The rain was coming in showers , sometimes heavier than others , definitely not required by us , but the farmers are happy .
The Great Northern Highway goes through Bindoon , we meet this road again just north of town and continue north . It was nice to get back onto a wide road with a metre wide centre line section - it still has the white lines - solid or broken as appropriate - but it gives you some breathing space between yourself and the oncoming traffic - especially nice when its a triple or quadruple road train !!
As it turned out we didn't have a lot of traffic on our drive today . We pulled into New Norcia and parked at the top of the carpark at the visitor centre & museum at 10:45 , and wandered into the centre , and as luck would have it , a tour was leaving at 11am , so we took it .
The first thing that takes your attention , are the the buildings , grand 2 & 3 storey buildings stretch out in front of you no matter which direction you face . The first one we took notice of was the hotel - not your average hotel either . They sell Abbey Ale - a small glass is all you need - it's 14 % alcohol
and has a kick like a mule !!
Beside the hotel and the convent is a patch of lawn that leads to the forest at the back , quite nice setting - it's part of the one million acres they were given - a bit smaller now , as they've given sections away - it's still a very large piece of real estate . They grow their own wheat & canola , honey , wine & ale . They also run sheep , have the museum & shop , run tours and also the hotel . They also have school groups & anyone else that wants to hire the dormitories out - for biblical reasons of course !!
The main entry to St Gertrudes College was lined with huge palms .
The Benedictine Monks found a clay bank that they used for brick making whilst building this town. Shame the salt content of the bricks was so high and they didn't fire them for long enough - now they are decaying rapidly as can be seen in this brick wall . They have done a lot of restoration work on the other side of the wall to save the walls - ongoing maintenance is going to be fairly high !!!
It seems a little strange that you have all these buildings , some of which are built right beside the highway , with road trains & trucks rumbling past . The Convent building is one of these . Fortunately there are plans for a town bypass .
There were mission houses utilised for housing for aboriginals , most of which have now fallen apart - only one remains now .
The monastery itself is a private residence for the monks and we couldn't access it - we got to look in the gate to the courtyard .
Across the road is the Abbey Church , still used for Sunday Services . It has a clock tower with 4 bells below it . It is an odd shaped building and seemed to be like a cross inside .
On the walls are murals done in the plaster - not you average murals - these have been carved into the plaster - but there are 3 distinct layers of coloured plaster , and as you carve one layer off , you reveal the colour of the next layer . It is an Italian artistic method , and we can't remember what it's called , but here is one of them .
The ceilings are pressed metal , individually made and painted here .
The body of Dom Salvado lies in the church in an Italian Marble tomb . He was the founder of this town & monastery .
Another of the buildings is St Ildephonsus College .
Next we wandering across the highway to the flour mill , an interesting building - 3 levels - one for grain storage , one for the grinding , and one for the engine room . The 3 engines that were in use at various stages are still in place . The flour mill was still used up into the 1970's , and bread is still baked on the premises , and only sold here .
We walked back around to St Ildephonsus College and were taken into the chapel . It too has murals and a curved ceiling of pressed metal tiles . This college was for boys , and has dormitories either side of the chapel , and a courtyard .
We then headed up to St Gertrudes - another college , this one for girls , again similar to the boys , with dormitories either side of the chapel .
That ended our tour , it was now 1:15pm , so we had lunch before getting back on the highway to continue our journey to the warmth of the central west .
We drove up to Moora and decided to continue on to Coorow . It was 3:30 when we arrived , so decided to call it quits for today . There is a little council run caravan park in town for $25 for a powered site - it works on an honesty system - you put your money in an envelope and into a secure box in the laundry building , which we duly did .
Well , that's your lot for today , here's a map link :-https://drive.google.com/open?id=19xV2ly6n1lHfgFOqWoih1QM61yA&usp=sharing
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