DAYS AROUND PORT HEDLAND

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1 5 DAYS AROUND PORT HEDLAND

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3 5 DAYS AROUND PORT HEDLAND Whether you are passing through or visiting for a longer period, Port Hedland and its surrounds have plenty to offer. From spectacular natural gorges to outback cattle stations, miles of pristine coastline to scenic flights over vast open cut mines, the Pilbara really has it all. Once you ve checked out all that Port Hedland has to offer, here s the best way to spend five days in the region. DAY 1 FOSSICK FOR GOLD IN MARBLE BAR Don your Akubra, pull out your prospecting license and strike out for Australia s hottest town, a fact still recorded by the Guinness Book of Records after a run of around 160 days in 1924 when the temperature there never dropped below 37.8 C. Marble Bar is an easy three hour drive from Port Hedland, perfect for a day trip. This remarkable little mining town was once flush with fortune hunters during a late 1800s gold rush which yielded nuggets valuable enough to earn names like the Little Hero and Bobby Dazzler ; but lesser known about Marble Bar is its treasure trove of quirky history, spectacular natural stone and pristine wilderness. The area s unique Mars-esque environment has even been used by NASA scientists testing spacesuits and technology designed to be used in space. Marble Bar was named after a bar of jasper discovered in the region and originally mistaken for marble. The secret to revealing the incredible colours of this nationally unique rock is to pour water over it. Eat at the Ironclad Hotel, which was built in the 1890s and retains its original corrugated iron facade today, or pick up supplies at Marble Bar Roadhouse and picnic by the waterhole at Chinaman s Pool just outside of town. If you have a 4WD nearby Coppin s Gap, Doolena Gorge or Carawine Gorge are all magnificent ravines ripe for exploring.

4 Also near Mable Bar are the crumbling ruins of one of the best kept secrets of World War II - Corunna Downs Airbase - which Japanese reconnaissance missions tried, but failed, to find during the War. The nearby Comet Gold Mine has a museum full of fascinating relics, Pilbara minerals and rare gemstones. The 75 metre high chimney there was once recognised as the highest in the Southern Hemisphere. transformed for a day by an influx of horsehappy revellers dressed to the nines. The town s Government buildings, built in 1895 out of local stone, originally housed the Police Station, Warden s Court, Mines Department and the Post Office. Visit these rambling old buildings or trek up Water Tank Hill to find one of the best lookouts over the little town. DAY 2 EXPERIENCE STATION LIFE AT PARDOO If you are around during racing season don t miss Marble Bar Cup Race Day, held on the first Saturday in July, when the town is A little over an hour s drive north of Port Hedland is Pardoo Station, a working cattle station. Visit during muster season (April to September) to witness Suzuki 4WDs and helicopters bringing livestock into the yards. Pardoo Station covers 2,023 square kilometres and is home to around 7,000 mainly Santa Gertrudis cattle. The property stretches 80 km along the coastline and includes tidal creeks and small islands that are home to important bird habitats. Pardoo Station is pet friendly. Bookings aren t required for the caravan park. Australia s famous Rabbit-Proof Fence (check out the book of the same name available at the Port Hedland Visitor Centre), completed in 1907, ended on Pardoo at Cape Keraudren, where a stone wall was built out to the sea to stop the rabbits coming around the fence. Mount Goldsworthy, located on the South Western side of the lease, is the site of the first iron ore mine in the Pilbara. Camp out or stay in plush lodgings at the station, where you can fish for threadfin salmon, whiting, bream, mangrove jack, cod, and barramundi in any of the three tidal creeks or 16 kilometres of coastline there. Explore the abundant wildlife, eat at the restaurant or hang out by the campfire and hear the amazing stories of the travellers and workers who regularly pass through the station.

