We decided to stay a second night at Goldwire Rest Area, a little spot near the sleepy fishing area of Port Smith. After some schoolwork in the morning, we met some fantastic friendly couples at the freecamp, one couple having lots of trouble with the bearings on one van wheel, and after some investigating, found it had been fitted with the wrong part in Repco in Kalgoolie at great expense! We happened to have the correct bearing in the cupboard (as it fits our van and came with it when we bought it) so we could help them out believe it or not! Not that we would have ever known what to do with it! So we watched and learnt! It felt like leaving family when we said goodbye to these guys.
In the afternoon we went and had a paddle and look around Port Smith, basically a fishing port and caravan park. It is quite mangrovey (is that a word?) and muddy, with open water beyond the mangroves and a very popular spot for Perthians to come and fish. The sandflies set in around 4.30pm bigtime and we make a run for the car and head back to camp to watch the birds at sunset and chat some more with our neighbours.
We head to Cape Kenaudren Coastal Reserve along 80mile beach the following morning, with magnificent ocean views nearly 360degrees around us! We park the van on the top of a cliffy area to get the most out of the view after a pretty bumpy 15km of dirt from the highway turnoff. After settling, we take a walk to the beach area, where our beachcombing uncovered some amazing shells that you just never see anymore on the East Coast, and a dead seasnake and puffer fish (so glad they where both deceased!), part of the reason, along with sharks and crocs, that you sit and admire the ocean here, and don't swim in it!
The sunset here was again magnificent, something I never tire of watching out here, making dinner time quite special. Friday morning we woke however, to a really strong wind, blowing dust and sand around and making Captain Slow move and groan so much we thought he might just blow off the edge of our cliff! So after a quick breaky inside and pack up, we say goodbye to our view and head into Port Headland...what a contrast!!!
Port Headland greets you with flatness, mine trucks and great mounds of salt and iron ore. The port is a mess of cranes, ships and train carts, and the traffic is busy with the constant movement of mining cars and road trains. What else can I say...
We did stop for shopping and lunch and had a look at the outdoor Mining Machinery Museum which the kids enjoyed playing around, but apart from that, Port Hedland is as ugly as I imagined. We drove on to Napier River to stay overnight, out bush again and away from the mining bustle.
On Saturday, we drove further south to Roebourne, where the old Gaol stands, now occupied by the Museum and Visitor Centre. A great place to check out, as they have kept the building restored and have some great photos and displays, as well as some other old buildings around town. We then drove onto Karratha, another booming mining centre, and stopped at Dampier a bit further along, a quaint little harbour and port which is home to the memorial of the now infamous Red Dog (for those not aware, Red Dog wandered the Pilbara and locals remember him dearly all around this area). Looks can surprise you though, as Dampier is actually the largest ocean exporter on the West Coast, but it has still managed to keep its quaintness and beauty about the town. Our van site overlooks the port and wharf and we get a close up view of the giant vessels sitting around the wharf for loading. We also get a magnificent view of those awesome sunsets again. They have become our regular dinner time television!
On Sunday, we took a drive to some of the local sights, the Dampier Lookout, Red Dog Memorial, Hearsons Cove and Deep Gorge, where over 10000 Aboriginal Art carvings and paintings have found (more than any other site in Australia). We found a few less than that on our wander, but found it quite amazing how much was still visible there.
The North West Shelf Visitor Centre was our classroom on Monday, an interactive centre where we learnt a lot about both the Gas and Oil Mining off the Karratha Coastline. Although it may not all sit well with us, it was good to get a much better understanding of what it is and entails, and talk about energy and mining openly with the kids a bit more after the visit. We also spent some time at the local Dampier Library learning more about Red Dog and some other colourful local characters.
Today, Tuesday, we leave Dampier heading inland a bit, to Robe River and maybe Karajini National Park. It is still windy on the coastline, so we hope to escape it a little by going inland, and also the noisy shunting of trains and other machinery on the wharf, that seems to go 24/7 around the Pilbara. Aahhh, for the quiet of the bush again!
