Allthegobro

After Geraldton we have continued south along the coast to Jurien Bay. This is the heart of the Rock Lobster territory or though it seems most places along the coast claim this title. Of more import though is that this is also a good place to base oneself for exploring Lesueur  NP and Nambung NP

Lesueur is a remote park and involves a one way drive of about 18 km. It winds its way through some diverse country that is rich in flora types. Of course there are more wildflowers. Many we have seen before but there are a few new ones!

Another Kangaroo Paw

A wildflower at Leseuer

Banksia

More wildflowers

Nambung is home to the Pinnacles. Some amazing landscapes. A photographer could get lost!  It looks like a great big old grave yard with headstones of all shape sand sizes. No inscriptions though, just the sands of time……..

Pinnacles

Pinnacles

We spent an afternoon here after indulging in a half lobster at the Lobster Shack in Cervantes, south of Jurien (but still on the Bay). It seems that all our Asian visitor friends come here on day trips from Perth……to eat the lobsters and then gaze at the Pinnacles. They are also real terriers in the NP shop. All coming out with hands full helping our national debt! Stuffed kangaroos, koalas, lizards and dolphins etc etc………

Lobsters at the Lobster Shack

We are now going to head away from the coast and go back east to Kalgoorlie along the Great Eastern Highway. This will take us down through New Norcia and then east through Northam, Meckering (the big earthquake town), Merriden and Southern Cross to Kalgoorlie. The highway traces the route of the great water pipeline that was built from Perth to Kalgoorlie in the early 1900s. The pipeline provided and continues to provide the water resources that led to the development of the great wheat field and wool districts through which we will pass. It is going to take 3 or 4 days to get to Kalgoorlie and we will be off the air until then!

Our stop in Geraldton was a bit of an eye opener. We have seen a traffic light for the first time in about a month! Geraldton is a major wheat export terminal and our camping ground is not far away from the port railway line. It seems the Port comes to life in the early hours of the morning and the odd long train comes through. So there is a bit of a racket. But we are sound asleep and only awake to the calls of nature!

Campsite

The major attraction here in Geraldton is the Cathedral. The architect being none other than Monsignor Hawes. It is certainly a grand building for Geraldton. It gets lit up at night and makes quite a spectacle.

Geraldton Cathedral

Geraldton Cathedral alight

Also up on a hill is the memorial to HMAS Sydney. There was a cruise ship in town the day we went up here so the memorial was maned by volunteers and we got a few snippets of the layout and meaning of the memorial items. The major one being the big dome. It is constructed from steel doves each one representing one of the men who died when the Sydney was sunk off the Geraldton coast during WW11. Originally built before the Sydney wreck was discovered there has since  been an update with a remembrance pool and directional pointer to the wrecks location. Have also dropped by the Point Moore Point lighthouse which is the tallest steel lighthouse in Australia. It has distinctive red stripes and stands out against the blue sky and waters of the port.

The HMAS Sydney Memorial

Point Moore lighthouse

Not far from Geraldton is the old rural town of Greenough. The famous leaning trees of Greenough are here. They bend against the prevailing south-west winds and lie close to the ground, mostly de-foliated on the windward side.

The old Catholic church at Greenough where Monsignor Hawes last Australian post was.

Native Hibiscus

The National Trust have acquired a group of old stone buildings from the mid to late 1800s and are in the process of preserving them (not restoring them). We had a wander through the building precinct and reflected on rural life in those times. The Monsignor Hawes story continues in Greenhaugh. It was to the little church here that he was posted after leaving Mullewa and before he left Australia to live in the Bahamas as a hermit, he died there in the mid 1950s. He was certainly an interesting person. Seems to have been pretty determined in everything he did.

We have restocked the van’s pantry here in Geraldton. It was severely run down after nearly six weeks on the road and short of some necessities. The journey continues further south to Jurien Bay, home of the Western Red Rock Lobster.

We set off for Geraldton, continuing our southward journey down the WA coast. It is starting to get a little cooler now. We had started to get used to the warm airs at Shark Bay. Weather though is still good, clear and blue skies with a little cloud in the mornings.

Hawk’s Head, overlooking the Murchison River.

Murchison River below Ross Graham Lookout.

