Our Enchanted World: BREAKING NEWS - Side Trip to PORT HEDLAND, WA

WA not WA - that is Western Australia not Washington State USA.

I am here for a 3 week locum at the brand new regional hospital.

Port Hedland is a town (actually 2 towns Port Hedland and South Hedland more inland) of nearly 20,000 people in the Pilbara region of WA approximately 1800km north of Perth. It is one of the largest iron ore exporting ports in the world. I could count 17 large ore carriers in the roadstead awaiting a berth, as well as several in the harbour itself.

Pilbara refers to an Aboriginal word for mullet (Domi take note - but it's the fish, not the hair), or maybe "bilybara" meaning "dry". When one sees mineworkers and others clad in fluorescent safety shirts, come to the bottle shop (liquor store) at the end of a shift, and leave heavily laden, it is clearly not going to be a dry night ahead.

It is hot and humid, with unusually heavy and frequent rains this year (highway was blocked recently south of here) preventing food trucks getting through for several days. Most food is trucked in from Perth - even fresh produce grown NORTH of here which goes to Perth first.

The airport has frequent flights to Perth and daily flights to Melbourne and as well as flights to Bali (only 2 hours away) and smaller regional centres.

The landscape is flat, featureless, big sky country with magnificent sunsets and sunrises, and mines and cathedral-like installations . The far hinterland has beautiful national parks but I cannot get away for long enough to visit these.

BHP SHEEP - there is so much iron out there it has even affected the sheep.

Tourist Guide Map

Salt is harvested from sea water ponds.

No, this is not a ski slope. It's a mountain of salt.

Salty Sisters Three

Australian road trains, some 50m long, hauling 115 tons, sweep across Australia transporting goods. These bring in iron ore from some of the mines - one speeds by every few minutes.