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September 2019
01 September 2019
A very peaceful night and the milky way overhead was enjoyed, but no fog over the pool as I had hoped. We awoke to another clear day but then the wind got up early and made life interesting, and later on the clouds started to roll in.
Quite a few vehicles, campertrailers and caravans came in during the day, including a troopy with a man and three women in it, and who promptly went down to the creek, stripped naked and went for a swim! Makes me wonder what they would have done if I had been down there with the camera :-)
Others came and went and it looked like we were going to be the only ones here until a campertrailer found the other track and ended up camping down in the dry creekbed with a million dollar water view. They were then joined by another campertrailer of the same make.
With some clouds in the sky, Sunset was looking rather good for a photo, so it was time to go down into the creek to see what would present, but nothing, not even my photo's can explain how beautiful the light was.
Golden Hour was just spectacular, even if the sunset ended up a fizzer.
02 September 2019
Time to leave this beautiful oasis and so with a beautiful light over our view we began to pack up and head out, but not without one last chance to get a photo.
Beautiful light across our view this morning made leaving a little hard.
Heading out onto the road it was not long before we descended down the steep grade and crossed the almost dry Wooramel River, or one part of it. Coming up the other side we passed and then turned around to come back and to follow a track into the bush for a kilometre or two, eventually coming to a flat area that would be good for camping and where two arms of the River met.
The Junction of the two arms of the Wooramel River.
Back out on the road we were enjoying the wide, smooth gravel road that had obviously been graded not too long ago. Of course the good road didn't remain that way for long but it was certainly better than most.
We were travelling along the Wool Wagon Pathway, a route that was once used by the drovers to move sheep from the stations down to Mullewa. Stopping at Well 19 for a look we found a refurbished well, complete sawn off tree's wired together to make a fence, a metal cover, windlass and metal bucket to wind down into the water, which we did to put some water in the trough for the finches.
Lifting the first bucket brought not only water, but a dead Goanna! The poor thing must have fallen in while getting a drink, and it was quite a fall. The information on the well tells that it is 10m deep and used to produce 125 gallons (550 litres) per hour and was reputed to hold 4,500 gallons (20,000 litres) when full.
Well 19.
Leaving the Finches to enjoy their drink we made our way to the Murchison Settlement, passing along the way a spot where in 1992 a thunderstorm flattened an area of 15 square kilometres of bush with 60mm sized hailstones, piled up 15cm deep.
We arrived at Murchison and after filling up with fuel checked into the caravan park. For $25 you get BBQ's, power, toilets and showers. The sprinklers are on to keep the grass green from one of many taps, but the water is not for drinking. Being first in we picked a good site and settled in for the rest of the day while others started to come in.
Our track can be found here.
03 September 2019
After a peaceful evening and night in the small Murchison Settlement we unexpectedly awoke this morning to rain on the roof. Packing up and heading out we were the first of the five of us who were in last night, though the couple in the tent were up early.
Heading out we were enjoying the bitumen, though our speed and tyres were down because we still had some gravel to do. Passing through with rain still on the roof we could see clear sky ahead and by the time we had come to the Ballinyoo Bridge across the Murchison river we were in sunshine again.
We stopped to view the old bridge span that has been left as a nod to the past and history of the old bridge before checking out the riverbank camping spots on the North East side of the bridge. The river was hardly flowing at the bridge and had a green tinge to it where the camping spots were. The flies were unbelievable so we didn't even get out of the car!
Heading off we drove across the new, single lane bridge and went on our way, wondering why they didn't build a double lane bridge when they built the new one. Eventually arriving at the gravel we traveled around 70 kilometres before we hit the tar again, but not before the odometer on the ute clicked over 100,000 adventurous and sometimes hard won, kilometres. Crossing the dry Greenough River we found a spot on the gravel and set up camp overlooking the riverbed.
It's been a great 100,000 and we look forward to many more.
The dry river bed was not worth getting any photo's of, but the dead skeletal like trees that were near our camp made for interesting viewing, and so became the subject of today's photography.
Our track can be found here.
04 September 2019
Like the other nights we have had at the Greenough River camp we enjoyed another peaceful one, but we awoke to a cool single digit temperature which was a little bit of a shock.