Before leaving Kalbarri NP we pulled  in and had lunch in the easterly section of the Park at Hawk’s Head and Ross Graham Lookout. At Ross Graham you re able to easily walk down to the River banks at the bottom of the gorge. It says it’s a 200 m stroll, but its more like 200 m down. Plenty of steps but great at the bottom  beside the river. Plenty of bird life, including an Australian Ringneck parrot (there is a little yellow band around its neck)  standing guard over its nest in  a tree trunk. Breeding season is in full swing it seems.

Australian Ringneck parrot

Smelly Sock

It was hard to leave this Park but we needed to get on the road. Along the way south we stopped briefly at Northampton to see another of Monsignor Hawes Churches. It was totally different to those seen so far. The farm lands here are predominantly wheat with sheep occupying the in between stretches. These pastures are filled with yellow daisy like flowers stretching as far as the eye can see. The sheep seem to be submerged in them at times. Must be a great taste!

Near Northhampton

Our Lady in Ara Coeli Church

We arrived in Geraldton and settled into the Belair Van Park out near the port, near the beach, and close to the central town area.

A short hop and a step from Kalbarri is the Principality of  Hutt River. It makes for a half day drive around and you can loop back to Kalbarri. So we did it. Now you might be scratching your head about this Principality. If you were around in the mid 70s early 80s it was in the news quite a bit. Leonard crowned himself as a prince and seceded from Australia. Originally, it was all over wheat quotas and land repossession. The Principality is quite a big wheat and sheep farm and he had his quota slashed to almost nothing. Got a bit upset and started court battles and then seceded from Australia. Seems to have got away with something from being an utter difficult customer and persistent litigant. Has  a bit of money too! He has quite a nice property, there is a Government Office including the Post Office.

Prince Leonard effigy

Offices at the Principality of Hutt River.

Voluntary visas are issued for $4. The Principality has its own currency (parity with $A) and postage stamps ( these are not recognised by Australia Post and have to go on the back of an envelope, the envelope is then franked with Australian postage). There is a nice inter-denominational chapel and camping facilities are available. Prince Leonard is now 91 and sits in one of his buildings enjoying the sunshine. He has a number of sons and daughters, all princes and duchesses. They are all involved in working the property and administering the Principality. Prince Graeme showed us the ropes in the Government Offices; mainly commemorative booklets, gem displays, bank notes from around the world and postcards etc etc. He was most respectful towards his father’s work but also a little wry grin appeared from time to time in talking about the Principality and the services available, including knighthoods by application. It was a bit of fun!

Along the way we had called in at Pink Lake. The colouring is caused by some algae that is rich in vitamin A. There is also a large processing plant here that produces food concentrate from brine shrimp for fish farming and the aquarium industry.

Pink Lake.

We have seen the ongoing display of wild flowers but have also been shocked to see some wild life. The well-known Bob Tail Skink and Echidna have put in appearances.

Is this a Pink Poker?

Pine-like Grevillea

The skink showed its blue tongue when Homealone got down close to it and seemed to aggravate it. The Echidnas, well there were three of them making their way out of the scrub, across the road and into the wheat fields. Quite a procession.

Bob Tail skink

Three little echidnas out one day………over the road and far away…….

We now head south to Geraldton.

We have now moved on to Kalbarri about 150 km south of Shark Bay. It is where the Murchison River reaches the sea. My readers will remember the storm scenes from a few blogs back where we crossed the Murchison much higher in its catchment on the way to Murchison Settlement. Well it’s a pretty wild entry to the sea. It’s not a sand bar but a rock bar, a lateral approach along the beach front in between rock platforms, doesn’t seem to be for the faint hearted. Here it is. A Fisheries boat made the crossing.

Crossing the Murchison River Bar.

Kalbarri has two main attractions (fishing is also up there!). The first is the inland gorges, through which the Murchison River passes, and the second is the coastal cliffs, against which the Indian Ocean crashes. The parkland  surrounding the river where it enters the sea is also memorable. Remembering the much drier countryside where the river has its source and then finally seeing it pouring into the sea through the rocky bar was a special moment. The Murchison is WA second longest River.

The gorges of Kalbarri NP are also  a great sight. The iconic Natures Window attracts lots of tourists. The beautiful people like to sit in the rock window for a photo, as if ignoring the majesty of the Murchison gorge. Then maybe I’ m being unkind? Some of them were beautiful! Homealone couldn’t venture out here so another picture of a beautiful person couldn’t be taken!