5 DAY 3 FISH AT EIGHTY MILE BEACH DAY 4 EXPLORE THE WONDERS OF THE PILBARA FROM THE AIR Find your slice of harmony and seclusion along the endless stretch of white sand and blue sea that is Eighty Mile Beach: 250 km north of Port Hedland and around half way to Broome. Eighty Mile Beach is famous for its fishing and shell collecting, with mulloway, threadfin and blue nose salmon abundant on high tide. Eighty Mile Beach is also an important feeding ground for migratory birds, making it ideal for bird watching. Each year half a million migratory shorebirds descend on Eighty Mile Beach and the pristine coastline is a rich food source for around 20 species of waders. Nestled behind a sand dune 50 metres from the beach is a caravan park offering camping, caravan and cabin accommodation. It s just two and a half hour s drive from Port Hedland and offers grassed, shaded, powered and unpowered sites, all with fresh water on tap as well as self-contained cabins. A mini mart is open 11 hours a day 7 days a week April to October for all the essentials. Eighty Mile Beach is featured in the beachgoer s bible 101 Best Australian Beaches. Before you go, pop into the Port Hedland Visitor Centre to pick up a copy of the book and find out why authors Andy Short and Brad Farmer picked this iconic Pilbara coastline out of the 11,761 beaches on the Australian mainland. Take to the skies and tour the vast and rugged Pilbara landscape by plane. Slingair Heliwork WA and Polar Aviation operate scenic and charter flights throughout the Pilbara and surrounds, to and from mine sites, remote communities, major towns like Karratha and Newman and everywhere in between. A scenic flight over Port Hedland is the best way to see the unique hand shaped formation of the tidal creeks and the town s vast industry in operation, from the salt ponds and stockpiles to Australia s largest tonnage port. Charter a flight out to those hidden gems in the Pilbara less easily accessed by road; fly over Goldsworthy, the Pilbara s first iron ore mine and former mining town or explore the quaint old gold rush town of Nullagine, population now 200. Enquire at the Visitor Centre or contact Polar Aviation or Slingair Heliwork WA to book. For a different angle on aviation in the Pilbara, drop in to the Royal Flying Doctor Service base at airport. The RFDS headquarters shares a building with another iconic Australian institution, the Port Hedland School of the Air, which provides education to children in remote areas all across the Pilbara.

6 DAY 5 HIKE AND SWIM AT KARIJINI NATIONAL PARK Breathtaking Karijini National Park is one of the biggest and most spectacular national parks in Australia. Scramble across four billion year old rocks, descend into cavernous gorges and sink into cool clear rock pools below plunging waterfalls, or scale Western Australia s second highest peak - Mount Bruce. Karijini is located just four hours from Port Hedland and can also be accessed by guided tours from Tom Price and Karratha. Spectacular waterfalls and pools including Joffre Falls, Fortescue Falls, Circular and Fern Pool offer a cool reprieve from the beautiful, rugged red rocks of Dales, Weano, Hamersley and Hancock gorges. Karijini is teeming with rock wallabies, red kangaroos, dingoes, echidnas, bats and the rare pebble mouse - as well as more than 100 species of birds and 92 types of amphibians and reptiles. Choose from safari tents and camping facilities at Karijini Eco Retreat and at the Savannah Camp Grounds or swag it overnight beneath a starry sky at Dales Campsite. You can also walk, birdwatch, sightsee, camp, rock climb, swim, or explore the flora and fauna at this ancient and astounding Pilbara landmark. What an incredible way to round off your amazing Port Hedland and Pilbara adventure!

7 DIRECTORY Marble Bar: Contact: Marble Bar Community Resource Centre, Francis St Marble Bar 6760 Phone: Prospecting licensees can be obtained through the Department of Mines and Petroleum Phone: Pardoo Station: Address: Great Northern Hwy, Pardoo WA 6721 Phone: Mile Beach Caravan Park Address: Great Northern Hwy, Eighty Mile Beach WA 6725 Phone: Polar Aviation Phone: Web: Slingair Heliwork WA Phone: Karijini National Park Phone: Photographs courtesy of Christian Fletcher, Polar Aviation, Thunder Photography, Dusty Tracks Photography, Nicole Yardley, Paul Cunningham, Brendon Moelands, Simon Phelps and Faye Harris.

8 Port Hedland Visitor Centre 13 Wedge St Port Hedland WA 6721 T F E info@visitporthedland.com W BHP Billiton is proud to support the Port Hedland Visitor Centre The Port Hedland Visitor Centre is managed by FORM 5 Days Around Port Hedland is part of a suite of printed materials produced by FORM to support tourism in the Pilbara.