Making our way into Mullewa we stopped long enough to post a letter and to get a loaf of bread before heading out again. This time we were headed for Canna, the location of which was once a small town. Now just a few buildings, a wheat bin and a nice donation camp, where for a donation, you can get power, toilets and a shower.
Arriving in time to grab the second last spot we parked up, plugged and settled in. Being wild flower season there was a couple of rigs already here and a number came in after we had arrived as well. Of course having had a few days off the grid we were hoping to catch up on a few things Internet, but the phone system was slower than a carrier pigeon, so that made updating devices and uploading things (like this web page) a little hard, and most of it will have to wait until we get to another location.
Our track can be found here.
06 September 2019
After our crowded, but peaceful night we took a trip into Morawa for some decent Internet to get some things done and then made our way back out to Canna, where we set up camp at an old camp. Mack's Camp in fact. Mack was a returned soldier who took up some land near Canna and lived a peaceful solitary life in a shack that he built.
Mack
Mack's Hut today.
08 September 2019
Leaving Mack's camp this morning after a couple of days there with friends Kim, Carolyn, Dawn and Neville they went one way and we the other. We were off looking for wreath flowers and intended to go to Three Springs for a camp, but ended up going to the free camp in the small, almost dead town of Perenjori instead. Not sure how that happened but I think the Navigator changed her mind along the way.
Our track can be found here.
09 September 2019
Three other campers and us enjoyed a quiet night in Perenjori, so quiet in fact you could be mistaken for not being in a town at all. Leaving town we took some roads to go and view Wreath Flowers and then a back road to Carnamah where we took up a nice spot in the caravan park. WHy go there and to the caravan park? Well, Joanne wanted to get a heap of washing done and as the park has free washing machines, we got two tasks done cheaper. At $28 a night for a powered site the cost became $16 a night after three loads of washing (normally around $4 a load), so that made good sense to us.
Our track can be found here.
10 September 2019
The caravan park was pretty full last night and once again, it was a very quiet night in town. We left this morning and were on the Wreath Flower and Orchid Hunt. We found some but they weren't very good. Arriving in Coorow we took a slight detour around the Community Farm on a single lane, one way track that skirted the crop being grown. Most of the track was okay but a few tight spots had us right on the crop line and the tree branches at the same time. Out of the paddock we were on a small, equally narrow gravel road stopping at the pink markers to look for orchids. I say look for because they were either so small, or spent that they were not easy to find.
Back on the bitumen we made our way on to Latham and took up a spot at the donation camp at the old recreation oval.
Our track can be found here.
18 September 2019
Eight days have passed since we left Carnamah, and we have made our way to Perth to visit friends and family, but between Carnamah and Perth we had a few days of travel to enjoy.
After some more orchid and wreath flower hunting we arrived in the small wheatbelt town of Latham where they have a nice donation camp with hot showers. Waking to a foggy morning it was time to try some fog photography, and adding some tree's to that made it interesting.
Crops growing under a blanket of early morning fog.
Wandering around in the foggy bush looking for tree's with character found me this one.
And this one not long before the fog lifted.
Moving on again we stopped at Lake Ninan and had the whole place to ourselves.
Our track can be found here.
The last time we were there the lake was almost empty and so when we arrived and found it almost full it was a total change. Clouds filled the sky and we were hoping for a ripper of a sunset with the last of the sun lighting up the sky, but, mother nature had other ideas and by the time it was sunset, almost all of the cloud had disappeared.
The clouds departed mid afternoon, but the lake was still terrific.
Of course sunset was still worth capturing.
Where did all of the dramatic sunset cloud go?
Reflections along the sandbar.
Of course looking behind the sunset often provides another great composition.
Of course once the sun went down the mozzies came out to play, and they were not only hungry, but very, very big! Thankfully they couldn't get inside and we spent a peaceful night by the lake.
Heading off the next day we made our way to the old school site at Wannamal where we spent the rest of the day and night with quite a number of others.
Our track can be found here.
The next day we made our way into Perth and on to visit family.
27 September 2019
UPDATE:
For those following our blog we are still with family and friends and are now taking small trips with some of them. We will post anything of significance as it occurs, along with any photography that also happens.
Mark Twain once said "...years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do that by the things you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - and so we will.
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