Day 92

3 May 2013

Today we packed up and left Exmouth. We were ready for a long haul of 500+kms to Dampier. It has been a while since we have done big k's like this so will be interesting to see how we go.

Well again there is not much between towns here. We saw 5 emus, 6 sheep, 8.5m wide load, few cars, lots of road trains with 3+ trailers and not much else. The heat was hovering between 39-41 degrees for most of the trip and by the time we got to Dampier we were well and truly into the 40's! As we drove into Dampier it goes from nothing but bushland to suddenly all these new roads and infrastructure (built by mines) with traffic lights and in the distance you can see huge estates of brand new houses. Look to the right and there are huge train lines and trains as long as the eye can see, to the left salt lakes where Dampier salt is produced.

Just before you head into the town of Dampier there is an information bay where Red Dog's statue can be found. We loved this movie and in return fell in love with the red dog story so we were really looking forward to seeing this.

Off to the caravan park in Dampier for the night. We were buggered and decided to head out to get dinner. Everything in this town is covered with a nice layer of red dust so everything looks dirty! We happened to run into an IGA so decided to just get something to make from here. Everything was relatively expensive here as expected and every person we saw was wearing a yellow or orange shirt! Whole different world here, you would not believe unless you had seen it!

Back to camp and bought a few red dog souvenirs from the caretaker including a stubby cooler with a bit of the story. Also while we were here, a lady that had actually sat next to red dog on the bus all those years ago was staying here too! I can't remember in the movie whether this happens or not but the story they tell here is that once he lost his second owner he used to hitch rides with people from Perth to Broome and unfortunately they believe someone poisoned him and that's why he died! It's like sammy the seal all over again! I mean really don't people have a heart?

Anyway had a long chat to some Victorians who travel around each year and then headed for an early night. We had 850kms to cover tomorrow to make it to Broome!

Carly & Joel

 

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