The stockpiles of salt outside Port Hedland

Port Hedland (including South Hedland)
Substantial port for the Pilbara iron ore industry
Located 1761 km north of Perth via the North West Coastal Highway or 1660 km via the Great Northern Highway, Port Hedland is one of the major iron ore ports in Australia. With a population of over 15 000 it is an industrial centre totally committed to the extraction, processing and exporting of iron ore. Its key symbols are the huge iron ore crushing mill at Nelson Point, the port with its gigantic iron ore carriers and the seemingly endless iron ore trains (as long as three kilometres and with up to 300 wagons) which move backwards and forwards from the mines at Mount Newman.

It is hard for the visitor to get too excited about Port Hedland. The accommodation is overpriced (presumably on the basis that miners and mining company executives can be charged anything), although there is backpacker and budget accommodation around, and the town is covered in a permanent layer of red dust from the Nelson Point crushing works. However, it does offer excellent fishing, whale watching, mangrove crabbing, harbour tours, bird watching and turtle nesting. It has a new and attractive town park and it also makes a convenient base for tours of adjacent towns and national parks.

The satellite town of South Hedland (18 km inland) was established due to a shortage of land above cyclonic storm surge levels adjacent to the original town site. It used to possess the state's largest shopping complex outside the Perth metropolitan area. South Hedland is a modern centre with the ability to hold a population of 40 000. At the moment it houses the majority of the area's inhabitants.

The Port Hedland coastline was first explored by Europeans in the seventeenth century when a number of Dutch vessels bound for Batavia sailed too far south and collided with the coast. In 1616 Dirk Hartog passed through the area and in 1628 the Vyanen, commanded by Gerrit Frederikssoon De Witt, ran aground just west of the present site of Port Hedland.

During the 1860s a number of explorers and adventurers including F. T. Gregory explored the area. In April 1863 Captain Peter Hedland anchored his cutter Mystery in a huge natural harbour which he named Mangrove Harbour. Captain Hedland was searching for a suitable place to land stock being carried by the barque Tien Tsin for the De Grey station. However due to severe tides and lack of fresh water Hedland returned south to a smaller harbour which became known as Tien Tsin and was later renamed Cossack.

Three years later Mangrove Harbour was investigated as a possible townsite and port but surveyor Charles Wedge concluded that there was a difficulty of access which, when combined with a lack of good natural water, made settlement difficult.

In the late 1870s Port Hedland, much like Broome further to the north, gained a reputation as a wild frontier settlement as pearling luggers began using it as a stopover point. At one time the port was home to over 150 luggers and their crews.

At this time the town was serving the surrounding pastoral interests. Interest in the Port Hedland area was rekindled in 1891 when exports from the Nullagine and Marble Bar goldfields (south east of Port Hedland) became too much for the Cossack port. The Port Hedland townsite was gazetted in October 1896 and a jetty and an 8-km causeway over the marshes into the town were completed by 1899. The first shipment of gold bullion was exported in 1900 and Port Hedland rapidly emerged as the Pilbara's major port.

Transportation from Marble Bar to the coast was difficult and in 1911 the government built a railway from the coast to the goldmining town.

From the end of World War I until the development of the region's iron ore industry in the mid-1960s, Port Hedland operated as a typical isolated port exporting wool, livestock, gold, pearl shells and importing supplies for the small and isolated communities in the hinterland.

The feature which now dominates the landscape of Port Hedland is the BHP Iron Ore Nelson Point crushing and shipping area. Part of the high grade iron ore from Mount Whaleback (one of the world's biggest mining operations) reaches Nelson Point after a 426 km journey over the longest privately operated railroad in Australia. On arrival the diesel electric locomotives are detached for servicing and refuelling and the loaded cars are unloaded in car dumpers. The ore is then screened and crushed to contract size in two ore handling plants. The two plants have a combined capacity of over 40 000 000 tonnes a year. Crushed ore is stockpiled before being reclaimed and conveyed to the ore pier where two shiploaders feed the material into ore carriers of up to 200 000 tonnes dead weight destined for the steel mills of Australia and world markets including Japan, China, South Korea, Taiwan and Europe.

Things to see:  

Visitor Centre
Port Hedland offers excellent fishing and boasts some superb birdlife. It also makes a convenient base for tours of adjacent towns and national parks. The Port Hedland Visitor Centre is open weekdays from 8.30 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. all year round. However, its weekend opening times vary seasonally. From June to October it is open on Saturdays from 8.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. and on Sundays from midday to 4.00 p.m. The rest of the year it is open Saturdays from 8.30 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. and closed Sundays. Visitors can inquire here for twice-weekly guided tours of the town and the Nelson Point Aboriginal Site, daily tours of the BHP Billiton ore-crushing works and Port Authority workings, half-day tours of Dampier Salt and BHP Boodarie Iron, and for self-guided walking tour pamphlets. Also, contact the Centre for details of local dive and fishing charters and for outback safaris and adventure tours.

