After nearly 250km from Eighty Mile Beach we were about 10km from Port Hedland and were pulled up behind a wide load truck transporting the most massive piece of equipment we have ever seen. The load on the truck looked like a gigantic steel rectangular swimming pool and was probably close to 3 stories high. It was immense… Luckily for us we came up on it at exactly the right moment to be waved past as we approached a wide intersection area.

Safely past the wide load we immediately noticed three things about Port Hedland:

• Every fourth or fifth vehicle is a road train carrying ore or fuel;
• Almost every vehicle that isn’t a road train is a white Toyota Hilux;
• Every vehicle that isn’t Hilux is a Toyota LandCruiser.

Consequently we fit right in.,, The drive to the Port Hedland Discovery Caravan Park loops you right through the residential housing area to the end of the road which loops back into town. The park itself is set on a point bordering a tidal creek. Across the creek is Pretty Pool, a newer residential development area is actually a twenty minute drive despite being just on the other side.

The reviews for the Port Hedland Discovery Caravan Park said that the road inside the park was very tight and that manoeuvering vans over 21ft was difficult. The road was very tight but given that the park was quite empty it ended up being quite easy getting out 22½ft van onto our site, which overlooked the creek.

Port Hedland is first and foremost a mining port. It has a weird vibe about it, kind of like Woomera with people. The buildings and houses are all new’ish and the town itself is very clean and tidy. The ore loading port dominates the landscape on Finucane Island on the opposite side of Taylor Inlet. Like most visitors to Port Hedland we spent a few hours in town just watching the ore loader and the bulk carriers across the water.

The tug boats seem to be going 24 hours a day shepherding the massive bulk ore carriers in and out of the port in an endless procession. The speed that the tugs bring the ships in is quite amazing and the unladen ships ride quite high in the water. Apparently it takes around 18 hours to fill an ore carrier and you can always see four or five lined up to the horizon ready to come in and be filled.

We spent a pleasant morning at Dome Cafe sitting on the verandah watching one ship being towed into port. The cafe was a historic building with a huge verandah attached by a breezeway to a newer kitchen/shop area. The verandah was completely enclosed by large lattice storm shutters, presumably a defence against cyclones. After the cafe we parked over near the public jetty and boat ramp to watch the ore carrier go past. It’s not often that you can sit in your car and watch a massive ship ply its way past you so closely.

We didn’t do too much sight-seeing in Port Hedland, other than a drive around Pretty Pool, because there isn’t really that much to see. We did some re-stocking and re-fueling at South Hedland which is another residential and community area about 10km inland from the port. The fuel was also noticeably cheaper in South Hedland.

We did, however, do pub night at The Esplanade Hotel, a beautiful stone hotel in the port area of Port Hedland. First built in 1904 it is now a very elegant two story stone building with wrap around verandah on the upper floor. It has very distinctive stained glass windows featuring the iconic Sturt Desert Pea in the centre. The pub was incredibly busy and we couldn’t get a table in the courtyard area and had to settle for a table in the bar area. It was quite a nice pub but had matching nice prices as well.

The Esplanade Hotel was directly across the road from the port control tower and a small war memorial. The control tower was an impressive structure similar to an airport control tower but not as high and with a broader work space. The control tower overlooks the port and ship turning basin, which was once a land-locked lake area that was re-joined with the ocean.

Apart from iron ore, Port Hedland also produces export quantities of salt from huge evaporation ponds and hills of salt that you drive past as you approach the town. It is also developing an area of lithium deposits and has natural gas reserves off the coast. It is an absolute hive of activity between the port and the mines further inland and you get the feeling that a lot of money passes through this place… on its way to somewhere else…