It was another cold night and we got up freezing. In order to get warm we wore down jackets and sat next to a gas heater at breakfast. Half an hour later when we went back to the tent to pack our bags we changed into shorts and sandals. It is amazing how fast temperatures change in Western Australia.
To leave the National Park we took the route around Karijini instead of choosing the shorter 4- wheel track. Timewise it is about the same as the unsealed road is in a pretty rough condition. Driving on the unsealed roads to and in the park turned our once white rental car into a dusty vehicle- red sand everywhere.
From Karijini we headed towards Broome. Once again that is quite a distance so we decided to stay in Port Hedland for a night to split the drive. You reach Port Hedland via the Great Northern Highway (National Route 95). This road is full of roadtrains, trucks with up to four trailers.
All sealed roads are in excellent condition, better than any roads in Germany. And, surprise, no blow ups even though temperatures in the tropics easily reach 50 degrees in wet season.
Traveling through Western Australia we had marveled many times how supplies were being distributed across this giant state. Where were all the things coming from like food, building materials, clothes, … Until today we had not seen a lot of trucks, no trains or ship that could explain how shops were being stocked. Today we encountered the road trains that manage these logistics.
But also there is a lot of mining traffic on this road. It is mainly iron ore that is being extracted in Western Australia and on the Great Northern Highway you see the road trains and railway lines that take these resources to Port Hedland to be loaded onto ships.
Port Hedland is a natural deep harbor and you see ships queuing on the horizon to get into port to take aboard the iron ore.
After stocking up on food for the road we spent the afternoon and evening at the Cemetery Beach Park where we watched green sea turtles and even a ray swim close to the shore.
