We’re still in the middle of school holidays, so that meant staying in another place for longer than we initially wanted to. This stop being Port Hedland.
Port Hedland was another one of these mining towns and this is where BHP, Rio Tinto etc are. It has the highest tonnage port in Australia and a population of about 15,000 people.
Monday, JUL 10TH – (DAY 94)
On the agenda today was a 2.5 hour drive, which would normally be easy, but we were still struggling with this bug. We were pretty keen to be leaving Karratha after 7 nights and excited to see somewhere new.
In fact, we were pretty keen to leave the WA coast all together and get back to some civilisation, but we still had a few stops to go. I did most of the driving today with Lin under the weather and needing a rest.
Before hitting the road, we thought we’d take the car through the car wash to clean off all this red dirt that has been piling up during our drive around the Pilbara region. Then it was on to Port Hedland.
We got to the Discovery Park around 1pm only to find that they couldn’t seem to find our booking. Then we jumped on our emails and internet banking and couldn’t find the booking. I’ve got no idea what happened, but we must not have made the booking.
To make matters worse, they had no availability and there were bugger all parks in this town. We took our laptops to a shady spot near the port and started searching for somewhere to stay the next 5 nights, but we weren’t having much like. School holidays made availability hard to find.
We eventually found somewhere in South Hedland about 15 minutes away that were charging $60 a night with an ensuite. That’s more than we wanted to pay but we didn’t have much choice.
Unfortunately it turned out this place was a wasteland, an absolute dump. But at least we got a quiet spot up the back and have our own toilet.
After setting up, we drove to Coles and got some stuff for tea, then pretty much conked out back at the caravan still feeling sick. At least we’d have a good chance to rest with bugger all else here to do.
We ended up starting season 1 of the tv show The Bear later on in the evening. Not a bad end to an annoying day.
Tuesday, July 11th – (Day 95)
Today was another disaster. I spent the night coughing and having to blow my nose all the time, while Linda awoke pretty early having to go to the toilet, which she had to do pretty much on half hour intervals for the rest of the morning and afternoon.
Whatever this bug is has got us real good. Plus it was super hot here and the caravan was like a sauna, so it was near impossible to cool down. Normally warmth would be welcomed in the middle of winter, but today was rough.
In between Linda running to the toilet and trying to cool down, we spent the day resting and just pottering around. We continued our Canva course and I went and got some medicine from the village around the corner which seemed to help.
Only 4 more days until we leave! That will come around fast enough, wont it?
Wednesday, Jul 12th – (Day 96)
Today was another day of not doing much. Linda was still feeling ill, but a much bigger improvement that yesterday. At least today she could eat food!
The morning was spent resting around the caravan and doing our Canva course again.
We went to check out the pool area which looks nice, but the deck chairs looked like they were about 50 years old with dirty old covers on them, plus there wasn’t much shade, so we went back to the caravan.
Then around 1pm or so we went for a drive into town to get some supplies for tea. First up was a trip back to the Coles at that village from day one.
For some reason the banana supply at Coles was terrible, so we went for a 15 minute drive to Woolworths and got the rest of our supplies, including some fruit bread and yoghurt. Healthy stuff to help our stomachs.
The rest of the night was spent back at the caravan. We played some random games again with Jamie, Rach and Jack and continued watching The Bear.
Fortunately we do have some nice scenery near us. The big water tank just behind us lights up with neon lights, so that gave us a good view in the evenings.
Thursday, JUL 13TH – (DAY 97)
Another day in Port Hedland, just a day like any other here. Linda was on the mend but we thought we’d have another rest day.
The days here get real hot. They get up to around 30 degrees, but the problem is we have no shade for half the day so we just absolutely roast in here. In fact, today we delayed our daily Canva course from the morning to the later afternoon when it’s cooler.
We basically did nothing today other than do a little wander around the park seeing what a derelict, dry baron wasteland it was, and catching up on work and playing games.
Like last night, we had another impromptu boardgames night with our friends back home. This games website has been a revelation on this trip.
Friday, JUL 14TH – (DAY 98)
Finally, our last day in Port Hedland! Today we actually got out and about to do some sight seeing, but honestly there isn’t much here to see.
Pretty Pool was our first stop, and surprisingly it lived up to its name. It was a little oasis type park with palm trees, next to the beach and a little water hole area.
Next we went to Woolworths to stock up on 5 nights worth of tea. The next place we’re going doesn’t really have a supermarket, so we thought it would be a good idea to plan ahead.
On the way back we decided to stop at the train lookout, but unfortunately there were no trains to be spotted like the last days. Bit of a shame, as these trains are damn impressive.
We spent the next few hours at the park again, then we finally go to to to the movies again. This is the first town to have a cinema that we’ve been to for ages, so we thought we’d lap it up.
The movie was No Hard Feelings and it was pretty garbage. We expected it to be, but it was good to be in a cinema again and eating popcorn. Then we finished the evening watching the fifth episode of The Bear.
Tomorrow we hit the road to Eighty Mile Beach which is a 2h45m drive. Not too long before we get back to civilisation!