The �tour� started at it�s most northerly point at Port Headland. The temperatures were 35�- 40�. Port Hedland has grown into a large port handling bulk cargos of iron ore, salt and other ores. The ores are mined some way inland and are brought to the coast by railway train or land train. The goods train is some 7 Km long employing six locomotives to haul it. The land train is a (very) large tipper type lorry with two trailers of similar size. It is not advisable to get in their way on the highway. Salt is produced in a ten-week cycles form evaporating vast lagoons of seawater. Peter showed us a selection of ships using the port from his own collection and from local postcards.
Further south is the port of Dampier where there are also exports of salt and ores as well as liquefied gas from the vast offshore oil and gas fields. It was good to see the BP tanker �British Trader� at the Woodside oil terminal. Here there is a new memorial to HMAS Sydney. Peter�s journey then took us further south into a more temperate climate and a visit was made to Geraldton. This is a new port being constructed to handle the vast inland resources of mineral ores wheat, and talcum. Then to the south of Perth we visited Bunbury that is exporting Bauxite, Alumina, mineral sand and vegetable oil. Peter then took us to the most southwesterly point of Australia, Cape Leeuwin where the Indian Ocean and the Southern Ocean meet. Nearby Albany was disappointing in that there were few ships to see and photograph. Here there is an Anzac memorial for the Galipoli campaign and a Whaling museum. Whaling finished here in the 1970s
This concluded Peter�s very informative and often amusing talk. We look forward to next year when we hope Peter and Christine will be able to come and entertain us again.