The Mount Newman Nelson Point crushing and shipping site

Tours of Nelson Point
The visitor to this highly industrialised town is well catered for if they want to experience those activities which make the town so successful. A walk beside the port will almost certainly provide views of huge ships being loaded from the mountains of iron ore on Finucane Island. Tours of the BHP Iron Ore Nelson Point crushing works run every weekday morning at 9.30 a.m., from the Visitor Centre in Wedge Street, near the port. The Port Hedland-Newman Railway line runs alongside the main road into town (the North West Coastal Highway) and the long iron ore trains can be seen at almost any time of the day. And, on the way into the port area, the road passes the pyramids of salt at the Leslie Salt Company¹s operations. Over 2 million tonnes of solar produced salt are exported out of the area each year.

Royal Flying Doctor Base
Visitors wishing to explore the old town should visit the Royal Flying Doctor Base on Richardson Street where it is possible to inspect a real working base. The base, established in 1935, was the first in Western Australia.

Port Hedland Heritage Trail
Also there are two excellent Port Hedland Heritage Trail brochures (available from the Visitor Centre) - which combine four separate trails. There is the Old Port Hedland Trail - a 2.3-km walk which explores the town as it was before World War I. It includes the old Post Office, Police Station, Court House, churches, hotels and stores.

The Port Trail is a 1.8-km walk concentrating on the wharves, jetties and warehouses which existed in Port Hedland before the arrival of the iron ore industry.

The Sutherland Trail is a 9-km exploration of the old townsite looking at the early pensioner accommodation, the old railway station, the railway goods yard, the Mining Museum Park, the pioneers' and pearlers' cemetery, the old General Store and the Aboriginal Hospital.

And the Out and About Trail, an 85-km exploration of the whole area, includes the popular Pretty Pool, the Old Well, the various creeks that run into the mangrove swamps, South Hedland and Finucane Island.

Nelson Point Aboriginal Site
It is easy when exploring Port Hedland to forget that before the modern industrialisation the town had a rich Aboriginal heritage. The Nelson Point Aboriginal site (contact the Visitor Centre for directions) has some of the best stone engravings in Australia, with motifs ranging from emu tracks to boomerangs, men and women, and even dugongs.

It is also worth remembering that the Port Hedland area was the scene of the first Aboriginal strike in Australia when workers on the De Grey station refused to work in 1946. The result was that local Aborigines subsequently purchased five pastoral properties in the area.

The Rock Shed
Located in Darlot St, The Rock Shed sells jewellery, gifts, cut stones and features a display on the rare Tiger Iron. Short tours are available by appointment, tel: (08) 9173 3378.

Cape Keraudren/Eighty Mile Beach
Located at the western end of Eighty Mile Beach, this is a scenic area and fishing location on the road between Port Hedland and Broome. In 1887 Eighty Mile Beach was the site of a famous disaster when the Broome pearling fleet was destroyed by a cyclone, leaving the beach scattered with bodies and debris (140 men were killed by the cyclone). Today it is one of the area's tropical delights. Its blindingly white sands and intense blue seas are quite breathtaking. The beach stretches off to the horizon in both directions.Those wishing to stay can investigate the Eighty Mile Beach Caravan Park, located 250 km north of Port Hedland, tel: (08) 9176 5941.

