….ah! that’s more like it! At least the sun is shining.

We have some interesting place names in WA, here’s one for today!

Perhaps you have some ideas of it’s origin?

We left Lake Ninan on a very misty and dull morning but at least we were heading due north and after an hour or so the clouds the clouds started to break up and some blue sky started to appear. We’re heading for a campground at Nalbarra Station, which is about 20ks off the highway and 20ks south of Mount Magnet.

The highway surface is really quite tiring to drive on, in some places it’s more corrugated than some dirt roads and in others it’s like being in a boat! A brief respite from that while we have some lunch and then back to the road! It’s quite a relief to turn off the highway onto a dirt road that is really well graded as it makes a leisurely drive.

Our first impressions as we approach the station are not good, it just has that unkempt look about it. There is quite a lot of junk around the place which doesn’t impress. We’re met by a couple, not sure if they were camp hosts or the owners. They show us around the facilities which are clean but tired and not particularly inviting. When we discover that they are charging $30 per night unpowered for this so we decide that one night will be sufficient and plan to leave in the morning. It is a nice quiet night!

As we leave we wave to the new camp hosts who arrived at the same time as us, the only other people around. This morning we get on the road about 0930 have a comfortable day ahead of us and know the place we are planning to stay tonight.

The sky is beautifully blue with only a few puffy white clouds and apart from the road surface not getting any better it is a fairly good drive. We decide to go to Lake Nallan for lunch, it is a useful distance offe the highway and there is usually plenty of space. We have camped here in the past but are amazed to find that there is very little water in the lake.

We have been getting reports from fellow travellers of low water levels in some of the natural pools in this area, which we’re finding strange as we thought that there had been plenty of rain earlier in the year.

An hour or so later we arrive at Meekatharra, we’re going to camp not far from here but before we go to the camp site we’ll fill the water tanks.

Our camp site is a place called Peace Gorge, a couple of ks out of Meekatharra. It’s a great spot, we have been here quite often, there is plenty of space and it is rarely crowded. It an area of sandstone and granite outcrops.

We arrived on Thursday with no real plan, it is so good to to see the sun and feel a bit of natural warmth, mid’ 20s, however it it still cold at night c 4/5 deg. Friday was a leisurely day, as was Saturday until mid’ afternoon when Roger realised that the little rubber part of his hearing aid was stuck in his ear! Pat tried to get it out but without success so Roger went into town to the hospital, where he had to wait for nearly two hours for a doctor! Eventually the nurse felt sorry for him and asked the doctor if she could have a look, it took her three minutes to get all her equipment ready and get it out!!

Anyway that was enough excitement for one day!

Today, we’re still here with no real incentive to move but the wind is very cold and last night it was very strong. The search for warmer nights might well make us move tomorrow.

The wind has brought the cloud up from the south and produced an impressive sunset.

So it’s Monday, the wind is still cold but at least it was behind us this morning and we’ve moved a couple of hours up the road to Bilyuin Pool.

We were warned that this is another place where the water level has dropped but it is considerably worse than we imagined.

This used to be just below where the vehicle wheels are currently so a considerable amount of water has gone from the pool. If it is down to the miners taking ground water the outlook is not good. The black swans and other birds have all gone. A few cattle came to drink but did not stay long, probably didn’t want to get stuck in the soft mud.

It was cold night last night!

This is the hatch over our bed when we opened the blind this morning!! Yes, it’s frost!

A fairly leisurely two hours travelling before a lunch stop.

There seem to be a lot of wide loads on the road this morning, all heading south. One was this 8.5 metre load which we obviously have to get out of the way of.  

Where we met this one was no problem, there was plenty of space to get off the road but in a lot of places the edge of the highway just drops away and it would not be possible to get off the road.   We have met several loads this wide and so far have been lucky.

After lunch we reach our night stop, called Hidden Gem, again we have been here before and know that it’s flat and that we can get a good 500m off the road away from the truck noise.

A nice short driving day.   It’s good to get settled and things sorted out, make a cuppa and sit in the sun, with a crossword.

Looking at the weather tonight, it’s forecasting rain for Thursday here and our next planned stop.    So we’re going to see if we can get spot at Nullagine CP while the rain goes through because the roads and free campgrounds will probably be quagmires if the forecast is correct.   After a phone call to Newman we book a site at Nullagine, so we will go into Newman and do the shopping then head up to Nullagine.   The road is tar upto and 20 ks past the massive Gina Rinehart mine at Roy Hill.

We discover that they are reconstructing the road from here to Marble Bar, about 200ks a massive undertaking. The section from Newman to Nullagine is due to be finished at the end of 2025.

You can see the state of the road, it is all single file with traffic lights every few ks (i.e. 2-5)!   This is for the 80ks to Nullagine!    We’re following trucks, sometimes blind from the dust, the wind is in our faces which of course, exacerbates, particularly when we’re stationary and the empty road trains are coming south.

Anyway, we have all afternoon and we eventually make it to Nullagine, get sorted out and make a cup of tea.

We have had 3 nights here in Nullagine and just as well, as we had a fair amount of rain overnight and were better off here than on the dirt. It had all dried up quickly by Friday and Pat did some washing using the free washing machines.

Saturday.

We left Nullagine this morning and it turned out to be a rather interesting day.

In the first instance we had been told that the road works continued up to Marble Bar but having left the town 20ks behind with no sign of any, it was obviously false information.  It may be different next year.   In fact the road is quite good, well graded with a few corrugations in places with not much traffic. A leisurely hour and a bit.

Time to do some shopping in Marble Bar and head out Doolena Gorge.   We’ve been here before but always had to park way back from the main area which is by the water.    Unfortunately, a tornado came through earlier in the year and it, together with water, ripped up the trees and everywhere was soft. Fortunately, this time when we drove in there was a space up from the track with a great view of the water and Gorge.

Whilst we were getting set up some of the men from other caravans were helping someone to get out of a bogged situation.   The floor of the Gorge is all stones and gravel and very deceptive.   It looks OK to drive on but is very soft.   With a bit of help he got himself out.

In the afternoon a young person turned up and said he wanted to be by the water.   He was advised not to go down there but he did and was immediately bogged.  

As is usually the case several people were on hand to help him.  He reluctantly lowered the tyre pressure and  eventually the caravan was taken off the car and a winch used to drag it round.   He put the car back on again and parked it beside the water!

That excitement over and general discussion, we settled down for a cup of tea and killer sudoku.  

Not much later about 15 various types of vehicle turned up and proceeded to head for the water’s edge.   At least half got bogged at some point and were pulled or pushed out of the stones by the 4 wheel drivers in the group until they achieved their objective.    We wondered if they were a religious group as we had seen something like it before in York.    However, they made no noise and left in the morning!

That night we joined a couple (Colin & Linda) for drinks round their fire.

Sunday was a reasonably quiet day, although there were lots of vans came in and had to turn round.   Some people seem to hold it against you that you have a good spot.   One lady told Pat that we were ‘parked in the turning circle’.    Pat explained when we’d been here several times before and a van or two were always parked in this spot! She didn’t consider that the group of 4 vans, which she was with, were actually parked in the actual turning circle and blocking the way through.

The wind dropped in the afternoon and sitting outside in the sun was quite pleasant.    We were invited to drinks again tonight, there were eight of us and the topic range was interesting.

Monday

This morning we organised our next stop, in the hope that we will be sheltered from this cold wind, which is from the southeast and probably exacerbated by the Gorge. Still the sun is shining.