The Pilbara Region, WA

After visiting the beautiful coast and swimming with whale sharks, I thought a trip inland would be worthwhile, so headed off for the big drive to Tom Price. It is primarily a mining town which was once  private, now public, named after the former vice-president of Kaiser Steel, and is in the heart of the Pilbara.

BIG tonka trucks, worth $4.5 million each

I went on a tour through the Hamersley Mine, where iron ore is in abundance, and it's being mined 24 hours a day. A miner here earns around $150,000pa, and pays an average of $250pm for rent, so if you're up for the 12 hour shifts and dirty work, a great way to make some $$$!

They've finished with this mine, and moved on to the next.

Sorting out the grades of iron ore 

A swimming pool for lunch breaks?

Loading the train

 This one's heading to Karratha

Each of the trains leaving here have approximately 230 carriages, and they depart 4 times daily for the coastal town of Karratha. It's about the length of the trains I used to get stuck waiting for at the Leader Street crossing in Adelaide. I'm sure!

The money being spent, and made, plus the sheer size of the place was pretty incredible. And although it's not the biggest producer of iron ore, the quality is apparently brilliant.

Tom Price is the closest town to the Karrijini National Park, which is meant to be beautiful. But, with my van not being 4WD, and recent rains making the roads muddy, it wasn't ideal for me to get there. Next time.

So back to the coast I went needing to backtrack a bit (200kms) to visit industrial ports Karratha & Dampier. This is where my friend Fiona spent some time working on a film coming out next month called 'Red Dog'.

Small pub on the way to Karratha

Red Dog, Dampier, WA

It's based on the true story of a dog that was famous in the region and was owned by 'everyone'. And it looks like a fantastic film! For a really good idea of what the area looks like.....have a look at the trailer by clicking on this link....  RED DOG Trailer

From here I headed back towards Port Hedland and made camp overnight by a dry river bed.

The drive to Port Hedland is like much of the driving in this area, very scenic.

Port Hedland itself however, not so much. There's a HUGE rail yard leading to the ships, with processing and shipping of iron ore done here. And much of the coast looks like this.

Port Hedland, WA

Apparently if you're a fisherman, it's not a bad place to spend some time. But I'm not a fisherman, so, um...

It has quite an industry, producing 3 million tonnes of industrial salt for export each year.

Salt Mine, Port Hedland, WA.

So as interesting as all that was, time to move on to see what the next adventure will be.

Days since departure: 71
Distance travelled: 8085km
Kangaroos hit: 0
Snakes run over: 1