	Tourist Information
	Port Hedland Tourist Bureau 13 Wedge St P.O. Box 664 Port Hedland WA 6721 Telephone: (08) 9173 1711 Facsimile: (08) 9173 2632 Email: phtbinfo@norcom.net.au
	Motels
	Esplanade Motel/Hotel Anderson St Port Hedland WA 6721 Telephone: (08) 9173 1798 Rating: **
	Hedland Budget Motel Court Pl. South Hedland Port Hedland WA 6721 Telephone: (08) 9172 2888 Rating: ***
	Hospitality Inn Port Hedland Motel Webster St Port Hedland WA 6721 Telephone: (08) 9173 1044 or 131 779 Facsimile: (08) 9173 1464 Rating: ***
	Hotels
	Last Chance Tavern Throssell Rd South Hedland Port Hedland WA 6721 Telephone: (08) 9172 1848
	Mercure Inn Port Hedland Cnr Lukis & McGregor Sts Port Hedland WA 6721 Telephone: (08) 9173 1511, 1800 642 244 Facsimile: (08) 9173 1545 Rating: ***
	Mercure Inn - Port Hedland Airport North West Coastal Hwy Port Hedland WA 6721 Telephone: (08) 9172 1222,1 800 642 244 Facsimile: (08) 9140 1245 Rating: ***
	Pier Hotel 25 The Esplanade Port Hedland WA 6721 Telephone: (08) 9173 1488 Rating: **
	Caravan Parks
	Cooke Point Ocean Beach Caravan Park Athol St Port Hedland WA 6721 Telephone: (08) 9173 1271 Facsimile: (08) 9173 3671 Rating: **
	Eighty Mile Beach Caravan Park PMB 3 Port Hedland WA 6721 Telephone: (08) 9176 5941
	Dixon¹s Caravan Park North West Coastal Hwy Port Hedland WA 6721 Telephone: (08) 9172 1233 or (08) 9172 2525 Rating: ***
	South Hedland Caravan Park Hamilton Rd Port Hedland WA 6721 Telephone: (08) 9172 1197 Rating: ***
	Restaurants
	Bangkok Rose Thai Restaurant Hedland Arc. Port Hedland WA 6721 Telephone: (08) 9173 2629
	Dixon's Truck Stop Great Northern Coastal Hwy Port Hedland WA 6721 Telephone: (08) 9172 2711
	Dynasty Garden Chinese Restaurant Homestead Centre Courtyard 31 Throssell Rd Port Hedland WA 6721 Telephone: (08) 9172 3266
	Esplanade Motel/Hotel Restaurant Anderson St Port Hedland WA 6721 Telephone: (08) 9173 1798
	Hospitality Inn Restaurant Webster St Port Hedland WA 6721 Telephone: (08) 9173 1044
	Kaths Kitchen 8 Wedge St Port Hedland WA 6721 Telephone: (08) 9173 2885
	Mercure Inn Restaurant - Port Hedland Cnr Lukis & McGregor Sts Port Hedland WA 6721 Telephone: (08) 9173 1511, 1800 642 244 Facsimile: (08) 9173 1545,
	Natalie's Restaurant 7 Richardson St Port Hedland WA 6721 Telephone: (08) 9173 2635
	Oriental Galley Chinese Restaurant 19 Edgar St Port Hedland WA 6721 Telephone: (08) 9173 1272
	Pier Hotel Restaurant 25 The Esplanade Port Hedland WA 6721 Telephone: (08) 9173 1488
	Satay Corner Restaurant Throssell Rd Port Hedland WA 6721 Telephone: (08) 9172 1220
	Share's Restaurant Boulevard Shopping Cntr Port Hedland WA 6721 Telephone: (08) 9173 2630
	South Hedland Motel Restaurant Court Pl. South Hedland Port Hedland WA 6721 Telephone: (08) 9172 2222
	Troppos Coffee Lounge Shop 4 South Hedland Port Hedland WA 6721 Telephone: (08) 9172 1936
	Cafés
	Port Hedland Airport Cafe Port Hedland Airport Port Hedland WA 6721 Telephone: (08) 9172 2023

Some interesting feedback from a Port Hedland resident
"J.J.NEWMAN"

Just read your blurb on Port Hedland and thought you may be interested in some comment on your critique.

While it may be true that "the only green in Port Hedland is the glint of empty VB cans that line the highway" (quote from some travel blurb I read somewhere or other), the town has lifted its game in the aesthetics stakes in recent years. Of particular note the dust emissions from the Nelson Point and Finucane Island facilities, both now owned by BHP, have reduced dramatically in recent years due to a change in community expectations and a willingness on the part of BHP to address the issue, while a transition of town demographics from a transient population to a more settled regional community has seen an improvement in the upkeep of private and public land.

The cost of accommodation has not improved, though the standards of facilities certainly has. (If you think accommodation is expensive, you want to try doing your weekly shop here!)

The satellite town of South Hedland was established due to a shortage of land above cyclonic storm surge levels adjacent to the original town site.

I hear that Port Hedland was only gazetted as a town after a review of beer excise by the Governor of the day. He noted that the state's highest excise came from the settlement of Mangrove Harbour and he enquired as to its location. From this a town was "born".

I believe the Hedland-Newman railway to be the longest privately-owned railroad in the world. Current tonnages from the combined Nelson Point/Finucane Island facilities are in the order of 65 million tonnes per annum. Major plant expansion works are also currently underway. A call to Sam Fisher at BHP Iron Ore ( 08 91736888) can confirm statistical facts and figures if you feel inclined.

In the towns defence, it offers excellent fishing, superb birdlife and makes a convenient base for tours of adjacent towns and national parks.

You may have guessed I live in Hedland (10 yrs now, but not too many more I

hope). As an expat Victorian I visit The Age site regularly, and hence found your page(s). Keep up the good work.

Regards

Jon