DAY 77 – STAYING AN EXTRA DAY….

Since we were unable to book into Cape Range National Park until Tuesday, it meant we had an extra day up our sleeve so decided to spend the extra day in Port Hedland.  

So far we have really enjoyed our stay here and haven’t really had much time to explore the town. 

We also needed to do a little shopping.  I needed some new thongs, the last surviving pair I had was starting to wear around the toe area, so I needed to have a back up pair.  Steve and I were both after some water shoes to wear on the reef when we got to Ningaloo. 

Ian and Kathy had been out earlier that us, as Kathy had bought a new hat at the Seafarer’s Centre yesterday and when she got it home, had found that one of the straps had broken so wanted to take it back and exchange it for another.  Whilst they were there, they discovered the Hedland Emporium and found all sorts of knick knacks there.   

The plus side was that it was in a very old part of the town with some really lovely historic buildings there.  Kathy had also located some Havana thongs for me at a surf shop near the Woolies supermarket.  We also had mail that we wanted to post, so with this new information from Ian and Kathy we set off to do some shopping and  have a drive around Port Hedland.  

Our first port of call was to pick up some thongs from the surf shop and then head into the Port to find this Emporium that had everything.   On our way down to the wharf area we passed a park near the BHP offices that had these animals made from metal.  We had seen them the previous day but were unable to stop and photograph them as we needed to get down to the Seafarer's Centre for our cruise.

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The Emporium was in a precinct of very old buildings, so we wandered around and took photos of the lovely old hotel, and shops in this area of town….

The Emporium was just as Ian and Kathy had described, and Steve headed straight to the fishing section. 

Checking out the fishing section

I on the other hand was looking for water shoes, so after asking an assistant I was directed down to the back where the stock was.  I was delighted to find that instead of the water shoes, they sold the Aussie Soles brand of thongs.  I had been looking for some of these since the NT when I had broken the pair that Barb had lent me, and I was keen to replace them.   In the end, I bought three pairs, one for Barb to replace the pair I had broken on her and a couple of pairs for me. 

Never did get the water shoes there.  

After leaving here we drove around to the post office to post our letters, and then discovered one of the earlier towers from the water front.

This was in a little area that also housed some old houses and memorials to past miners, and right in the middle of this area was the Silver Star Café. 

 We had heard about this café from Cathy the bus driver on our Seafarer’s Cruise and it was the one she had recommended in regards to them selling awesome burgers. 

It looked really neat,  it was a little café set up in an old BHP train carriage, and it appeared to be very busy, which is always a sign of a good restaurant, so we decided that it was time for lunch, we might as well have it here.  

The meal was enormous, and we just bought the one Aussie burger and shared it.  The surroundings were very pleasant and we could have sat there all afternoon.  

One of the attractions I wanted to see in Port Hedland was the big wheelbarrow, so we decided to head over to South Hedland to check it out and also to see if we could find the big wheelbarrow.  We did come across this rather grand sports areana on our way to South Hedland though...

 After ringing Ian and Kathy, we discovered they were over at the Kmart at South Hedland, so after locating the sports store that just happened to be closed with met up with them at Kmart.  

We had a great time, keeping cool in the air conditioning as we shopped in Kmart.  Kathy ended up with new togs and shorts, Steve and I got water shoes, thongs, crocs for him, and a pair of cheap dressy sandals for me.

On our way home we did manage to locate the Big Wheelbarrow, although it wasn't that easy to find it initially.

 It has been good to just have a chill out day.  We left Ian and Kathy to head back to the van to get our showering gear and arranged to meet them back at Pretty Pools for a late afternoon tea and then our showers. 

 

On the way home though we detoured through the industrial area to find the illusive big wheelbarrow.  Fortunately we were successful and once our photos were taken, it was home to pack our gear and head for Pretty Pool.

Once again Steve threw in his line, and ended up catching a cod.  We enjoyed just relaxing under the shade of some trees, had our showers and then headed back home around 5pm to pick up our dinner and head up to Koombana Lookout for another torch lit dinner. 

We have really enjoyed our time in Port Hedland.  It definitely is a very RV friendly town, and we have been impressed with the way the council has encouraged tourists to spend more time in their city…  

Thumbs up to Port Hedland…