Day 62 Port Hedland

Today we said goodbye to Broome and headed to Port Hedland. A very long drive with very little to see, such long stretches of absolutely nothing, no trees, shrubs, animals etc. Kevin enjoyed not having to worry about Donkeys, cows etc being on the road.




At about the halfway point was the roadhouse in Sandfire a very busy stopping and refueling point.





We turned off the highway to see Eighty Mile Beach. A very popular beach for 4WD and fishing, there were lots of shells to be seen, some very different to home and a few pieces of coral.







About 1 hour out of Port Hedland we started to see hills.




Port Hedland is the second largest town in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The massive white salt pile in Port Hedland is a towering landmark operated by Dampier Salt (part of Rio Tinto), producing about 3.2 million tonnes of industrial salt each year through solar evaporation of Indian Ocean seawater. The salt pans covering over 21,000 hectares, producing millions of tonnes of industrial-grade salt each year.




Once we checked into the motel we went for a drive along the waterfront. We stopped at Koombana Lookout with views over the beach and port with iron ore carriers visible offshore. It reminded us of Newcastle when the boats were all off shore awaiting there turn in the port.




BHP Iron Ore Processing and Materials Handling Facility located at Nelson Point in Port Hedland. Port Hedland is a major iron ore exporting port in the Pilbara region located on the traditional lands of the Kariyarra people. One of the largest iron ore loading ports in the world and the largest in Australia. It has 15 berths capable of handling ships between 25,000 DWT and 320,000 DWT.



Cooke Point viewing platform provides views across the tidal flats to the ocean.




We then headed towards home for the night and stopped at the oceans edge for sunset.