Next stop was Coen. This is a small place of about 300 people. It used to be a service centre for gold miners and pastoralists, then it also got a telegraph station. Today it was a good spot for lunch. Then we headed off to the west to the mining town of Weipa and the Gulf of Carpentaria. The road gradually improved the closer we got and then we hit the bitumen. Just in case you weren’t sure you were in a mining town, we came across the only set of traffic lights since Cairns.

This must be Weipa.

There’s a great camping ground right on the beach you can’t swim in. The crocs spoil all the fun up here. John went for a run and ran into (not literally) a bloke he knew from a couple of decades ago (apparently John’s running style hasn’t changed) so we had a nice cuppa with a local before heading up the coast a bit to a place called Pennefather. The track is soft sand along the dunes until you arrive at a bunch of shacks and tents filled with fishing enthusiasts. The boys fed the fish again just to make the drive worthwhile and then we headed back to Weipa. We had “Harry’s good school report” dinner out at the local Albatross Resort (it’s a pub) that night. No cooking. Yay!

Before leaving Weipa we did the town and mine tour. They took us out to see how the bauxite is mined and watched a fair bit of the process. Rio Tinto has been mining here since the 60s (formerly as Comalco) and they say there’s another 50 years left here at this site. It’s an enormous project and the environmental protection measures are extensive.

A hauling truck filled with bauxite

It’s a “live in” mining town – no Fly In Fly Outs work here. It can take months to years to get a job here, working your way up the ladder. You have to wait till some one retires or dies apparently. There’s a bloke driving one of the water trucks who is 83. He loves it! This is considered one of the best jobs at the mine. And that might be the reason why I didn’t become a miner.

Did I mention it was a lovely 30 degrees today?