Nature’s Window.

Looking along the Murchison Gorge at Z Bend.

The wild flowers are also in abundance. There has been a gradual change from the inland areas as we have moved towards the coast. The wildflowers are now on shrubs and trees as much as on the ground. We have seen a patch of Kangaroo Paw and also the Murchison Rose, all around has been the smoke bush. Truly,  a mass of colour. Also a plant called a Verticordia (something ?????)  a mass of yellow flowers on a single stem it hasn’t been seen in Kalbarri for 18 years or so, according to a ranger.

Mangles Kangaroo Paw among some Smoke Bush.

Verticordia

The limestone coastal cliffs are also a great spectacle of nature. The sea is certainly eating it’s way inland, leaving all sorts of curious landmarks. One could potter along the coastal cliff trail for ages. It is a bit like the Great Ocean Rd in Victoria.

Natural Bridge

Island Rock.

Another highlight of our time in Kalbarri was a roast beef dinner on the weber,. It was great, we had some roast potatoes, carrots and onions as well. All was accompanied by Homealone’s special gravy. Allthego knocked up some apple pies from IGA and warmed them on the weber for desert. It seems the weber was  a bit hot and overcooked the bases of the pies. Timing is everything! Someone said. They were left to eat for another day.

Apple pies have been over warmed.

More flowers…………..

Murchison Rose.

Wirey Honey Myrtle.

That’s all for now……….

Gutharraguda is a big place over 2.2 m hectares of diverse landscapes, so you can’t possibly see it all in 4 days and also sit around and just enjoy the fresh air. Gutharraguda is aboriginal for Shark Bay and means two waters. The peninsular on which we are based juts out and divides the Bay in two segments. Denham where we are is on the west coast and we see the sun set over water. Monkey Mia is on the other side and faces east towards the mainland and the sun sets over the land behind it.

On one of our drives around we called into Shell Beach. Now this is serious shell stuff. The little Hamelin cockle shells number in their trillions (or just a real lot it seems) and the beach and shoreline was just covered in them. They are up to nine metres deep in places. There used to be a quarrying operation here that cut calcified blocks of these for building purposes.

Shell Beach

Shells of Shell Beach

There are a number of buildings in Denham with walls made from these blocks, including the Old Pearler’s Cottage which now houses a restaurant. We lashed out and had a nice evening meal in here.  The camping ground had a number of its retaining walls made out of them. The quarry now only works to produce blocks when repair jobs are needed.

Old Pearler’s Cottage, the walls are shell blocks cut from deposits at Shell Beach

From Shell Beach we made our way down to Hamelin Pool which is right at the bottom of the Bay. Here the water is very shallow and salty. In fact about twice as salty as the rest of the Bay. In this environment Stromatolites have prospered. Sromatolites are microbiological structures that go back to the earliest times of life, about 3,500 m years ago. They look like small black blobs on stalks about the size of a football. Some of them seem to join up and form a maze type pattern. Fascinating place.

Stromatolites

After the day long Steep Point trip we decided to have an afternoon on the water at Monkey Mia and went for a sail on Shotover. The objective was to find dugongs, dolphins and turtles. Now there was a fair wind and this whipped the sea up a bit which made sighting the dugongs difficult. It was early in the Dugong season as well which didn’t help. We didn’t see any. One of the highlights was running over the top of a turtle as it surfaced under one of hulls of the boat. Made a super big crack when it hit. One of the crew went below to check for any damage…….to the boat not the turtle. We didn’t see the turtle again and the boat was ok. It was suggested that he/she warned the dugongs off. A few dolphins were also sighted. Though we didn’t see any dugongs it was a great afternoon on the water. We finished off with a complimentary sunset sail and watched the sun drop over the land behind some unusual cloud shapes.

On board Shotover

Sunset out on the Bay

We are now heading away from Shark Bay for Kalbarri, about 150 km  south.

