Day 53. Today we are doing a day trip with Ross and Robyn to Roebourne, Karratha, Dampier, Cossack and Wickham to explore the huge mining and gas operations. First stop Old Roebourne Goal built in the 1880's, a sad reminder of the harsh treatment of aborigines who crossed the early settlers. Next Dampier and its huge port operations - Woodside-operated North West Shelf Karratha Gas Plant, Woodside's Pluto Gas Plant and Rio Tinto's Iron Ore and Salt Operations. At the enormous Gas Plant on the beautiful rocky Burrup Peninsular, the very friendly Woodside public relations officer Mandy showed us a short video and a wonderful view out to the plant. Visited the Red Dog memorial statue on leaving Dampier and then onto Karratha for lunch, a busy small city with lots of miners' accommodation and attractive houses and gardens. We loved historic Cossack established in 1872 near the mouth of the Harding River as a port for the pastoral industry and as a pearl diving centre, especially its old stone buildings which were used as a leprosarium in 1913. Last stop mining residential town of Wickham owned by Rio Tinto for processing the iron ore railed from Pannawonica to the port at Cape Lambert. Dinner tonight the fishermen's basket at our local Samson Beach Tavern. Drove 220km today, warm 26 degrees, a very interesting day.