Up early as usual, we had to wait for the tent, chairs and towels to dry out before the put them in the car. This took until 9am when the sun had some strength, so it wasn't until nearly 9:30am before we bid Brendan and Alex farewell and drove off.
We'd agreed to give ourselves a break from the tent and the dampness and find a motel or something for the night at the little town of Tom Price, but first we had to get there. Once again the hours passed. Tina slept while I drove, so I put on CDs of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy to keep myself amused. Great stuff, I hadn't listened to that for years.
Another 6 hours or so, and we arrived at Tom Price. This little town was originally built in the 1960s by the mining company which found iron ore out here. It started off as a clump of tents, but is now a moderately busy town of about 3,500 people. They have brick houses, supermarkets and everything! After 3 days of living under canvas it's funny how these thing take on a whole new appeal.
We asked directions to the local campsite which had cabins for rent. When we got there Tina made her feelings on camping in Karijini clear. With no facilities like showers, and when the toilet was just a hole in the ground, she didn't want to play. So we compromised. We'd have 2 nights in our cabin, and one night under canvas in the park.
We refused the temptation to watch the TV (except the weather report), and went out to look at the stars instead. The sky's are wonderfully dark in the Pilbara and the Milky Way was visible this evening. Lovely. Then a hot, private shower followed by a proper bed beckoned.