not again…………………..!

Last year we got stuck in Tom Price waiting for the road to Mt Augustus to open so that we could get ‘down the middle’ as we say, that is down through the Murchison and into wildflower country. Believe it or not we find ourselves in exactly the same position this year due to the ‘unseasonal’ rain! We met some friends in Tom Price who were planning to do the same thing but they had less time than us and decided to head out to the coast, down to Carnarvon and then inland to Gascoyne Junction before heading south. Maybe we should have gone with them but decided to stay as warm and dry as we could before heading south!

Having waited a few days we decided that we would go east for a few days before turning south.

We went to Newman and stocked up the fridge and the cellar. Pat was able to do some washing.

We’ve just spent a couple of nights at one of our ‘usual’ stops, Hidden Gem, we might have stayed longer but the wind was difficult to avoid and still strong.

We moved about 200ks down the road to another familiar stopover on the Gascoyne River which had the advantage of being a bit more sheltered from the wind, the downside being truck noise.

Evening and early morning on the Gascoyne.

Roger did put the yabby net in last night but we think the water is too cold for them. He did find one small fish in it but it was the fish’s lucky day.

The wind is still causing us to move to find some shelter so today we’ve shifted a couple of hundred ks down the road to a favourite spot at Meekatharra where we’re pretty sure we can get out of the wind.

so south it has to be……….

We had to get off the road this morning for a couple of wide loads.   This is the ‘bucket’ from a haul truck, used in open cut mines…………………  

…………..and this is the bit that it fits on!

In some mines these haul trucks are driverless and are controlled remotely from Perth!

We did find some shelter in Peace Gorge which, as usual, lived up to it’s name and we decided to stay a few days.

We like to do the Times Cryptic and Quick crosswords but getting the Times is very hit and miss.   Historically we’ve been able to get one at the Shell Station in Meekatharra (albeit a day late!) but this time they didn’t have any deliveries for two days , the next day we got two days papers!   

They get delivered by truck so this is pretty much the northern limit of distribution, after Meekatharra there are no newspapers at all at any of the towns going north until you get to Broome, where they are flown in.

In Peace Gorge there are lots of trees that look like overgrown bonsai and their bark looks as though it’s peeling.

South it has to be …………………

We have to leave eventually and we’ve decided to head down to Mount Magnet and then head west to wildflower country on our way home.

A bit of shopping in Mount Magnet then west to a free camp called Roadside Acres. There is a lay-by here but behind it is an area of literally acres and acres of flat space and you camp where you like. The small trees and shrubs are relatively sparse so finding shelter was difficult. We were about 500m from the road but could still hear the traffic. We could have gone a lot further back – a note for next time! We had a reasonably quiet night.

Back on the road in the morning, with another easy 200k day. We’re heading west with a fairly strong head wind which is not good for the fuel consumption.

By 1898 this part of the world was crisscrossed by railway lines which carried ore from the mines to the neared stamp mills or to the ports. This area was no exception.

This section of railway was part of the network in the diagram above. It was completed in 1898 and as in many cases constructed virtually by hand.   Again, many lines were built like this but in some places, particularly in Australia, there is nothing at all but bush between the places marked on the map. The construction gangs were working in particularly hostile country, with pretty basic equipment and little in the way of support services.

In addition to the railway lines they had to find water and build dams to provide for the steam engines.

We passed through the community of Yalgoo and went to the Information Office to see if they had any information on the ‘historic railway’ site. The girl didn’t even know what I was talking about!

We encountered another wide load on the way to our next nightstop, not quite so big but still necessitating avoiding action.

We found Wurarga Dam where we planned to stay for a couple of nights. this is another of the dams built by the railway construction crews to provide water for the steam engines.

We were surprised by how much water there was around the place – in addition to the dam but realised that of course there had been an awful lot of rain recently. Fortunately it had dried in most of the places for parking the van. We had time to get ourselves established before it started to rain which it did for the rest of the day and most of the night! We expected to find ourselves axle deep in water the following morning but it was not too bad at all and we could have driven out easily had we needed to. It rained on and off for most of the day but the following morning it was much drier and the sun was shining.

The bonus was a feed of yabbies!

It is a really nice spot with plenty of space to camp. This shows part of the site with the wild flowers.

This is the dam.

……………and this is some of the water outside the dam!

There are lots of birds that behave just like chickens, only a bit faster, called Black-tailed Native Hens, watching them was fun but they were very uncooperative when it came to photos!

Moving south again today to Canna, a strong headwind and increasing cloudcover greets us.
our parking spot help protect us from the wind.

Where we’re camped was the site of a railway construction camp. This ‘hut’ is where an English guy lived until 1968 (see info board.)

This area is renowned for its wild flowers and they are looking very good this year. We will stay here for a couple of nights.

I apologise for all the pics but this is our record as well. These are all from just around the caravan.

The most famous of the wild flowers is this Wreath Flower (lechenaultia), they only grow in very, very limited areas. We drove out to have a look but they were very disappointing but think it’s possibly because they’ve had lots of rain and are just beginning to get some sun.

You can also camp at Canna Dam, we’ve looked at it before but went for a walk up there this morning.

…………………….and here are some more, ‘specially for for Zoe…………………

So this is probably the last blog entry unless something happens on our way home.

This is a welcome to Moora.

Pat says I go on about the weather but it has played a significant role in this year’s trip, from the almost constant cold south / south easterlies, to the, quote “unseasonal” rain and was the cause our route change yet again!

However, it’s all part of the deal and we have thoroughly enjoyed being on the road again. We hope you enjoy the blog but please feel free to comment, preferably positively but constructive criticism is also valued.

Pat and Roger