Passed Port Hedland

17 October 2008

We woke up in Karijini. A shy dingo ate our rubbish! I even went through the trouble of tying it to a branch, up high in a tree. The little bugger was agile, so he deserved our garbage.

We drove and drove and drove. We stopped at a neat view point. We could see the highway in the beautiful gorges. There are many forest fires in the fields nearby, and there’s no way of knowing if they’re controlled or not. We stopped on the highway to film one.

We made it to Port Hedland, or Hell with Trucks. It is such a strange and sad place. The strangest part is that, at the shopping mall, we were the town dirts! We hadn’t showered since we left home, and so we were a little...orange. I was wearing Jonny’s shirt, hadn’t brushed my hair, and wore no make-up. I was pretty much the little match girl, without the matches.

We stop on the highway to film the sunset at a place that feels like the Saskatchewan of Australia. Now, I have never been to Saskatchewan, but I think that’s what it would be like. Flat and vast.

Camp is at a Parking Bay (or truckie stop) on the highway, about 240km west of Broome. It seems that there hasn’t been many humans who have stayed here overnight, because the bugs are going crazy! I was attacked by some large beetle-ish thing that looked like a trilobite. A couple of seconds later, a wormy looking centipede quickly crawled over my feet. Having volunteered to do the cooking, I am stuck out here while Jonny is on ant patrol (with the flashlight, he checks my feet for nasty bullants). While eating dinner, I was bit in the head by what was most likely a bullant... Well, it’s not 5-stars, but at least the accomodation is free!

Marie-Claude