Barn Hill to Port Hedland:

From Barn Hill we headed to Port Smith which turned out to be the only place we didn’t really like. It was not on the beach and had lots of mangroves around which meant sandflies. There was a lagoon where you could swim at high tide and when the tide went out you could drive right out to the water on the wet sand.You have to be very careful to watch for the incoming tide as it comes in very quickly and if you are fishing you could be in trouble. We only stayed one night here and we were glad to leave.
At Barn Hill we discovered that our front tyre was quite bald so we had to change it which is quite a feat when you can’t access the back door.
To get to the spare tyre everything had to come out through the doors. We had to order some new tyres (2) so we can pick them up in Port Hedland and they are very expensive. Then at Port Smith we discovered that the back tyre was wearing badly on the inside and was dangerous so we had to unload everything again put the spare on the back then put the back tyre on the front, take the spare off and put the better tyre to the back!! What a business!! The reason we are having all this trouble with the tyres is that when the tow bar was fitted we were advised not to use stabiliser bars consequently there is too much weight at the front of the van. We can’t fit a new tow bar as you can’t get the back bumper bar off because we can’t open the back door.

Anyway we continued to Port Hedland with a stop at Cape Keraudron which is an interesting place. It is a large council owned reserve with a large bay and also a very rocky coastline.
There isn’t much beach because of all the rock.
The rock formation is very honeycombed and is very rough to walk on and is quite awkward to fish off because line get snared but this doesn’t deter fishermen as the fishing is quite rewarding. Once again some people come and stay for months. We went for a walk over the rough rocks which was quite a challenge but there were some tough little wild flowers growing under some harsh conditions.
Cattle wander around the whole area and kangaroos can be seen grazing.
The sea was turquoise and we witnessed a couple of beautiful sunsets (over the sea.) The tides are huge here and when we arrived it was high tide. When we woke the next morning it was so low there was a rocky island exposed and the whole bay was mud flats. It is quite amazing.

From here we went to a lovely free camp by the De Grey River. We were very lucky to get a spot right near the river under the large river gums. It is a very pretty and peaceful place with lots of birds. We met a lovely couple who have been on the road for eleven years and they go everywhere. They had just been working on a large station near Ningaloo Reef.
We had a fire the first night and after tea four couples joined us with all the tales and jokes usually told around a camp fire. It was lots of fun.

Both evenings we witnessed a beautiful sunset with the large bridge silhouetted and reflected in the river.

We headed to Port Hedland after two relaxing days. There were some beautiful white gum trees with twisted trunks as we passed along. Then it became very flat. As we neared Port Hedland which is an area rich in iron ore, some red boulders and rocky outcrops made a contrast against the green flats. It was very pretty.