Tuesday 22nd September

We’ve had a couple of nights in Carnarvon, Pat’s done about three weeks washing, getting it dry is no problem, it is always windy here, the biggest problem is keeping it on the line.

Carnarvon is not a particularly interesting place, it has a nice location on the Gascoyne River and a connection with space exploration. What it does have is lovely fresh seafood and we had intended to have lunch at a little harbourside restaurant but being a Monday it was closed! So, we went to the Crabshack and treated ourselves to two large, freshly cooked crabs (blue swimmers) which Roger had to clean (a task he enjoys), they went down beautifully with a Margaret River Chardonnay!

From Carnarvon we’re heading south and then east across the country via the Butcher’s Track to Murchison Roadhouse. The track is a dirt road which is not too bad but it is very ‘samey’ because of the tallish shrubs either side of the road there’s not much to see but some wildflowers are still blooming.

Murchison Roadhouse has a long history of providing food and water to the bullock trains which carted anything and everything from Perth to the northern goldfields and cattle and sheep stations. It still provides those services plus there is a camping and caravan parking facility for overnighting or, a base for prospectors. We have a quiet night here and spot a few satellites.

Wednesday 23rd September

Today we are making for Melangata Station, where we will meet up with Richard and Marge.

The route we’ve chosen actually passes Wooleen Station which we visited on the way up nearly two months ago. The track through Woolen is a bit rough but we’re not in a hurry so we don’t mind. Wooleen used to be a sheep station and we stop to have a look at the site of the old shearing sheds. Sadly the old wooden buildings have collapsed from weather and termites but the accommodation and the cookhouse are more substantial and still standing.

Not long after visiting the wool shed site, our tyre pressure monitor tells us that we have a tyre deflating on the Troopy. Sure enough the rear offside tyre is pretty flat. No big deal and it takes only half an hour to change the wheel. We’ll have a look at it when we get to Melangata and see if it’s fixable. Today has been one of the days we have not seen another vehicle for the whole time we have been driving.

Melangata is a sheep station and has a very interesting homestead which was designed by a Presbyterian priest, John Hawes at the very end of the 19th century. The tower on the corner is part of a chapel area. Like most leaseholders out here they are struggling to survive.

We had a message from Richard and Marge, via the station owner, that they would be delayed and would arrive the next day. (Other than at the homestead there is no phone signal here and no wifi offered by the station). So we settled in for the evening and went over to the camp fire to meet a few people, most of whom were here for a week helping out on the farm.

One of the locals passing by, we call them racehorse goannas at our place but out here they call them bungaras, which is most likely the aboriginal name for them.

Thursday 24th September

Today Roger had a look at the spare tyre and couldn’t find any leak although it definitely was not holding pressure. This means we need to find somewhere to get it looked at or, replaced.

Richard and Marge arrived this morning and although the four of us had sort of planned the next few days as a leisurely run towards home we now needed to modify the plan a bit in view of the tyre requirement and decided on Mt Magnet rather than Cue as the next stop. We spent the day catching up with each other’s news.

Friday 25th September

The track to Mt Magnet is through leases that have been overstocked with sheep and cattle for well over a century – and it shows!

There are literally millions of hectares in this condition in WA and the rest of central Australia. Since we first travelled in the outback we have always been amazed when we see open bores just pumping out water from the underground aquifers.

On route to Mt Magnet we started hearing a strange noise from the rear offside wheel but could not see anything obvious. When we got to Mt Magnet the chap at the tyre place discovered a split in the inside wall of the tyre. They are not allowed to repair such damage so it had to be a new tyre. Of course, they didn’t have either of the make that I have on the van or the Troopie!

Whilst the tyre was being changed Roger had another look at the wheel and discovered the problem, a thin piece of cover from the brake system had got bent and was scraping on the inside of the wheel. This was easily fixed.

Back on the road again we headed for Sandstone a mining town with a very long history. We had decided on a CP tonight and dinner at the National Hotel, the only one four hotels built at the turn of the 20th century currently standing but as the town only has 120 inhabitants it is more than enough.

Saturday 26th September

This morning we start with a guided tour of the places of interest in the vicinity of Sandstone by Richard and Marge who have been here before.

The next stop was a stamp or crusher, built around the turn of the 20th century. You can see perhaps how remote these minesites were. The gold bearing rock was brought here from the surrounding mines to be crushed and the gold settled out, originally this was done by water but towards the end by air, I think!

Obviously the men who worked out here had little opportunity for social activities and it hardly surprising, that an enterprising Irishman (of course), one J V Fearney started a brewery in the area.

These give an idea of the remoteness of these minesites. Although, this particular spot is only twenty ks from Sandstone which was only a very small place in the early days, Perth is 400ks away with virtually no roads.

