Sandfire is a location and roadhouse on the Great Northern Highway in Western Australia between Port Hedland and Broome. It is on the western edge of the

Great Sandy Desert The Great Sandy Desert is an interim Australian bioregion,IBRA Version 6.1
data

, and east of Wallal Downs and

Mandora Station Mandora Station is a cattle station on the Western Australia coast south of Broome, located in the Shire of Broome. In earlier years it has also been a sheep station. It maintains a weather station and is noted for the Mandora Marsh wetlan ...

. It is inland, and located 20 km from the coast in the region of the

Mandora Marsh Mandora Marsh, also known as Mandora Salt Marsh, is a complex and diverse wetland system in Western Australia close to Eighty Mile Beach, and included in the Eighty Mile Beach Ramsar Site. It lies at the western edge of the Great Sandy Desert b ...

and the Eighty Mile Beach, 45 km north of the Kidson Track turnoff. The area surrounding the roadhouse is of high cultural significance to the

Nyangumarta people The Nyangumarta people, also written Njaŋumada, Njangamada, Njanjamarta and other variations, are a nation of Aboriginal Australians from the northwestern coast of Western Australia. According to Norman Tindale, they are divided into two distinc ...

, who hold native title over the area. It is only one of three fuel stations (the others being Pardoo and Roebuck roadhouses) in the 610 km between those two towns. In April 2007, the Sandfire Roadhouse was extensively damaged by fire, leaving a $1.5 million damage bill. It was damaged again in December 2009. In the 2011 and 2012 cyclone seasons the location was included in warnings. The petrol station, restaurant, bar, caravan park and motel accommodation is available between 7am and 7pm every day of the year. Sandfire Roadhouse was mentioned in the Australian rock band, The Angels, song "North-west Highway Cruise", on their '' Skin & Bone'' album.

References

External links

Further reading