We were on the road again, not so sure of our destination but heading North-East to get as close to Broome as we could. The Pilbara region was beautiful, unfortunately I was pretty tired that day so I missed a lot of photo opportunities of the wild flowers - so you'll just have to take my word for it that they were stunning.
The day was rather uneventful although we were slowed down a little by needing to stop to get a new car battery.
Anyway, because we had lost some time with the battery we decided to press on with the driving. We had dinner in Port Hedland and kept going. By the time we were becoming weary of being on the road, we couldn't spot any free camps so we decided to pull into a truck stop.... what an interesting experience.
It was midnight and we were camped literally on a driveway, in the middle of nowhere, 20m from the highway. We slept in what we wore that day and only unpacked our swags from the car. I don't think I slept a wink for the first hour - jumping at every sound, convinced that somehow we were going to be attacked by an an attacker hiding in the bushes - Wolf Creek Style (not that I've actually seen the film, just imagining it that way!). I was just starting to doze off at about 1am when we were rudely intruded by a 5 carriage road train less than 5 meters from our tent. The sound of the air brakes was ridiculous - it sounded as though the thing was practically on top of us. Anyway, after the brakes finally grew quiet, and there was no sound of the truckie getting out of his cab, I was quite relaxed, happy even that someone else was there so if my Wolf Creek moment was to occur, at least there was someone else to give us a hand ... I fell asleep! Nick on the otherhand was wired! He was wondering what sort of guy drives a truck in the middle of nowhere and where he had been relatively at ease prior to the arrival of said truck, now he was on high alert wondering when the axe murderer was going to come out!
Needless to say, we survived the night! The truck left after an hour or so (at least that's what Nick tells me, I was that out to it that I didn't even hear him start up and leave!); the sun rose the next morning; and everything was ok! We hit the road early in search of some food and keen to get to Broome!
Right where Nick's butt is, is where the tent door was. The truck pulled up and parked right next to the other side of the car - a little too close for comfort!
The Wrap Up:
Glad we had: No axe murderers nearby!
Wish we had: A gun (just in case!)
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