Karratha to Port Hedland

April 16th to Karratha 570 km

Drove from Coral Bay 0730. Cecilia drives in Neil's car in the morning. Raoul change place after a couple of hours. Nice to ride Healey on long distance. It was hot today our Hyundai measured up to 35 degrees. It doesn't get any cooler in a Healey. However, Neil's car kept the engine temperature stable.

On the other hand, it was highway speed all the time. No slopes. Got some photos of oncoming trucks and some more. Termite stacks and burnt bushlands along the way. For a while there are areas with low vegetation. Then suddenly there will be large areas with high stones, Cecilia thought. Neil said it was termite nests that look like rocks. If you cut off the top of them, you can see all the hallways inside.

Raoul driving alone last in the Hyundai last in the convoy when a Lizard suddenly appeared on the highway slowly making its way over the bitumen. He stopped and took a picture. Since he disappeared from Neil's mirror Neil stopped and went back for Raoul. Lesson learned; do not stop!

_{A perentie goanna on the road.
Healeys turning left onto NW Coastal Highway from Burkett Rd.}

Then it suddenly becomes quite mountainous. These are volcanoes that are quite flat at the top. So the landscape really shifts. It is high numbers. Port Hedland is for next day Forest fire some years ago. Flat landscape

_{Maitland Industrial Estate. Built under Neil's supervision. We just passed it outside Karratha.}

After 2.5 hours we stop to refuel and stretch our legs at the Nanutarra Roadhouse. Then we change again so that Raoul goes with Neil and Helen goes with Cecilia. In addition, Wayne and Glenda change car with David and Di. We stopped at a parking lot to wave all the Healeys to pass, Mazda with Di and our rental car. Di pulls out Mazda again onto the highway and takes off to catch up to the line of Healeys. Behind a crest comes a police car that makes a U-turn in front of the Mazda and stops it. Speeding ticket for Di. What bad luck.

We continue our path. There are a lot of cows along the way. The area is agricultural countryside. The scary thing is that the cows have the same reddish-brown colour as the ground and the stones. We see a number of dead cows along the highway that have been hit by cars or trucks. As we begin to approach Karratha we turn towards Dampier, which is a town entirely based on the mining and gas industries here. We stop and eat for a while in a cafe overlooking the ocean. We have passed a train loaded with iron ore on the road. The train is 2.1 kilometers long and is pulled by six locomotives!

_{The Healeys at North West Shelf Visitors Centre.}

Looked at a natural gas plant which is one of the largest in the world. Purifies, cools and condenses natural gas for transport as LNG to other countries on vessels. Natural gas is also piped to Bunbury City south of Perth. 1690 km. Impressive facility. Karratha city exists only because of the oil & gas and associated facilities constructed in the area. The city is a modern and very clean.

We go to the hotel and check into Karratha. Raoul goes shopping and I throw myself in the pool for cooling down. When Raoul comes back, we unload everything. It's Sundowner at 6 pm. Should we go out and eat? Some want to, others don't. There is a small Thai restaurant nearby.

The hotel room's air conditioning was the worst we have been to. It was so noisy that we had trouble sleeping. We turned it off and tried to sleep anyway. But it was too hot.

April 17th to Port Hedland 319 km

Left Karratha at 0800. Stopped at Point Samson, Noel and Cecilia wanted a swim in the Ocean. Saw sign on the way to Post Simson about a Museum, Cossack, and wondered what it was. Google had the answer that it was a partially renovated abandoned city. Built by baitfish and turtle hunters in the 1880s and 1890s. But the cyclones that passed in a belt right here changed the conditions for the outcome.

After a couple of cyclones the port became shallower due to slurry and the two cyclones also ravaged the city. Operations were moved partly to Point Samson and partly to Broome. Drove on for a snack at the Whim Creek Pub which unfortunately closed for good. The pub was an old classic pub and stop along The North West Coastal Highway.

We continue driving to the motel for the night. The hotel was more than that. Camping areas, caravans, and accommodation for people working in the mining industry here. They come here and work maybe three weeks and then go home for a week. It's a bit like working on oil platforms. It's a pretty worn area.

The temperature was up to 37 degrees according to our car. Helen felt ill when we arrived at the hotel. Felt better in the evening. Both Cecilia and I preferred to sit in our car today. 37 degrees is hot even if it blows in an open car. In the evening we went to the restaurant at the hotel and had dinner. It serves as a dining room for anyone who lives in the hotel. The restaurant was more like a canteen. But a lot of food to choose from, and plenty. Many dishes were made to order.

_{The main building in Cossack today.
Nice rebuilt house in Cossack.}

_{Whim Creek Pub.
Trucks outside Port Hedland. We met a couple.}

We had paid for a food package; Dinner, breakfast and a takeaway lunch, do it yourself. Leaving at 6:00 am tomorrow to avoid some heat. We were advised not to leave before dawn due to risk for animals on the road.