So we are back Down Under, and we continue our trip through the northwest of Australia. After I was able to relax for a few days at the Ningaloo Reef and take a look around, especially at and under the water, it was unfortunately time again to say goodbye. But every farewell was at the same time the start for the next adventure. For it we went further along the coast, our next destination was Broome. But until then it was still quite a bit of road to eat and on the way I wanted to look around a little as well.
I had found another ride and me and my new travel companion drove towards the northeast. We were still in the Australian winter, which is more like the Central European summer. Most days were sunny and warm, a condition to which I had already become very well accustomed.
Most of the time during this trip I was camping, and since it didn't get very chilly at night, I was able to take the outer tarp off my tent so I could at least get a little fresh breeze now and then. I can't imagine how the temperatures will be here in high summer, but since we just had "winter", this was fortunately not my problem.
Once again, this leg of my trip took me through the red heart of the continent, the predominant color was clearly red-brown, which somehow also best reflects the temperatures there.
I have put up some pictures into this post again, so please sit back and relax and let's take a look at it all together....
The animal world of Australia is richly varied and consists not only of kangaroos and koalas. You will also meet many other interesting representatives on your journey through the country. Usually I can't really classify the different specimens, and if I try, they are already gone and on their way.
This cheeky fellow here probably belongs to the group of geckos from the family of reptiles, and crossed the street right in front of us, only to stop for a moment and pose for a photo.
On the way to Dampier we had stopped briefly to do a little hike. With the sun shining once again, it drove us up into the hills and there we crawled along this almost dried up river course.
Boulders and stones, rocks and dust - it's a mixture you can't really escape in this country. Especially in the north and west, Australia exudes its very own rough yet fascinating charm.
The reason for our hike were these petroglyphs. Supposedly made a long time ago, they managed to catch our attention and draw us away from the road. Whoever immortalized himself here a long time or maybe just a blink ago, has obviously achieved his purpose.
Near Dampier it slowly became busier again and there we found some traces of modern civilization. The infrastructure in particular was much better developed here, with several rail tracks leading from the heartland to the coast, on which seemingly endless trains transported iron ore. With so much land mass, Australia naturally offers a considerable repertoire of mineral resources. And people who desire and decide to exploit and use them to the fullest.
Just as you can encounter the so-called roadtrains on many streets, beefy trucks pulling several imposing trailers behind them, you can find endless trains on the tracks, some of which seem to reach beyond the horizon. Several locomotives areoften coupled together to be able to transport the massive amounts of material. Especially the northwest has become an important center of iron ore mining and processing, and its ports serve many Asian countries.
I wonder where these tracks lead to?
I would love to ride out here and see the other end of this track. It probably leads to a huge mining facility where the ground and the mountains are torn up with elemental force in order to mine and carry away whatever seems to be valuable.
But tracks and trains always have a romantic impact on me, and I would certainly not be able to resist an invitation to take a ride.
We continued to Port Headland, a town that makes a slightly rusty impression on many visitors. The processing and also the transport and reloading of the mined iron ore has probably led to the fact that the whole place seemed to be covered by a rusty brown layer of dust. But at least the sky is still bright blue, and I didn't find it that bad here after all.
Port Headland is located right on the coast, and the iron ore transported into this town is processed in huge industrial facilities before being transported further. Most of it is then exported mainly toward Asia. Sometimes this place makes a slightly futuristic impression.
Western Australia is home to the second largest deposit of iron ore on earth. Australia is the second largest iron ore producer after China, but then the largest share of Australia's iron ore exports goes there to. They seem to have a gigantic appetite for iron ore in China.
But not only China, but also other East Asian countries such as Korea are among the customers of the Australian iron ore mines. Before the 2nd World War, a ban was imposed on the export of Australian iron ore in order not to support Japan, who was an enemy at the time. After the lifting of the export ban, the export volume increased steadily, but it also became apparent how dependent Australia is to the international economic situation.
But not only iron ore, also salt is produced and mined here in this area in large masses. Salt is extracted here from seawater, using huge evaporation ponds and then shipped on.
These artificial white salt lakes were quite an unexpected sight, especially in this so over and over red red landscape, and make a rather apocalyptic sight.
But fortunately by the end of the day we always managed to find the beautiful and wonderful side of Australia. Like for example here in the Honeymoon Cove, a really lovely bay with wonderful clear blue water.
Of course you should always be a little bit careful, as the animal world of Australia has some quite strange specimens to offer, also in and under water. So better to be a bit careful when moving around and always and everywhere act with open eyes and with respect for the environment. Being a little humble out in nature has never done us any harm. And therefore, fortunately, during my whole trip through Australia, no incidents occurred in this regard.
That's it for today, from our route to Port Headland in the Northwestern part of Australia. I will be back soon and then there will be more pictures and impressions from the next leg of my journey. I can already promise you that it will be warmer.
I wish you all another wonderful day,
See you soon...
Please let us not forget, wherever
we travel, let us protect our
beautiful planet and let us only
leave footprints.
[//]:# (!pinmapple -20.334595 lat 118.614337 long Red Rocks, Iron and Salt - Another Highlight in Western Australia d3scr)
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