Friday, 5 June 2026
Overall our cabin last night was great, until I was woken up by a knocking sound this morning. I got up to try to see what it was, in case it was something I could secure to stop it knock, knock, knocking. Argh, it was the outside flap on the exhaust fan in the bathroom, so not something that could be closed or secured. It was ironic really as, when I switched the fan on to have my shower, it was the world’s quietest exhaust fan, but with the noisiest external weather flap! And then there was what we can only assume was the water pump … every time that we turned on a tap it sounded like a wounded bull outside our room. Weird. But, apart from some strange and irritating noises, the cabin was spacious and had everything we needed.
We packed up and drove back out to the highway, turning right to continue south towards Port Hedland. We continue to ‘swim against the tide’ heading south, when most of the traffic is driving north. It was the same for us on the Gibb River Road, most people were driving from west to east as we made our way in the opposite direction. On the plus side, we are not coming up behind caravans all the time and then having to wait for opportunities to pass them.
Our first stop this morning was at the Cape Keraudren Coastal Reserve. As we drove in a sign informed us that access to the reserve was not covered by our WA National Parks Pass and providing a website to book online. On the website, we couldn’t find an option to book a Day Pass, only camping sites. That was frustrating. The sign also indicated that a Ranger was on site, so we headed in to see if we could find out anything more about day access to the park.
We arrived at the Ranger’s residence and there was an information area opposite. We pulled up behind another couple who were putting cash in an envelope to pay for their access to the park and for a campsite. There was also a QR Code option so we attempted to be all tech savvy and pay via the QR Code. Bee, Baw, that would be a no. We could book a Day Pass for tomorrow (the 6th of June) but it would not let us book for TODAY. Right, can we do $15.00 IN CASH to put in an envelope to drop in the lock box? Fortunately, Bernie had a $10.00 note and there were some gold coins in the console, so we made up $15.00 to put in the box. We tore the receipt section off the envelope to display on the windscreen so that if the ranger was checking up on people we would be all legal.
With our Day Pass sorted, we continued our drive out towards Cape Keraudren. Arriving in the main car park, we made use of the facilities, before driving along one of the tracks towards the Clifftop Camps. We soon decided that it was a bit invasive driving around amongst the people who had set up their caravans in this tranquil setting. We drove back to a spot that had a sign saying ‘Day Use Only’ and parked the truck there before setting off on foot.
The cape is spectacular. Rugged volcanic rocks, pristine white sand and turquoise waters. From the cape we found ourselves looking across to Eighty Mile Beach where we were yesterday afternoon. When the rabbit proof fence was built, it started from the tip of Cape Keraudren. With sign posts rudimentary at best (mostly non existent) we couldn’t find a definitive spot that marked the site of the rabbit fence. With the morning getting away, and 124 kilometres still to travel, we started to make our way back towards the highway. We spied a pair of white-bellied sea eagles that appeared to be making a nest so Bernie managed to zoom in on them for a photo. We made two more quick stops at Sandy Beach and Cootebrand Creek for more photos of the picturesque cape.
It was an easy drive to Port Hedland. We continued to pass a procession of vehicles, with and without caravans, all heading north. As we drew closer to Port Hedland we caught up to a few road trains that Bernie managed to overtake on long straight stretches of the highway. Arriving in Port Hedland our eyes were drawn to the huge mountain of salt at Dampier Salt Limited. But, no time to stop at the lookout right now, we had the SatNav set for the Port Hedland Bakehouse and we were feeling excited at the prospect of a big, fresh, salad roll. It had just gone 2.00pm when we pulled in to the Port Hedland Boulevard Shopping Centre for a late-ish lunch.
Right, where’s this bakery? We walked past a café that had sandwiches and rolls in it’s cabinets, because we were committed to the idea of buying lunch from the bakery. Not a salad roll or sandwich in sight, but they still had some good looking pies and pasties in the pie warmer. We decided that would be a nice change from white bread sandwiches, with Bernie opting for a pork and vegetable pastie and me for a chunky steak pie. The next problem was … where to eat them. No tables and chairs in the bakery. We thought it would be too rude to sit at the other café’s tables to eat our lunch that we had purchased elsewhere. Bernie suggested going in to Harvey Norman to check out their couches while we ate our lunch but, obviously, that was inappropriate too, ha, ha. We ended up returning to the truck to eat our lunch there.
Sated with pie and pasty, we wandered back into the shopping centre, to pop into the Woolies for a couple of things. Seeing as we were already there, that made more sense than continuing to the Discovery Park and then returning to the supermarket. Supplies secured, we continued along McGregor Street and Athol Street to arrive at the caravan park. We checked in and, with the keys to Cabin 131 in hand, we found our way to our bed for tonight.
We unloaded … again. It’s more tedious when you are unpacking and re-packing on a daily basis! With our gear installed in our cabin, we drove back to the Redbank Bridge Lookout for a closer look at that mountain of salt. There were no interpretative boards at the lookout. What? Why have a lookout and then not explain what people are looking at? Google to the rescue again. Dampier Salt Limited (DSL) is the world’s largest exporter of seabourne salt. Seabourne salt (or solar salt) is sea salt that is produced by the natural evaporation of seawater using the sun and wind. DSL was established in 1967 and operates on a 10,000-hectare site, producing high-purity sodium chloride for the chemical industry and as a key ingredient in modern energy solutions, including the batteries for EVs.
While we watched, empty salt transporting trucks were pulling in front of the mountain of salt, where a front end loader was scooping salt from the pile and dumping it in the trucks. Of course we watched until a truck was fully loaded and drove out past the viewing point. Such nerds! Piecing things together from Google, we think we were seeing some trucks carrying salt from the crystallizer ponds to the wash plant and then, the one being loaded from the pile of salt, was probably taking its load to the wharves for bulk export?? We were told last night that they run a tour, but the earliest available tour is in two weeks so, maybe next time we’re in Port Hedland??
We drove back to the cabin via the Koombana Lookout and the Cooke Point Viewing Platform, trying to decide where to watch the sunset from. One night only in Port Hedland, decisions, decisions. We eventually decided that we would park the truck back at the cabin and walk to the entrance to the park, to watch the sun set from there. The cloud on the horizon was a bit dark tonight so the sunset was obscured. However, I’m sure there will be plenty more opportunities for amazing sun sets as we continue our journey southwards.
On the recommendation of fellow travellers last night, we drove to Ray’s at the Hedland Hotel for dinner. Hmmn, I was a bit disappointed after the rave review it was given last night. Possibly influenced by my healthy choice of a tuna salad which was … uninspiring. I should have opted for the fish and chips like Bernie. You can’t go wrong with fish and chips!
Steps: 11,110 (6.71kms)
