24 July 2019
After a restless night, we were woken up by road trains of course, and to what sounded like a galloping horse. And it was. The empty paddock next to the golf course is used for trackwork.
Bill and I tried out one of Port Hedlands gyms this morning and then the four of us went to the South Hedland shopping centre where Mum and Dad grabbed some groceries whilst Bill and I had pedicures. Yep. Bill had a pedicure. Our feet were in pretty bad nick and I convinced him that it would be good for them. He sat there happily with his massage chair going and his feet in warm water whilst the girl did mine. I’m not sure he will be a regular, but we all got to have a good laugh about it for awhile.
At 1 pm we were back at the Seafarers Centre in Port Hedland (South Hedland and Port Hedland are about 15 minutes apart) where we started our harbour tour.
There are Seafarers Centres in 71 countries and they look out for the welfare of the people that work on the large vessels. For the iron ore ships, they are on 9 month contracts and often need support to deal with conflict situations with crew, and apparently they sometimes won’t be getting paid. The Australian Maritime Security Authority can hold the ship in Port if something like non-payment is happening though, which means that it gets resolved very quickly as it costs tens of thousands of dollars every day that a ship is sitting inactive.
After an introduction talk and presentation on the organisation, and general info on the port, we were taken on to the Seafarers vessel that is a free transfer service to pick up, and drop off seafarers from all of the vessels that are in Port. Port Hedland is the busiest port in Australia for seafarers getting off ships, and the 5th busiest in the world. The seafarers spend 5 million dollars a year in the local shopping centre, and apparently like to stock up on Australian made UGG boots, australian made woolen doonas and australian wine!
We scooted around to every vessel that was in harbour and it was amazing to be travelling through such an environment. The vessels are enormous, and we could see them being loaded, and also saw a fully loaded vessel being taken out with the help of 3 tug boats.
It is mainly iron ore exported from PH, however there is also salt, manganese and lithium. However, it’s really all about the iron ore. There are 3 iron ore companies operating out of PH – BHP, FMG and Gina Reinhardts company. They each have there own railway connecting their mines with the port, and they each have their own berths that they load from. It is all extremely interesting, and industry on such an enormous scale. I find it both impressive and concerning.
Bill played another 9 holes of golf in the afternoon and I enjoyed the walk. After dinner we went to maccas for ice cream cones, and then went for a drive back into PH to see the port lights after dark. We couldn’t see a great deal, however the tidal variation from when we had been there earlier in the day was remarkable.
Bill was super impressed that I’d organised yet another boat trip for him.
Bill and I acting our age on the Port Hedland playground. Those balance thingo’s were tough!
Travelling the Big Island 