Distance 501 kms Cumulative 8329
We tried to leave early today so that we wouldn't be hit with a setting sun on the last 13 kms of dirt. We had brekky in the Eco Retreat and left the tents to dry off the morning dew. Big mistake as Alan flapped around as usual packing up his tent so we didn't hit the road until 9 am.
We had about 35 kms of dirt road to get to the Visitors Centre and a sealed road out of the park. We had set the bikes up the day before and the trip was uneventful and we seemed to have less vibration on the corrugations than the bus did the day before. Trouble was that I only managed an average speed of 43 kph which was too slow for the GRR where we were doing 300kms in a day. I'll just have to learn to go faster. We headed east out of the park and the scenery was magnificent with jagged hills and wide valleys.
We stopped at Auski RH to fill up and have a coffee and to inflate our tyres back to road pressures. Auski is a popular RH for traffic from BHP's Mt Newman mine and Port Hedland so there was plenty on offer if you wanted it. It was still quite cool so we were well rugged up on the bikes. The country varied from barren to really barren. One section just had broken rocks on the ground with no vegetation at all - like Mars! As we approached Port Hedland pools of water appeared in the river beds and the country greened up a bit. But as we got closer the landscape turned to industrial with railway lines and stockpile dumps appearing. Colin wanted to avoid lunch at the RH so we rode into Port Hedland. One side of the road was a huge railway marshalling yard for the iron ore rail cars that eventually lead to Australia's biggest bulk ship loading facility. The other side of the road was a stretch of suburbia along the beach front. We eventually found the end at the port and a fancy 3 storey 
Esplanade Hotel made of limestone blocks with wide verandas and cast iron trimming. They had a courtyard restaurant with a red carpet. We ordered tapas and it turned out to be delicious and the equal of any tapas we've had in Sydney or Melbourne including soft shell crab. The trouble was it took ages to get served. that put us even more behind schedule for our ETA at Pardoo Stn.
Esplanade Hotel made of limestone blocks with wide verandas and cast iron trimming. They had a courtyard restaurant with a red carpet. We ordered tapas and it turned out to be delicious and the equal of any tapas we've had in Sydney or Melbourne including soft shell crab. The trouble was it took ages to get served. that put us even more behind schedule for our ETA at Pardoo Stn.We stocked up on steak and salad for dinner at the local Woollies and filled up with fuel and even got a fuel discount - felt like home! The other side of Port Hedland was even more industrial/desolate than coming in but we were soon on the open road. The country side was pretty flat and bleak until we started getting near to Pardoo Station, where the grass lands were lush and vegetation profuse. We turned off the main hwy and took the station road for 13kms on a wide smooth dirt road. I noticed a sign at the gate saying "No Bikes" which was a bit of concern, but Alan had pre booked the "donga" we were going to share that night. Apart from one soft sandy patch we travelled the road with no problems and found a large complex of buildings at the station including a shop restaurant, camp kitchen, fire pit, swimming pool and camping ground, which was pretty full. The place is popular with the mine workers on leave hence the restaurant which was really a mess hall.
There were the usual contingent of foreign backpackers staff. One French guy said he came over to Australia because he couldn't get work in France and it was really easy in WA and well paid. Our donga was a traditional single mens quarters from the mines built in a prefab group of 5 small rooms 3m by 2.5m 
There were bunk beds and a single bed in ours and room for not much else. The bed linen had a big picture of Casey Stoner on his title winning Ducati! We bought a bottle of wine and took our glasses to the fire pit where all the other campers were having pre-dinner drinks. We had a good chat including the usual dire warnings about the perils of the GRR. After dinner which we barbequed Alan re-asserted his lead in the cards. There was no internet so we could do the blog. I went to the restaurant to see if I could get a cup of coffee and the cook made up a tray with cups and saucers and a filter jug of coffee - very nice indeed. We had hoped to see the French MotoGP race but they only had Foxtel. Casey binned it on the 2nd lap we learned later.
There were bunk beds and a single bed in ours and room for not much else. The bed linen had a big picture of Casey Stoner on his title winning Ducati! We bought a bottle of wine and took our glasses to the fire pit where all the other campers were having pre-dinner drinks. We had a good chat including the usual dire warnings about the perils of the GRR. After dinner which we barbequed Alan re-asserted his lead in the cards. There was no internet so we could do the blog. I went to the restaurant to see if I could get a cup of coffee and the cook made up a tray with cups and saucers and a filter jug of coffee - very nice indeed. We had hoped to see the French MotoGP race but they only had Foxtel. Casey binned it on the 2nd lap we learned later.I tried to get a shot of the setting sun but we were 7kms from the beach. Most of the campers were there for the fishing and drove out to the beach in their 4WD's. The no bikes referred to the ban on bikes going down to the beach - not that we would have made it as the track was soft sand.
No comments:
Post a Comment