Feeding time at Pardoo Station.
The residents.
Salt, mined by evaporating seawater.
Part of a kilometre long iron ore train.
Port Headland and a freighter being loaded with iron ore.
We transfer our gear from truck two to truck three.
A galah drinking from a tap.
The west is alive with blooming wild flowers.
A swag with my sleeping bag in it. It's the first time I used my sleeping bag.
Thursday,
September 22nd.
When
we got up we had our usual breakfast and I went exploring the station
to see the cattle and the corelas. Damien told us another truck is on
its way to replace our faulty one but, that one had a problem too and
had to turn back so, we would be delayed today. But no worries, he
said we would drive on to Port Hedland and the new truck could meet
us there.
We
arrived there a couple of hours later and had a short tour of this
town. It only exists as a mono port for the mining industry. They
found gold in the area first and then manganeese. But now the main
mining is iron ore. We also saw an area where they let the tide come
in, dry it out and mine the salt. Then we went to the local plaza and
did our grocery shopping while waiting for the bottle shop to open.
Once
we got all our supplies we drove to the harbour area to have lunch.
We could see a large tanker and a couple of tugboats from there. I
saw a sea eagle flying overhead.
I
used the public toilet here and it was like nothing I'd ever
experienced. It was a brand new, shiny, metal, structure that had a
flashing light outside to tell you if it was occupied or not. When
you went in you locked the door with a button and music came on:
'What the world needs now' There was a sign that said you had 10
minutes to do your business before the door opened automatically.
Inside there was a disposal for 'sharps' or needles, a sink operated
by push button, the toilet paper dispenser was push button, and
issued you 5 sheets. I was fascinated by the place and happily had my
pee but then I could not figure out how to flush it. There were no
instructions either. I came out of mine and talked to Anja who was in
the other one and she explained that you had to wash your hands. When
you activated the sink then the toilet flushed. Boy am I bad!
Today
Damien talked to us a couple of times about the mining companies and
how they are stripping the land and getting closer and closer to
Karijini NP. He didn't mince words and told us exactly what he
thought of them. They have no regard for the environment, aboriginal
rights, or land claims, the water table or the park. You can see all
around area evidence of their work.
We
hung around for another half hour before our replacement truck
arrived. Then we had to move all of the stuff from one to the other. Finally
we were underway and off to Karijini National Park. It was still
about a six hour drive with a couple of pit stops at roadhouses for
toilets and snacks.
At
one of our toilet stops there were a couple of the huge road train
trucks. I went over and talked to one driver who was wiping down his
cab. I asked him if he ever had to back the truck up. He said with
three trailers you could do it if you were good. But with four
trailers they were only allowed to back up a couple of metres because
they get entangled. He went on to say that he works 6 weeks on and
two weeks off and the job is a 'fifo' which means fly in, fly out. He
stays in Port Hedland when he is working but flies to all sorts of
places on his time off. He said some of the guys live in Bali or
Thailand between work. He also said that the mine is 800 kms round
trip from from the port and he could do it in about 13 hours, unless
they got held up either end. He said by law they are 'only' allowed
to drive 17 hours shifts!
We
made another stop to see some beautiful blooming walla walla flowers.
We arrived at the park after dark. Here we have tents that are
already set up for us, with cots and swags. It is supposed to get
cool so, for the first time I opened my new sleeping bag and put it
in the swag. Damien made us a barramudi and couscous dinner and we
sat around talking for a bit before bed. I talked to Amber, the young
woman from London who just finished 5 months working for this company
as an assistant guide. She did a circle trip from Darwin to Broome
nine times and really enjoyed the job, the people and the remoteness
of WA.
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