One of the things to do when you are at Shark Bay is to go out to Steep Point. It’s the most westerly point on mainland Australia and marks one of the entrances to Shark Bay. Dirk Hartog Island lies across the channel. It was a full days drive from Denham, 430 km return. Now the first 85 km on the bitumen takes you almost back to the turnoff from the NW Coastal Hwy and on to what is called Useless Loop Rd. From here it is about another 100 km of gravel as the road loops around the bottom of Shark Bay and then up the coast to Steep Point. This section contained what could only be described as some of the worst corrugated road Allthego has driven on, bone jarring shaking for km after km, even with the tyres down to 20 psi. One stretch of about 8 km was just unbelievably bad, used by trucks going to and from a salt mine operation. Glad to get past it. The last 30 km is along a one lane sandy track that traverses the sand dunes and the shoreline out to Steep Point.

On the road to Steep Point.

Along the beach for part of the way

We didn’t see any cars on these tracks and all up saw only half a dozen all day and they were parked at Steep Point. National Parks say to allow 3 hours for the trip along Useless Loop Rd and the final section out to the point. It took us 3 and half. There were quite a few tent campers spread out along the foreshores, mostly fishing I would guess.

Beach just off the road.

It was a great view from the Point, certainly a wild and woolly coastline. A post in front of the Most Westerly Point sign allows you to attach a camera to get the memento photo of the trip’s destination. We sat down here on a rock and had some lunch gazing across the channel to Dirk Hartog Island and the surf crashing against its cliff lined shore.

Near Steep Point

At Steep Point

The return trip to Denham took just as long and it was sunset before we got back along Useless Loop Rd, returning in the dark to Old Farts Lane  at the camping ground. A sleep in was forecast for the next morning!

We settled into the Denham Seaside Tourist Village at Shark Bay after the trip along the Butchers Track. Denham is the major town, actually the only town on Shark Bay. We were lucky in  getting a site right on the beachfront along a short access way, aptly named Old Farts Lane. The couple next to us have been coming from Perth to the Bay and staying in this spot for the last 22 years for 4 or 5 months at a time, they were in their late 70s or early 80s. Limpets. A few others seemed to know them as well. It was a great spot with a view of white sand and blue water. A bit different to red dirt. It then sunk in that we had crossed the continent from east to west! To greet us the weather gods produced a nice blow that night, the van rocked a bit and the tied down awning held its ground. A little bit of rain. We awoke to a clear sky and much calmer weather.

Our spot beside the seaside

The sun goes down outside the front door

Off we went for a trip up to Monkey Mia to see the dolphins. Which we did. We have seen dolphins before. There were 3 of them swimming up and down the beach front, we had missed the last of the morning feeds at around 11.30. As if by clockwork they disappeared at midday, almost on the dot. They do this each day and then return again the next morning. All have names and distinctive markings.

Pelican giving a dolphin grief at Monkey Mia

Who’s looking at who in this close up?

On the way to Monkey Mia we stopped for a look at Little Lagoon. It is an almost circular body of shallow crystal clear water. From a distance atop a hill at the golf club it is deep blue fringed by white sand. By accident we came across a small patch of Sturts Desert Pea beside the gravel road into the golf club, the type that has a red pea centre and not the black pea centre that we have seen previously. They were the only Sturts Desert Peas we saw in Shark Bay.

Little Lagoon

Allthego dipping his toes in Little Lagoon

It goes without saying that the wild flowers are profuse yet again. But at the moment we have had enough of wild flowers and are keeping our eyes out for mallee fowl, kangaroos and emus. Emus it is and we have seen two mobs of them running away in the scrub.

Sturts Desert Pea

Emus are plentiful

We have now moved on to Kalbarri after 4 days at Shark Bay. So the blog is catching up. But there is more yet to come on the Bay including a day trip to Steep Point, the most westerly point of the Australian mainland.

Well we are now off to Shark Bay along Butchers Track. Why is it called Butchers Track, we don’t know. Maybe it’s because a butcher lived here ages ago, was he (or she) a meat butcher or a human butcher, we don’t know and as we set off we didn’t really want to dwell on the matter. All in all its 144 km along the usual gravel red dirt road to the North West Hwy which then connects off to Shark Bay.

Butchers Track

Emu tracks

It’s a modest drive along a good road. A little way into it a vehicle charged past us van in tow, a 100 kph or so compared to our modest 85 kmh. They disappeared into the distance. Half an hour later we pulled past them busy changing a blown tyre  and not requiring any assistance.  Allthego, always willing to help,  found this a blessing and quickly moved on. Homealone in her usual style warned Allthego about being half smart. Speeding rat bags etc etc. A bit later someone came along the other way. So they wouldn’t have been left stranded. Was the Butcher watching? They were the only people we saw on the track.

