We are taking our leave of Port Hedland tomorrow and to be honest it cannot happen quickly enough!
This port town is expensive, gritty, industrial and unpleasant.
People have no where to live so they sleep in their cars or in caravans on their work sites.
The money being pumped through this town is phenomenal yet the social problems are huge and must seem unmanageable.
Everybody is wearing High Visibility Clothing. It is a sign that you have a job, a house and of course money. Mark stated "this town does not cater for its people, it caters for the world." He is correct in that you cannot get access to the services or items you need (like an air filter or oil for your car) yet this Port exports ore to the world.
On the flip side are the people that are flocking into town expecting a job. The myth is that there are jobs everywhere here and money to be made. People flock into this caravan park, set up a tent and begin the search for work. There are jobs...at Woolworths and the hairdressers. The big money jobs are, however, tougher to nail and so they should be. People arrive with a sense of entitlement that they will share in this wealth that is so obvious. What they neglect to realise is that BHP is not going to pay them to breath. You must have a qualification, a skill or a mate who already has a job.
It was pretty cool to see the BHP sign everywhere and know that the company was born in Broken Hill. I feel proud of that, which is odd as I am not a born and bred Broken Hillian (an A Grader) but I feel proud non the less. If nothing else it is an interesting piece of history in the making.
I do wonder what is to become of this Port town. Will it die after the boom? Will all the high vis wearers eat each other? Will Gina Rhineheart eat everyone? Will Clive Palmer launch litigation against us all and the CIA who are clearly working with the Greens? Who knows.
Heading to Broome and as Big Kev said...I'm excited!
Love Krystal
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