After the tour we’re heading south to Youanmi another old mining town but just over 120 ks from Sandstone the gauge suddenly started dropping in the troopie’s big fuel tank. This was immediately of concern because a) my other tank was empty and b) the nearest fuel was 120 ks away! Anyway, after a while the gauge moved back to it’s normal position again and continued on and off to do this. We assumed a gauge problem but we needed to be sure as were heading further into the bush. We decided that we had to divert to Payne’s Find on the Great Northern Hwy, 140 ks away. Having made this decision the gauge continued to read what I expected! Anyway it meant a night stop at Payne’s Find which isn’t the most salubrious of spots, being a major truck stop for road trains on the highway!

Sunday 27th September

So we set out this morning to our original destination for yesterday, we have to travel round the edges of a salt lake that covers an area the size of Norfolk (and some!). We stop for lunch and discover there is a very suitable spot to camp off the track so we decide to set up camp here in the bush. Unfortunately there are a lot of flies, which is a pain because we haven’t really been troubled by them to date on this trip.

Though technically desert this is wildflower country and sometimes the displays are magnificent though now the best is past.

We’ve had enough excitement for a while so it’s time to light a fire and tell some stories now that the flies have gone to bed.

Monday 28th September

A very short day today takes us to Billiburning Rock where we will camp tonight. This is a rather nice spot, these ‘rocks’ you might remember from previous trip blogs are ‘monoliths’ of varying sizes, this one is one of the larger ones, certainly in WA.

There are pleasant walks around and over the rock but we leave these ’til late afternoon, mainly because it’s a bit cooler but also because of the flies, which have gradually been getting worse as we get further south. Of course, you have to expect this but sometimes it’s easier to sit in the van and blog or read.

Although the wildflowers are virtually over, there are still some good shows, we have to remember that these are basically growing in what is probably classed as desert!

Monday 29th September

Another short trip today to another rock, this one is called Mollerin.

Pat and I have been here before but it’s a new one for R&M. It’s quite a small one and not particularly interesting or high but it is used to collect rainwater as many of these rocks are. The most interesting things here at the moment are the wild flowers.

For some obscure reason there was a golf course and a cricket pitch here until about 1981, probably to serve the districts farmers. We didn’t find the cricket pitch but we are camped on the golf course!

We had a good fire tonight which Richard used for cooking his tea!

It’s almost a full moon so satellites are hard to see but we did see the Spacestation.

Wednesday 30th September

Today we had a slightly longer drive, about 100ks to Oak Park. None of us has been here before and although there’s not much to see now it has some interesting history. There are also supposed to be some gnamma holes here. There is a 3k trail but we will leave that until the morning. In 1914 a school was opened to serve the several small communities. There was also a Community Hall and a cricket pitch. At one picnic day over 200 locals attended. The cricket pitch had a concrete wicket which is still visible on the ground according to Richard on Google Earth……………………………………………

It is our last night with Richard and Marge and we have a good old natter round the camp fire and discussed options for our next trips – we may well end up travelling with them again at some stage.

In the morning they are going to Dowerin to meet some old friends who live there and we are heading in the general direction of Karnup but will stop tonight at York and if the restaurant at the Imperial is open we will treat ourselves to dinner.

A full moon again tonight, our third one on this trip.

Thursday 1st October

As planned we set out to walk the trail this morning, some of it is not well marked but there are some interesting information markers at strategic points. There are two pools but they feed into a salt lake, (salt lakes are a feature of the landscape in the wheat belt), which to some extent are a function of changing climactic conditions but largely due to over stocking and over cropping, a terrible thing. One information board tells us that 95% of the original landscape has been destroyed!

We eventually found the two gnamma holes about 400m from the camp site. These water sources were very important and well known to the aboriginals, who, in some cases showed them to the early explorers, for whom they were essential.

Gnamma holes can vary in size some being up to 10m deep. Smaller holes are usually blocked by rocks so that animals and birds don’t get in and die, contaminating the water.

After returning to camp we say goodbye to to Richard and Marge and head for York and we arrive just before lunch. York looks quite busy to so before lunch we walked up to town to book a table for dinner, buy a paper then back to the van for lunch. The Times cryptic proves a bit of a challenge as we haven’t had one for a day or three – and it shows! We probably could have made it home today but we’re looking forward to having a nice dinner tonight.

Friday 2nd October

I sort of pressed the ‘publish’ after Pat had reviewed, added, deleted and signed off on this post, forgetting that there was another day tomorrow.

Anyway we had an uneventful ride home today, we’re a bit limited on getting back to Karnup from the York area, particularly since we like to avoid the freeways, today especially as it is the beginning of a long weekend and the roads will be very busy.

So the end of another terrific trip of 8,212ks, thanks to Brad and Denise for their company for the first few weeks and Richard and Marge for the last week. We look forward to travelling with them again soon.

We hope that you have enjoyed looking at the pictures!