I am almost a week into a three week odyssey in the Pilbara. Two weeks of it will be work in a lab broken in the middle with a week spent in Port Hedland. I’ve got a story to follow up and write about in Hedland for Science Network WA and that is all the work I am doing. Beyond that I’m going to take it easy and have a look around and take a few photos though my travels will be dependent on what roads are open.
There has been a lot of rain up here. The wet has arrived in the Pilbara. There has been two cyclones this month. Tropical Cyclone Heidi crossed the coast near Hedland and Tropical Cyclone Iggy, the most recent one is disintegrating in the Indian Ocean. With them there has been storm activity though I missed both lightning storms much to my frustration. No storm chasing in the Pilbara yet. I say yet with hope.
However, I have not missed out on awakening 4WD driving skills. The roads here have gotten incredibly soggy. The dirt roads that is. There is so much water out here small pools form and in some cases streams run across them. In some instances local traffic management teams directs traffic to minimise damage to the wet roads and to slow people down though this is when things get rather wet.
Anyhow, enough blathering from me. Here’s a really quick video from my point of view when driving in soft mud. It really is me driving and swearing quietly under my breath, (this can’t be heard, I’ve checked), as I get through and hoping that my poorly mounted iPhone doesn’t fall into the dirt encrusted crevices of the car. It was like driving through mousse or cheesecake. There was no grip. It was really slippery. It is definitely for 4WD vehicles only and takes skill to get through without getting bogged.
This is where my science degrees have gotten me so far. It’s an incredibly stunning landscape that I want to spend time in relaxing. Not every FIFO worker is just about the work and getting home to spend up big.
