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Today we left our remote beachside campsite at Barn Hill Station and drove south to Port Hedland. We packed up wraps and fruit for easy breakfast and lunch on the road and left the hot and humid Kimberly weather after one last refreshing shower.
We spent the day in the car, watching brown Hawks soar overhead looking for prey, the odd cattle by the roadside (and one hairy moment with a cow standing in my lane) and the ever changing scenery - the greens and golds and reds. The weather also changed, with the temperature dropping from 32 degrees in the morning down to 22 by the time we got to our destination. We drove under a cloudless sky to begin with, followed by blue sky and fluffy white clouds which quickly changed to gray sky followed by a torrential downpour, which was over almost as soon as it began.
There are no towns until Port Hedland, only two outback roadhouses with expensive fuel and greasy food for sale. Still, each stop provided some welcome relief to the six hour road journey.
We arrived in Port Hedland around 4pm, driving straight to the tyre place to check our spare is ok until we reach Perth. It's fine but there we discovered that the new tyres we had to put on in Esperance are not the right ones for our car, so we will need to sort that out also when back in Perth.
We drove out to Finacune Island to see the big ships in the port, but there wasn't really much to see. We did a supermarket shop and pulled up for the night at the racecourse where you can stay (with no facilities) for $10. This is an initiative by the local council to cater for large rigs or those travelling with pets who can't get in to the local caravan park (which charges a ridiculous $50 per night anyway).
We had an easy BBQ chicken and homemade salad for dinner and chilled out for the evening, with the highway noise an ever present reminder that this is a 24 hour mining town - no quiet time here! In the morning we'll decide where to stay next, somewhere near Karratha.
Here's to slightly cooler weather and easier sleeping conditions! Tonight we will need our doonas.
Night night xx
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