Day 50. A very windy early morning upon departing Eighty Mile Beach and down the Great Northern Highway to the Pilbara town of Port Hedland. Arrived into the Big 4 CP at Cooke Point at lunchtime with our friends Ross and Robyn. Ross and I did a little fishing in the nearby tidal Pretty Pool Inlet. A drive through town and huge port area fascinating. The Port Hedland Cup was in progress at the racecourse, lots of people all dressed up. We noticed lots of very nice houses and gardens in the suburbs, we guess many are owned by BHP Billiton and other corporates. But the most interesting sight was the loading of two huge Chinese iron ore carriers right in front of us. We counted another 30 bulk carriers waiting in a long line offshore. Earlier we had seen a very long ore train with hundreds of rolling stock buckets pulled by three locomotives! Dinner and drinks tonight at the upmarket Esplanade Hotel with our friends. It was just amazing to see the port all lit up at night and the iron ore loading continuing. The distant lights of the waiting ships like an offshore city. Chatted with a ship's captain and engineer waiting to go on board. This massive Pilbara operation is a part of Australia which makes us feel very proud indeed, as mining is the source of our great nation's wealth.