We arrived in Port Hedland about 11am and parked down near the wharf. There were numerous ships in various stages of loading. We watched as 3 tugs arrived back from escorting a ship out through the channel before heading to the Visitors Centre so that Glenn could get another hat pin. His hat is getting heavier and heavier! As it was close to lunchtime we found a great little café that was originally a BHP train carriage. One half of the carriage was the kitchen and the other was for dining. As we had Crystal with us we weren't sure if we could dine there but I asked anyway. The French manager was more than happy to have us as there was also an outside area on the other side of the carriage. He even bought her a bowl of water! Lunch was great and I took some photos of the carriage before leaving.

While walking back to the cars we could see a ship being guided into the harbour so hurried down to see be birth. It was obviously empty as it was sitting very high out of the water. We drove through South Hedland before heading out onto the main road in search of another free overnight stay. Port Hedland was much bigger and busier than I expected and there is lots of road works going on to alleviate the traffic problem when the big trains go through. Some of these have over 300 carriages and you can get caught waiting at a crossing for a while. There are also plenty of semi-trailers with triples on the back moving ore around. I was glad to leave them behind because when they are coming towards you their back trailer is often swinging in the breeze and it's a bit scary for passing.

We travelled about 50km south of Port Hedland and pulled into a great spot alongside the Yule River, picture perfect. There was already a couple from Tasmania parked there and we had a bit of a chat about our thoughts about a holiday over there. After a cuppa we headed down to the river for a look around. Our new friends from Tassie were having a go at fishing and eventually caught a beauty! His wife was very excited as he has tried to catch something a few times on their travels but this was the first time be had caught anything. We didn't know what it was but it was a good size and would make a good fed.

We sat around the fire again tonight, the further south we go the cool the nights are getting again. We had dinner and settled in for another episode of G of T's.

Heading south, Virginia and Glenn