Day 49, 19 August 2009, Pardoo Roadhouse to Karratha

Left Pardoo and headed south towards Karratha, via Port Headland.

We stopped in the town for a while and looked at the wharf where ships were being loaded with iron ore. The primary town colour is 'iron-ore brown' and the colour scheme is in wide use on roofs, walls, footpaths, cars etc.
We expect the Moscow circus will soon be performing under a brown Kremlin shaped tent.

The remainder of the day's drive to took us to the workers' paradise of Karratha.
Our friends Keith and Margaret had lived in Karratha about 20 years ago when the first LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) plant was built. I was one of only about five men in the town who was not wearing a fluorescent work shirt, so my status as 'tourist' stood out.
Despite housing thousands of workers, the town appears to only have two pubs. Both charge $7.00+ for a mid-strength schooner and the conversation was limited to work related matters.
Everything's very new, clean and tidy, but not really much of a tourist destination.The caravan park had one small corner for tourists and the rest was workers' accomodation. Like most parks, there is a posted 8 km./hr. speed limit. There were three West Australian Highway Patrol crews staying in the park, so the limit was strictly observed.