopping centre – Mick needed a new watch. He always does when we go away, I’m only surprised that his old one lasted this long. We had just come out to the car when we heard shouting and there was a suntanned person with a big waddy chasing another and shouting abuse. Then from just near us a young man in shorts and tee shirt shouted “Put down that stick!” in a very strong voice. He repeated it twice more, then said, “I am a police officer, put down that stick,” and walked up and took the stick and the offender shambled off without a peep. Bravest act I’ve ever seen.

Pretty Pool

After lunch we decided to check out Pretty Pool that we had been told about. We made all the expected jokes about the effect our appearance would have on the place, opposites attract etc. What a disappointment. It was just a pool at the end of a creek near the sea and it was part of a mangrove swamp – not even vaguely like we were imagining it to be. Our drive continued around the coast and down to where the trains bring in the ore. There is a network of  lines that looked like a roller coaster that had been built with a giant Meccano set.  Several empty trains were on the rails along the coastline. They were each more than a km long. And there were huge piles of reddish brown ore. When we got back to camp one of our neighbours told us about lots of good places to visit on our journey north. That’s the good thing about not having a set plan, every day has a surprise ending.