Day 13. A long drive further north towards the Pilbara. Left very early after a great sleep in our donga, again passing many mine sites for gold, nickel, copper, manganese, lead, silver and uranium and many long road trains over 50m long. The huge Mt Keith Mine has so much spoil it has been piled up to look like a mountain range. Very deceptive! Closed gates and ‘do not enter’ signs everywhere. We crossed the Tropic of Capricorn before midday and arrived into the red rocky Pilbara. We are staying in Capricorn Village just outside Newman, a miners’ village with hundreds of miners from BHP and other mines. A drive into mining town of Newman a pleasant surprise - an oasis in the desert with its green parks, shady white gum trees and shops. Lots of mine vehicles about with their flags and flashing lights. Dinner tonight at our mining village, a buffet for the hungry miners. Distance today 440km, warm 26 degrees and very sunny. Tomorrow morning we are going on a BHP tour of Mt Whaleback, largest open cut iron ore mine in the world. Then we go camping for 2 nights at Karijini NP and it’s beautiful gorges and pools, so will be out of range for a few days until we hit the coast around Onslow.