Port Hedland is located in the Pilbara region, 1621 kilometres (1000 miles) north of Perth, Western Australia. With a population of more than fifteen thousand, (Port Hedland and Port Hedland South combined), the city offers modern retail shopping and a large service industry, although the obvious primary focus is the exporting of Iron Ore from the bulk export port, the largest in the world!

BHP, Rio Tinto, Roy Hill and Fortesque mining companies all truck processed iron ore from their mines to Port Hedland via their own private railways. Their trains can be up to 3 kilometres long with 264 cars each containing 120 tonnes of iron ore. The journey takes about 8 hours.

Each of the major mining companies have private wharves and loading facilities at Port Hedland Port. The scale of the operation is enormous. Pilbara Ports Authority has a section of wharf catering for other users. During the 2021/22 financial year, iron ore exports totaled 731 million tonnes valued at 165 billion dollars. Other exports include copper, salt, lithium, magnesium and scrap metal. The bulk of the imports consists of fuel (86%), the remainder being ammonium nitrate and general cargo.

Near the entrance to the Pilbara Ports Authority, stands the Port Hedland War Memorial featuring an impressive Memorial Wall constructed from iron ore.

With tidy parks and gardens along the uncluttered beach front and lots of wide-open spaces, the outback city of Port Hedland retains a layback feeling, however the red dust covered roof tops, countless mine vehicles and the sounds of rail locomotives in the very early morning serve as a constant reminder that this is fundamentally an industrial city.

Two hotels operate near the Port precinct, the impressive three storey Esplanade Hotel and one hundred metres down the road the Pier Hotel, which once had the rambunctious reputation as the roughest, toughest pub in Australia, including the most stabbings in one night!

Thank you to the Port Hedland Turf Club for providing the 72 hour free camping area very close to the town centre. Not the prettiest, quaintest town in Australia but well worth a visit, particularly to appreciate the extraordinary magnitude of the Port Hedland Bulk Export Port.