Port Hedland and the Driver’s Licence Saga

12^th August

The drive from Pardoo Station to Port Hedland was only about 150km on good bitumen road so we rolled in there not long after lunch and booked a cabin at the Cooke Point Holiday Park. We hadn’t planned to come to Port Hedland however, as we were heading towards Broome, Stephen’s parents let us know that some mail had come for me from Roads and Maritime and it turned out my driver’s licence was going to expire at the end of August. This just wasn’t on my radar before we left but definitely something I needed to get sorted as given the amount of driving this trip entails we certainly need two current licences.

We found out online what needed to be done and completed all the paperwork complete with signed declaration of my identity and a passport photo and sent it off to Parkes, NSW (of all places!!). The only problem was where the new licence could be sent at a time that we might be in the same place at the same time. Fortunately, my good running friend’s daughter Kate is currently living in Port Hedland with her fiancé Dylan and after a few phone calls we sorted out that the licence could be sent to them. Timing was of the essence as we didn’t want to have to wait around too long but it could not have been more perfect as the licence arrived at Kate’s home the day before we arrived.

A bit of housekeeping in the afternoon – Stephen got a haircut, we refilled our gas bottle and did some grocery shopping then we took in the sights of the town. Port Hedland is one of the world’s largest and busiest harbours (300 million tonnes of product worth billions are shipped in and out of here each year) and bulk carrier vessels of up to 260,000 tonnes and up to 230m in length enter and leave through a narrow harbour entrance. A good vantage point for this is the town jetty and it was amazing to view the infrastructure in place for this work to occur. The scale of the place is incredible. At Redbank Bridge, we were able to see Dampier Salt’s towering stockpile and also some of the BHP Billiton trains (some of the longest in the world) which transport iron ore from the mines into the Port. Kate said that if you got to a railway crossing on your way to work just as a train was coming you would inevitably be late.

We met up with Kate and Dylan that night for a lovely dinner and sunset at the Ibis Hotel (and for the handover of the licence) and heard their stories about life in a remote town in the Pilbara. It was nice to catch up and we got to see the beautiful engagement ring before Kate’s parents. I did give a full report via FB.

And the moral of the story – check the expiry date on important documents before leaving home although the detour wasn’t a bad one.