Flower 1

The track winds its way over a vast sandy plain with sand dunes cutting the road as we progress west. The road rises from a low point of 134 m to a high point of 324 m. It’s actually like sailing along, up and over the dunes. All the time we are surrounded by wildflowers in full bloom. Just amazing! At this stage we are not sure what the name of all these flowers is, so have just called them ‘Flower 1’, ‘Flower 2’ etc

Flower 2

Flower 3

Flowers 4

Flower 3

It was a great drive.

Shark Bay Welcome

We have arrived at the beginning of the Shark Bay World Heritage Drive and that is where we will pick up the story next time!

We set off from Cue for the Murchison Settlement along another back road heading north by north-west, it’s about 220km of good gravel. The scenery though is becoming a little repetitive. Red dirt roads, red dirt road verges, red dirt dust, red dirt covering car and van and  red dirt getting in the van. But there are lots of wildflowers to be seen. Homealone has just about had the red dirt but not the wildflowers.

On the road to Murchison

Carpet of wildflowers along the way

Along the way we crossed the Murchison River. This point is roughly about half way along its length. It has its source in the lands to the north of Meekatharra and flows south-west into the sea at Kalbarri, through the gorges in the Kalbarri National Park. We will be having a few days at Kalbarri later in the trip.

Murchison River

Gathering storm at the Murchison River

A storm was gathering and we needed to hurry along to keep ahead of it. We managed to do this and arrived in Murchison Settlement late in the afternoon. This is a small little ‘settlement’ of 20 or so people. But a great caravan park, plenty of green grass  surrounded by red dirt. The red dirt in this case are polo fields. It seems that people regularly converge here for the sport. All in all there are about 120 people in the whole Shire of Murchison (49,500 sq km) and the Settlement is its hub. The rest of the people are out on the surrounding properties.

Camp site at Murcheson, polo field at left

BBQ in the rotunda

A tree with yellow flowers

We had a day of R & R here in the shady grounds apart from a short 15 km trip out to Errabiddy Bluff which is the major nearby attraction.

Errabiddy Bluff

A small error has been noted in the last blog, many of my readers will have also picked it up but are to kind to correct me. It was not Jimmy Stewart who starred in Hitchcock’s North by North-West but Cary Grant. As always this blog is E & O E!

Flannel bush

We now head west, to Shark Bay. But we have decided on another shortcut along the Butchers Track route. One can only speculate on why it’s called the Butchers Track. We will see!

Cue is an interesting little town. There used to be about 10,000 people in this area back in the late 1800s early 1900s. Now 500 tops. This is one of the things that has struck us in these travels, the de-population of the east (not the west!). The people in these small towns we have traveled through rely on frozen bread and meat. There are no frock shops for the girls, maybe it’s now done online. Bells Emporium sells everything you could want in the way of groceries and bits and pieces. It’ all on the shelves behind the counter, like in the good old days. A few freezers are there though with the meat, quick meals for the prospectors in town, ice creams etc.

Bells Emporium

The Cue Rotunda

Always a pub. But their trading hours are from 4pm on and they might sell groceries as well. And there are no frock shops out here! Haven’t seen a hairdresser for the girls either, Homealone must be getting edgy!

We had dinner at the pub. We hadn’t had a steak for some days so both of us were attracted to the T- Bones. These were quite large and covered with sauce, the chips were pretty good too and the chief thought we needed potato salad as well. It was a substantial meal.

T-Bone & mushroom sauce at the pub

Allthego gone ……after the T-bone

The town is also proud of its old stone buildings. They are among the best we have seen on the gold fields.

The old Bank of NSW building is for sale, not sure who owns it  but hope it’s not Westpac!   The old  1880s Gentlemen’ Club is now the local Council headquarters.

Bank of NSW

Gentlemen’s Club

Steel cut outs are the go out in the west, I mean the east, for the tourist displays. Every town has them. There must have been a special on steel a few years ago. Murals are also big. The one in town at  the Civic Centre was a little different, it was all about people now and not historical depictions.

A mural at the Civic Centre

Some sheep on the Cue common

We enjoyed our stop here but now move back to the west, maybe it is North by North West, to Murchison Settlement. But it is Allthego at the wheel not Jimmy Stewart!

