We took a little tour around the Dampier area this morning including stopping at the information display at the town entrance where we read about the Red Dog. It seems a red dog named, among other names, Tally Ho became a well known figure around the Pilbara region as it traveled the region by getting rides with and adopting as temporary owner a bus driver and other travelers. It is said that the dog was made a member of the Dampier Salts Sport and Social Club and the Transport Workers' Union.

North of Dampier is the Burrup Peninsula which is a real mixture, on the one hand there is the Murujuga National Park and Hearson Cove where the locals watch their version of the Stairway to the Moon, both very scenic and right along side these natural wonders there are major iron ore loaders and a number of gas plants associated with the Northwest Shelf natural gas project. In a way that sums up the Pilbara.

From Dampier we headed towards Exmouth along the coastal highway but its too far for us to make in one day so we planned to find a rest area for the night.

As it turned out we chose Yannarie Rest Area and we were more than a little surprised to find the place packed when we arrived. More over, while there was a small paved area, the majority of the rest area was bare red dirt and with a stiff wind did a good immitation of a dust bowl.

In order to get away from the dust we went into 4x4 mode and drove into the bed of the nearby dry river. After finding a suitable spot I deflated the tires knowing that tomorrow morning I would not get out of the sand with fully inflated tires.

After her afternoon walk around the area Nina reported that she counted over 100 other vehicles camped in the rest area.