"Swingman" wrote in message
...

(Ask me about the time we pretty well wrecked the only pub open in Port
Hedland and ended up in gaol for the night (basically a chain link fenced,
dog kennel) ... way before you could get there, easily, any other way than
by boat or plane).


Coppers have got no sense of humour sometimes : )

The pub sounds like the Pier. Had the "Animal Bar" with mesh screens to stop
the patrons jumping the counter.

Port Hedland has grown to where you probably wouldn't recognise it. It's
even now bursting at the seams from the demand for accomodation created by
mining. Infrastructure cannot keep up.To give you an idea, house rental
prices are currently ranging from $800 per week to $2,500 per week, - most
in the $2000 region. It's killing the small businesses, they can't find
accomodation for employees that is anywhere near affordable. So it has
become a soulless place with the majority only living there short term in
houses where the mining companies pay their rent. When the mining stops, it
will be a ghost town.

Broome has lost much of its old charm, it's also grown rapidly, but is just
a very expensive tourist trap. Derby has grown, but nowhere near as much, -
still a sleepy country town.

diggerop