Leaving Yalgoo we headed north-east along a back road to Cue, from memory about 160km. It was good gravel and clay all the way. Along this stretch of road there were some interesting old mine sites and an abandoned homestead and woolshed complex. It was surrounded by an amazing carpet of violet wildflowers. Homealone also spotted what we think is young kite sitting in a dead tree beside the road.  It kept a keen eye on me as I tried to creep closer, eventually flying off in a rush of feathers to safer places.

We think this is a young Kite?

The road north-east to Cue.

A special place down a side track is a small meteorite crater discovered in 1920. It is apparently the smallest authenticated site in the world and is about 20 metres across and 5 metres deep; comparatively young at about 3,000 years. The meteorite people believe it was made of an unusual rock type  and because of its small size would have buried itself on impact then exploding, creating the crater. Quite a sight no doubt to the local indigenous people at the time.

The meteorite crater.

Abandoned homestead and woolshed.

Closer to Cue we come to Walga Rock. This is the second largest monolith in Australia after Uluru. It is a place of special significance to the aboriginal people of the area. A large cave has a series of fairly weathered  paintings. There is also a sailing ship outline on the rock wall that seems of much newer vintage. There is debate about who has painted it. It could be that it is not in fact aboriginal in origin but done by an early settler. There appears to be some lines of scraggly  writing underneath it, maybe arabic. Perhaps an early Afghan  camelier  has left a mark!

At Walga Rock talking to something that doesn’t answer back.

The ship at Walga Rock

The wildflowers surrounding us on the roadside continue to amaze in their diversity. Wattles in full bloom are every where, with splashes of everlastings and other ground cover type species. We have been able to identify a few of the more common ones from our small guide books.

A grevillea of some sort?

Carpet of flowers.

We arrived in Cue late afternoon to settle into the very comfortable Council run Cue camp ground for a couple of nights. Cue is midway between Mt Magnet in the south and Meekatharra in the north. The delights of Cue need to await the next blog!

We are actually going east to Yalgoo. Back tracking a bit because we have adjusted the itinerary. But also because in going east this is the way all the gold explorers did back in the 1800s, as well as the early explorers. Unlike in the USA where they went west. There is a Village People song that goes something like

Go West

Life is peaceful there

Go West

Lots………….. I can’t remember the rest……

Well it’s certainly peaceful out here and after going east for a bit we will turn back west, after going north to Cue. The Mullewa Show was  a great day out despite the rain. Here are some pics of the things mentioned in the last blog entry.

Mullewa show day foot races

A great carrot

Homealone thought hers would have come first maybe!

The winning flower display at the show

It was only 150 km back to Yalgoo and we stopped off in a very neat little caravan park, only about 10 established sites circling a grassed lawn (which is pretty rare out here). Expansion is on the cards as another 10 sites are just being opened up, but all on red dirt. Nearby Yalgoo is Joker’s Tunnel, carved out by early gold explorers. Homealone had a good look in. It was an eerie sort of feeling walking through it. The tunnel walls are not weathered and the different rock strata are a multitude of colours. All done by pick and shovel and some rudimentary blasting. It’s about 100 metres long. A big effort!

Dominican Chapel of St Hyacinth at Yalgoo

Who’s the joker looking in the tunnel?

Monsignor  John Hawes was also in these parts and this Chapel was also designed and built by him. Although in part restored it is no longer used and is fenced off.

Inside the tunnel

Another flower, pure white.

Yalgoo has this enormous race track. The start is on the far side and you can barely see the little set of starting gates. The annual April 2016 race day was postponed, by wet weather it seems. A revised date is not advertised so I expect it will be delayed till April 2017.

Yalgoo racecource

Welcome to Yalgoo

The internet has been dreadfully slow over the last week and we are now at Shark Bay and will be trying to catch up over the next couple of days.

We have been here in Mullewa for 3 days and have enjoyed it greatly. A very neat caravan park close to town  and amonst the wildflowers. Homealone has bought a couple of wildflower booklets and is busily ticking off the flowers as the photos are taken. Quite a process of identification, sometimes the actual flower doesn’t quite look like the book’s photo. The bush is alive with everlastings of all types and colours, wattles and a few bottle brushes and grevilleas.

