Day 145

Date:- 6 August 2010
Distance:- 78.8 Km
Distance to Date:- 8292.5 Km
Start:- South Hedland
Finish:- West Peawah Rest Area
Comment:- It was a noisy night last night with trains, cars, trucks and it seemed like people wandering around all night. I was up about 6am, had breakfast, and on the road by 8am. I must have dawdled a bit.

Found the highway to Karatha and about 6 km down the road I had to stop for a few trucks with oversize loads along with their escort vehicles and police. They were heading for Tom Price or Newman mines.

A good road today with a breakdown lane for most of the trip, a cloudless sky and a north easterly wind of 10 - 15 knots.

About 30 km out was the turn off for Karjini National Park also the way to Tom Price and Newman. This is the continuation of the Great Northern Highway, and I am now on the North West Coastal Highway.

Rode past the Herbert Parker Rest Area on the Yule River The Rest Area was only 50 km from South Hedland so I decided to push on. Had my break about 55 km out about 11.45am and I still had mobile phone coverage.

I soon got to the West Peawah Rest Area and decided that was where I was going to stop for the night. In I went set up camp and settled in for the afternoon. A number of people have come up to me as usual and enquired about what I am up to.

Had tea about 6pm washed up and possibly into bed early. Probably go to Roebourne tomorrow.

P.S. I must make note that the Peawah Rest Area is in bad need of servicing. All the rubbish bins were full to over flowing and rubbish stacked beside them and the toilet was certainly not fit for human habitation.