We have been out and about , up to Northam , out to Kellerberrin , up Kokebin Rock and criss crossing around the countryside .
Northam is probably known best as the starting point for the Avon Descent - a white water race over 2 days , from Northam to Perth , for small 2man boats and kayaks . There is also Australia's longest pedestrian suspension bridge , and the white swans that reside here .
Also well known are the wheat silos on the north west end of town - they have been painted , but not your average paintings .
There are 12 silos of which the 4 on each end have been painted . There is some heritage aspect in the ballooning paintings , as Northam has dabbled in hot air ballooning for quite some time .
There are many heritage buildings & homes in Northam , the main street even has their rubbish bins covered with heritage photos of the shops they are beside giving you an idea of what the town looked like back in the day .
We made our way back to White Gum Farm via another road to York on the western side of the Avon River . There was quite a stunning sunset that afternoon - it lead to a rather large storm , dumping 25mm of rain - quite a lot more fell to the east of us and also in York .
The next day we had a quiet time , cleaning and fiddling around with various things . We have met some wonderful new friends Angela and Franz - previously German citizens , now Australians , who are touring like us , Rick and Marcia - from the Sunshine Coast in Queensland , who are also continuing their extensive travels around Aus , and Steve and Tracey who live in the northern suburbs of Perth , who were here for a long weekend .
Australia Day arrived and we had some damper & tea mid morning - thanks Marcia for the damper !
We sat and chatted for some time with Garry ( the owner of White Gums ) , Garth ( park Manager ??)
Angela & Franz , and Rick & Marcia ( Marcia took the photo ).
The afternoon was taken up with a walk up through the bush , a different way to our walk the other day , then some beers & conversation to cap the day off .
Pack up moving day again , we were only spending 3 days here - that turned into 7 !!! , it's a really good place to relax - nice and quiet !! Rick and Marcia also moved on - to the same place we were going . We said our goodbyes to Angela & Franz - we really enjoyed your company - thanks !!!
Our next stop was a place called Kwolyin - an interesting place - no houses - they're all gone - now there is a free camp there , complete with toilet block and a camp kitchen with stainless steel benches & sink all under cover !!! as well as a gas cooktop !! , there were also gas bbqs , tables & chairs - some covered , with a section for campers and another for caravaners . The town disappeared in the 1950's . The farmers decided they didn't want to pay for water - they had enough to survive and could get by without it . The town had a hotel with no water , down the road in Shackleton (7klms away) they had shops & people & water , but no hotel so Kwolyin survived for a while until the pub burnt to the ground . The town soon shut down , all the houses were removed , now there are plaques telling the story placed all around the camp area .
That afternoon we headed out to Kokerbin Rock - reputably the 3rd largest monolith in Australia behind Ayers Rock and Mt Augustus ( also In WA ). It is a large granite outcrop about 10 klms away from us .
After walking around the base of the rock ( or half way and back ) , looking at various features and the different colours of the rock , we found an historic well . It was certainly a great piece of work , with excellent stonework . It was about 4m wide and about 10m deep , and the inside walls were lined in rock as well !!
From here we went along the Granite Way - a tourist drive that took us around Mt Stirling , and Mt Caroline , crossing through many wheat & canola fields and a large catchment/wetland area .
The road meandered along the side of the watercourse , and through a large area of Salmon Gums . These trees look like they've been out in the sun too long and have been sunburnt - the bark is anything from very light orange to a deep burnt red colour - beautiful trees with long branches and a top canopy of leaves .
28/1/16 rolled around - my birthday !! we headed off for a drive to Bruce Rock , another small farming town about 40 klms away . First stop was Shackleton 7 klms away , another small farming town/village - it's claim to fame is Australia's smallest bank - and it still operates - 3 to 4:30 pm every Friday !!!
There's also a grain silo and handling facility , a workers club , butcher shop , general store and a sculptor who creates sculptures out of old farming machinery .
On to Bruce Rock where there is also another granite rock - hence the name Bruce Rock - we found it and climbed it - took us about 2 and a half minutes - it wasn't terribly large !!
Next part of the drive was to Doodlkine - a small village on the Great Eastern Hwy . The road took us past Lake Baandee - a salt lake , depending on the water levels , apparently you can water ski there. It was a great colour .
We didn't bother to stop and continued west to Kellerberrin - a larger town with some art deco buildings .
We found the town lookout , with views over vast wheat fields into the distance . The golf course was below the lookout - sand greens and dead fairways . They also have a horse cross country course that runs beside the golf course - hopefully the players are reasonably accurate with their golf shots !!
We had some lunch , before finding our way back to Shackleton . The road took us through more wheat country and along a great section of road lined with salmon gums for klms .
After getting back to the RV , we sat down chatting to Rick & Marcia for a while before we decided to go out for tea at the Workers Club at Shackleton . This was going to be interesting , either good , or possibly bad . The club is your typical country town bowling , cricket , hockey , fishing and AFL club , with quite a proud heritage and many trophies in the cabinet !!
The meals came out and we were all happy , steaks were good , the fish was good , everything was good & prices also were good $25 a steak and $19 for the fish . The locals were friendly and we had a good night .
Moving day again , Rick & Marcia were off in another direction , we were headed to Narembeen - getting closer to Wave Rock .
Before heading off , we headed back to Kokerbin Rock to climb the rock in the cool of the day - it was way too hot the other day . Today though was excellent , apart from the gale force wind that wanted to blow us off the top of the rock . We were up the top in a flash , took in the views and some photos and headed back down again in about 45mins !! The top is 132m above the surrounding fields and the walk is about 1 klm up . There were various moss gardens , and would be good to see in wildflower season .
We found a lizard or 2 on the way down - interesting camouflage !!
Back for breakfast and pack up , the skies were interesting !!
As we hitched up , I noticed the rear passenger side tyre was a bit flat - there has been something in it for a few weeks , but I've let it develop further before getting it fixed - guess the day has arrived . Lyn pumped it up and we continued on to Narembeen - it was only a slow leak !! There is a tyre dealer in town , so we got it repaired - they gave us plenty of advise with what to see and do . One guy also knew where Wingello is - he flew his plane around there water bombing the fires there , and also the Canberra fires as well .
That's it for today , we will try to keep up a bit more regularly , as the memory isn't really good after a few days - you tend to forget stuff !!
Here's a map link :-https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=z1G8gwwxwyYo.kFnZ6PkfJRxs&usp=sharing
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