Let's Explore Australia - The Big Lap - Day 080 - Port Hedland to Marble Bar

Day 080 - Port Hedland to Marble Bar This adventure took place in the latter half of 2024. Come with me on a zig‑zag tour of the country — an inside lap, an outside lap, the inner and outer corners, the extremities, the highs and the lows, the good roads, the bad roads and sometimes not even any roads at all. Day 80 begins in Port Hedland with a morning of errands — chasing tools, parts, and the usual bits and pieces that seem to evaporate whenever you actually need them. A long iron-ore train rumbles past as I finally point the nose out of town and settle onto the Great Northern Highway, aiming for 80 Mile Beach… at least in theory. But the sign to Marble Bar proves too tempting, and the plan changes on the fly. The road winds inland toward Australia’s famously hot outback town, where I spend the afternoon exploring: the Water Tank Lookout with its wide Pilbara views, the Iron Clad Hotel with its corrugated-iron charm, and the jasper deposit that gives Marble Bar its name. A quick wander through town, a look at Coongan Pool, and then it’s time for camp. The day ends at Doolena Gorge — a quiet, free riverside camp tucked into the red rock country west of Marble Bar. A peaceful spot to wrap up an unexpected detour day that went exactly where it needed to. 00:00 Intro 18:05 Drive starts 20:26 On the road outta town 26:36 Marble Bar Detour 50:11 Marble Bar 52:15 Water Tank Lookout 59:10 Jasper Deposit 01:02:24 Back towards civilization 01:10:32 Coongan Pool 01:17:30 Doolena Gorge The Days Drive: 294.6km @ 59km/h over 4h59m gave 14.4l/100 Terrain: On Road - 246.2km (96.2%), Off Road - 9.7km (3.8%) Fuel: 102.47L @ $1.91/L = $198.51 Elevation: Max - 222.1m, Rate - 4.8m/km Curve Density: 24.7°/km Coverage: Telstra - 137km (53%), Optus - 36km (14%), Vodafone - 20km (8%) https://golf.com.au/venue/port-hedlan... https://www.riotinto.com/en/operation... https://www.australiasnorthwest.com/e...