Been physically threatened and verbally assaulted off our farm job was a definite first for both of us.
We were a little scared, rushed off
the property, threatened of no payment, and slightly worried about our well
being we assertively decided to get the hell out of Broome. We had no idea
whether these threats we real or just tough talk. We didn’t want to hang around
to find out and when you’re in a town in the middle of nowhere and where
everyone knows everyone things could happen. Another issue we had were some flight itineraries
that were left on the fridge at the farm. Assuming the worst we considered that
that son might become revengeful and possibly cancel or change our flights. He
had our names, date of birth, address, and flight details; technically nothing
was there to stop him. So before we left we cancelled our flight to Perth from
Broome and confirmed that our flights could not be cancelled without
Identification. It may seem over protective now but during the whole event it
seemed like anything could be possible.
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| Eerie morning heading out of Broome |
We finally left the beautiful town of Broome now forever
remembered as ‘that town’ heading south leaving our problems behind us. So what
we thought... We got into Port Hedland to meet up with our good friends Emily and John (john was unfortunately absent with work),
and to check out the local area but leaving the car outside our friends place
for no longer than 20minutes someone had engaged one of the 4WD hubs. Unaware
of what happened we drove off and soon heard metal grinding and lack of control
on the front right side. We were so worried especially when we checked out the
front wheel which felt like it was just going to fall off and even more so when
the 4WD hub was almost smoking hot. It costed us $490 for that little stunt;
$145 an hour for labour and a new wheel bearing. At the end of the day, a
simple wheel bearing is nothing compared to a new front differential. What a
few days ... luckily for us, things didn’t happen in threes. We were blessed that this happened at Hedland
with the comfort of friends and with a lovely place to stay and recover. So in
this blog, Dave and I would like to thank our lovely friends again for their help and the cooled, relaxed manner towards us hanging out at their place while we waited for
our car. It made the whole experience so much better knowing that we had friends there to help us out.
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| Pilbara landscape |
Travelling throughout WA, there is a lot of driving in
between towns which both of us had underestimated when looking at the trusty
HEMA map. Quickly viewing the maps we overlooked the distant markers; the 400
km of nothing didn’t quite sink in when it’s just a little number on the page.
Until we compared it to the east coast did we final realise how far we had to
drive to get anywhere. Sometimes the
most interesting thing is just the local servo station which in most cases I
couldn’t pronounce its true name. We almost ended up tasting every isolated
servo pie along the western coast along side with many other tourists and more
commonly very interesting truckies.
I
was also spoiled with seasonal wildflowers along the road side which always made
for something very pretty to look at. 
 |
| Wildflower season |
For anyone that has seen Red Dog at the cinemas this may
trig your memory. We made a definite side stop to Dampier to see the legendary
statue of Red Dog. It seemed to hit home for us knowing that we’ve been travelling
in his footsteps.
The plaque read:
“The stories this old
dog could tell
If only he could say
Would add a page in
history
For ever and a day
But still he’ll be
remembered
By those who knew his
way
The Red Dog of the
Pilbara
From the north of
W.A.”
 |
| We just wanted to wave hello Some free campsite one the west coast Pilbara |
