Around Straya
Port Hedland was just that! A port! You could see all the huge ships in the harbour waiting for their loads of iron ore. You could see the mines pouring out the salt into massive piles ready for loading. There were a few mining and port tours that you could go on where you were told all about the mining industry and how it all works. A lady who attended one of the tours said that they load a ship every hour and each ship takes 80 million dollars worth of Iron ore to countries around the world.
It was in Port Hedland that we noticed a special glow about sunset. This glow was absolutely gorgeous painting amazing silhouettes! This special glow only got better as we travelled along and was a hallmark of the Northern part of WA. Apparently it is caused by red dirt in the air that bounces back the light waves.
Port Hedland had a beautiful beach with lots of crabs. It was also famous for its turtles. Turtle nesting season is in the summer and volunteers are recruited to participate in helping the little hatchlings get into the water from their nests. When the tide is high you can see turtles swimming around in the water from the lookout. We went to the lookout when the tide was high. We didn’t see any turtles, but we did see a really big sting ray swimming around in the water.
There was lots of information about turtles all around the beach. It was very interesting. We also saw these really cool red bugs that were congregated over certain plants. There were thousands of them and it was mating season for them.
There was a really cool play ground at the turtle beach which was called Cemetery Beach.
In the town of Port Hedland there was a little park called Strike Park. Apparently it was the place that a whole lot of Aboriginal stockman gathered together to protest their low pay and poor working conditions. It was an interesting bit of history.