Emu Tree

Everlastings

Apart from wildflowers, Mullewa is also famous for the work of a Roman Catholic priest in the early 20th century. Monsignor John Hawes, an architect by profession, was based here for 20 odd years and in this time designed and built with his own hands a number of churches in the Murchison region, including the Geraldton Cathedral. They have been described as architectural gems reflecting the natural environment in which they are situated. He left Australia before WW2 and died in the Bahamas, a Franciscon hermit. A strange end for such an active real world person. He might have just worn himself out, the energy all gone?

Church of Our Lady of Mt Carmel and Saints Peter and Paul.

Wildflower display at the Mullewa Show

A highlight of our time here has been a day trip out into the country to the Coalseam Conservation Park . The park was  ablaze with yellow pom poms, a total contrast with the white pom poms closer to Mullewa.

A pom pom among the pom poms

At Coalseam Conservation Park

The wreath flower is a special of this area. People go hunting to find them, which isn’t hard because there are sign posts all the way to their location , about 35 km from Mullewa. They seem to be in an isolated patch of country beside the road side. They do look great. A circular green plant which flowers at the edges. Looks just like a wreath!

Wreath flower

The weather so far has been great, sunny blue skies. Except for last night. The wind got up and the rain came down. It continued this morning putting a bit of a dampener on the opening of the Mullewa Agricultural Show. But by lunch time the sun was out and the Show’s activities were successfully underway. Some interesting displays of local produce,craft, photography and artwork were on display. Lots of prizes being given out, a very large deformed carrot secured a first place. As the day wore on the storm clouds gathered and the rain came down.

We now move on over the next few days to Yalgoo, Cue and Murchison Junction. The internet is a bit slow out here so we may be off the air for this time. we’ll see!

Well,  Sandstone seems to have two main attractions. London Bridge and Lady Di. London Bridge is the rock formation a few kilometres from town and Lady Di is the pie lady and she is right in town. We were in Sandstone for two nights . On arrival the town was blacked out for some unknown reason. No power in the caravan park and no water. It came on sometime after midnight. The local pub was serving under candle light.

Sandstone is an interesting little place on the edge of the goldfields. There are about 50 residents, 100 fly in fly out  mine workers and perhaps 40 people in the caravan park. Now a lot of the caravan park people have longish white beards, craggy features and a limited vocabulary…….they talk about gold prospecting and how many grams they found today but never where. It is quite a booming thing, this gold prospecting. People seem to come on holidays to do it and will come back next year as well. Mostly men, not a lot of women. They also play golf.

Homealone on the green at the Sandstone golf club, it looks to be in but stopped short.

Traveled out on the heritage trail around town. The main attraction is London Bridge, the rock formation. This has been a gathering place for townsfolk since the late 1800s and for the aborigines, many generations before. It is not yet falling down but is getting thinner.

London Bridge

The other attraction is Lady Di. She cooks pies on the street corner in one of those Breville pie makers. Supposed to be pretty good pies. She also sells bush dukkha, which is also pretty good. Allthego had some sprinkled on scrambled eggs. Two packets are coming home with us along with some special hot sauce. But back to the pies. Allthego was on the go and had a chat with Lady Di about the pies. A customer was also on hand and said the pies were excellent. They posed for a photo for the blog. She makes the pies each morning and does a good trade, particularly with the fly in fly outs coming on and off shift. She reckons she is known all over Australia.

Lady Di’s bush dukkha, rather good scattered on scrambled egg.

Lady Di and keen customer. Lady Di is at right.

A more conventional pie can be had in the hotel. But we had schnitzles. They have a fire going in the bar and you can eat there as well. A cosy spot. Chloe, the current  bar attendant, is from Norwich in England. She has been in Sandstone for 12 weeks, with another two to go before heading to Perth. Backpacking by her self around Australia, brave girl. Having a great time though chatting to all us nomads.

Chloe and XXXX behind the bar

The fire at the pub, kept the bar room warm

Allthego’s schnitzle with bacon, hollandaise sauce and a few chips

We have had a fairly quiet time here after a busy of couple of days on the road. Will now be heading towards Mullewa for the wildflowers and the annual Mullewa wild flower and Agricultural shows. Homealone is looking forward to seeing the farm machinery, discussing fertilizers and pest control solutions with product agents.

Until next time.