Tuesday 28 October 2014

Australia 2014 - (20) Karratha to Port Hedland

I took Ruby back to the garage for her service this morning and by 11.30 she had a new tyre, a new chain, had had her carbs flushed and was ready to go. Apparently there had been a bit of grit in the carbs which could have caused the coughing but otherwise the mechanic hadn’t been able to identify anything seriously wrong with her.

As we were late getting on the road, I decided only to go as far as Port Hedland, 235 km away. Not long after leaving Karratha I could see huge plumes of smoke on the horizon. As the next town, Roebourne, is another industrial centre, I thought it may be pollution from one of the plants there, but as I got nearer, I could see it was actually a huge bush fire that seemed to have been making its way across the highway for several days as there was a whole section of burnt scrub and scorched road later on.

The next place signposted was Whims Creek but instead of the highway going through the middle of it, there was a turnoff for it. Unfortunately it wasn’t signposted and I only caught a glimpse of a sign saying “Whim’s Creek Pub – A Must See” out of the corner of my eye to give me any indication that I’d gone past it. That was one “must see” I didn’t see.

Somewhere during the next 150 km, I hit the humidity I’d been dreading ever since leaving Perth. Whereas with dry heat your sweat just evaporates as soon as it reaches your skin, with humid heat, it clings to you, making you a big, hot, soggy mess.

About 40 km from Port Hedland I entered quadruple road train country. Port Hedland is the biggest port in Australia and serves the mining and resource industries. These massive trucks together with mile long trains transport ore to the port. At one point one came up behind me and couldn’t get past for the traffic in the other direction – it was quite scary.

Port Hedland is a massive industrial town surrounded by iron mines, salt mines and god knows what else. As soon as I rode in I knew I couldn’t just spend the night and ride back out again, this was a place that needed exploring. So now I’m two days behind schedule, but what’s the point in coming to these places if you don’t stop and see what’s there?