April 16-20, 2025
Top: Typical Port operations, a tug heading out past a ship loading Iron Ore in the world’s largest bulk export port, with exports including iron ore, lithium and salt.
Next stop on our trek Northwards, and in order to catch another Parkrun, is Port Hedland. Four days here and it’s still high 30 degrees every day and 25 overnight, so not much respite from the heat. We opted to stay at the Blackrock Tourist park at South Hedland, a satellite residential area developed in the mid 1980s. The park substantially caters for workers and even has a “Restaurant” providing daily meals packages as required.
South Hedland is about 16km from the Town Centre by a direct main road and the original town runs for about 7km along the shoreline Eastwards from the Port. The local Parkrun starts and finishes at the Civic Centre, about halfway along the town area.
To preview the Parkrun course, we drove to town on Thursday and walked the main part of the course out and back (about 4km) with a view out to sea and back to the Port.
Parkrun – Saturday:
After a cafe lunch on the Thursday, we walked down to the Port and watched a bulk carrier loading, tugs departing and bringing another bulk carrier into the Port and the Pilot helicopter departing for the next ship.
Video here of some of the shipping movements:
..and a photo gallery of more images around the beach and Port, click the image:
