11/11 Lake Ninan

 

    Leaving Baladjie this morning we head west again , fortunately the wind is blowing from the east again so we have a tailwind again . We would have been staying put if going east , the wind was very strong - too strong to drive into . 

   This is all wheat country and the fields go on and on and on . They stretch from one horizon to the other , not all are being used for wheat , some are being rested this year but will be used again next season . The road isn't excessively wide , so it was really pleasant that we didn't get much traffic at all . 

    The road took us through some great towns - Boodarockin , Warralakin , Mukinbudin , Barbalin ,Welbungin and Bencubbin before Koorda and Cadoux , before we knew it we were at Wongan Hills and a little further out of town to Lake Ninan , yeap another salt lake !!

   This one has an enormous amount of driftwood / tree stumps on it's edges near the camp area - here's just a few of them .

    There are twisted and tortured , weathered bits of tree .

     They've mostly been killed by the rising salinity of the ground .

     A stark reminder of what can happen if too much land is cleared for agriculture .

     The lake provided us with the perfect backdrop for sunset .

    Tomorrow will see us heading back into Perth and lots of people - not sure we're ready for that yet , but we'll just have to be !! Her's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1GbtDTTwPJOAyYMCS0b2R3382e_Bn3kk&usp=sharing

10/11 Baladjie Lake & Rock

 

     Leaving Lake Koorkoordine , we headed northwest for about 20klms to Bullfinch , a very small town , before starting our cruise west . About 20klms further , there was a turnoff to Baladjie Rock and Baladjie Lake , so we headed in for a look - that turned into another night . Arriving at the rock , we drove around a bit further and found an area that opened up , with plenty of spots to set up on - easily fit 30 or 40 vans here !! There was plenty of Mulla Mulla which was highlighted by the tiny yellow Everlasting Daisies .

    After lunch it was time to go for a walk up to the top of the rock , some 30 - 50m above us . Views from up on the rock are extensive 360 degrees , showing more of the salt lake system and surrounding wheat fields . I spotted some red tailed black cockatoo's in a gum tree a few hundred metres away .

     Various animals must cross backwards & forwards across the lake judging by the tracks .

    On the northwestern side of the rock , there's a curved bowl with it's own tiny forest . Rain flowing off the rock here would be spectacular to witness .

    There's another granite rock a kilometre or so away in a wheat field . If you can zoom in on the left side of that rock , in the wheat field you may be able to make out some emu's - there's about 30 of them !! about equal numbers of adult birds and young ones .

    Here's an aerial view of Baladjie Rock , it is quite large .

    And looking in the opposite direction is Baladjie Lake , you can spot our campsite there as well .

    The lake is piercingly white , it hurts your eyes .

    After an enjoyable climb and wander around the rock , that was it for the afternoon . 

Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=14z7zv8jxBQs9g7PCk6GpzReITOWJOE4&usp=sharing

9/11 Lake Koorkoordine

 

      Hitched up , we headed west along the highway to Southern Cross , with the intention of stopping there for a night or two . There's a great free camp beside a salt lake and the golf course , it's about 10klms out of town to the north . Arriving before lunch , we checked out the track in , a little tight and twisty but nothing we haven't seen before . We found a spot and set up , no-one was there , we had it to ourselves . Here's the view we have from the van .

    After lunch it was time for a walk down to and along the edge of Lake Koorkoordine . After the sand & rock came the crunchy salt , it cracked and crunched as we walked . Deciding to test it out , we headed out onto the lake and kept going until we thought we'd gone far enough . The salt was moist and it was like being at the beach with all the balls of sand being brought to the surface by the crabs . The surface was covered in similar balls of salt - but no crabs here . It was wet salt as well and stuck to your shoes / thongs getting heavier and heavier as we walked . Back to the side and a clean up of the soles of shoes .

    Further along the lake edge was an inlet section , where water could flow in when enough rain fell . The salt there was busy growing and cracking , forming ridges and ripples in the surface .

    Sunset was upon us , turning the skies & lake into many different colours .

    Next morning the wind had dropped , so it was time to get some air . This is the golf clubhouse and a few of it's holes - yes it's a tad dry at the moment , the greens / browns are oiled sand .

   Here's part of the lake and where we parked . The railway from Perth to Kalgoorlie goes along the far side of the lake .

    

    Time to hit the road again , we had excellent winds for travelling west , so took advantage . Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1tyaODvifz4KA97luD1gbUUON9fhlCXI&usp=sharing

6/11 Kambalda & Coolgardie

 

    From Dundas we went to Kambalda West , to the free camp beside the sports complex , swimming pool & skate park . It's somewhere we've driven through before but never stopped . After setting up and having lunch , we drove over to Kambalda East for a look at the lake and township . It seems to be miners & their  families that live here . We drove up to the lookout to check out the lake and the mines . There are mines on the lake ,  gold and nickel mines . They're a bit hard to see , but in the middle of the photo there's a lot of workings , and digging going on . There's also more mines in the distance as well . There's a road system and power lines going across there lake , but the general public can't go there .

   Here's some of the man made islands in the lake , you can see the roadway and powerlines here .

     This lake disappears into the distance , just for scale , there's 2 trucks down on the lake surface just above the trees .

    After driving around town , we headed back to the van so we could go for a swim at the pool - bonus , it was free entry to everyone , thanks Coolgardie Shire Council. It got up to 39degrees today !!

    After a hot night , we packed up again and headed to Coolgardie again , setting up at free camp again , before heading off to do some more detecting . Trying some different spots , we found these tiny everlasting daisies 

     Weather forecasts weren't looking too great for the goldfields , so we made the decision to head back toward Perth , and call an end to our gold detecting season .

   Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1NRt_911jDTzvvcjUMRBlkylURs7fbtA&usp=sharing

4/11 Lake Dundas

 

    Leaving Esperance , we headed north again back toward Norseman to a spot we looked at on the way down to Esperance - another gold rush town that doesn't exist any more - Dundas . It's located close to Lake Dundas , another salt lake . There was a pending lease for us to have a detect on , seems it may have been a shooting range at one stage judging by these bullets we found - I believe they are 44 magnum bullets from a pistol . If we'd found one piece of gold the weight of one of these bullets we'd be very happy , they were heavy .

   Here's an aerial view of the lake and our campsite . This was looking east .

This shot is looking north toward the goldmine which was only a kilometre away .

    Still love the colours around salt lakes .

     We had a couple of detects but didn't find anything of value , so we packed up and headed off as it was also getting hotter . Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1PFgJhgj9YYArX-B36n9A0Vdq_gHYsAw&usp=sharing

29/10 Esperance

    After a few days at Coolgardie that didn't get us any gold , we headed down the highway toward Esperance . We stopped for an overnighter at Bromus Dam , where there's room for lots of vans - we had about 6 overnight . 

  From there we headed to Esperance to meet Frank & Margaret from Peterborough in SA - they have the same van as ours , and we hadn't seen them since last year , it was good to catch up again . It was a bit strange seeing both vans together , even stranger looking out from ours to see the other beside us . 

    We went out for lunch to Lucky Bay Brewing , they have a great cafe and the beer was great as well , with about 12 types on offer .

    The next evening we had a meal at the Pier Hotel , which was also great . Frank & Margaret headed off back to South Australia the next day , a great few days spent with them .

On the side of the Esperance Yacht Club is a long mural , depicting a lot of the activities that are undertaken in Esperance , yachting of course , fishing & cargo ships taking wheat & iron ore .

     See we do still exist , here's some proof haha .

    Esperance has the most magnificent coast line , this is Blue Haven .

    The local cruise boat / cray boat came and anchored here for morning tea .

    There were some flowers about , this one being most prolific at the moment .

   On the west side of Blue Haven is Salmon Beach , and is linked by a bike / walking track from town. Some view when you're going downhill , there was a chair a little further down where we took in the view for a while .

    Here's Blue Haven from above .

Another shot of Blue Haven and Salmon Beach

     This view is toward Observation Point and is taken from the side of the road .

    There's a great view of the coast from Rotary Lookout , it's on top of a huge lump of granite rock , that is the backdrop to the port operations . We managed to find this pink orchid there .

    A couple of drone shots give you some idea of the size of this rock , there's also walking tracks around the top , one also that gives access to the beach in a private cove just past where the rock jutts into the ocean to the right .

   Here's the view of town and West Beach .

And here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1sZLo0BOvXFD16qCRRTDqOVIjse0G6f4&usp=sharing

 

6/10/23 Kalgoorlie

 

     Leaving Goongarrie , we head to Kalgoorlie . Time to replenish supplies , get a new convection microwave - our old one was working fine , but one day back in the bush , the door suddenly opened and fell apart !! It has been used non stop for the last 9 years , the door surround is / was connected via screws into the plastic ?? frame . Where the screws screwed into just broke away due to old age / heat damage . It wouldn't have been so bad except the control panel was also in the door , so duct tape wasn't going to help , it was a new door or new oven , the 2nd option was probably cheaper !! 

   We purchased what we thought would be okay and what was recommended to us - an air fryer , that roasts , grills & reheats just as well as a microwave does . We took it home and washed the racks and preheated the oven to clean the coatings off the elements . The bench was very hot , the cooktop was also very hot , so we had a look in the manual and it stated this appliance was to be used on bench top not in built . We rang Hardly Normal and took it back , coming home with a convection microwave that suited , they swapped it without argument and gave us a good deal on the replacement .

   Another day we headed out east of town to a locality named Bulong to do some detecting and maybe take the van out there . That would be a No for the van , and the detecting was a bit average where we went as well .

   As we headed out , we had to go past the growing spoil mountain that we called Mount Superpit . It's all the soil, rock etc from the superpit and it's only going to get higher as the superpit is being extended to the south , giving it another 11 years life . Here it is .  

   This is one of the old miners huts not far from the mine head .

   It was good to see big trees again in with the red soil and saltbush .

   The track into the pending leases we went to was challenging in spots , this was a creek crossing over a rock shelf .

  Here's Mount Superpit again from about 15 kms away .

    More spare time saw us head out to Red Lake , it's more orange , but would go red when wet .

    There's a lot of salt lakes in WA and the locals like to go out and drive / hoon around on them .

    Another day , another drive around the goldfields , this time north of Kalgoorlie to the locality of Broad Arrow - consisting of the tavern and 2 houses . The tavern is popular judging by all the autographs left on the walls , doors , tables etc .

    They're not allowed to let people sign the walls any more , now you buy a tag or 2 and put your names on the tag , attach a magnet and throw it at the ceiling or outside roof . Of course you have to pay for the privilege , which doesn't seem to worry people , looking at how many were outside .

    Further west from Broad Arrow is Ora Banda , another gold rush town that's still clutching at staying alive . The Hotel burned down , there is a caravan park behind it , and maybe 10 houses . The hotel probably won't reopen .

    Further to the west is Rowles Lagoon , a popular destination for bird watchers apparently - but only when there's some water . There wasn't any water in it this day though . 

    An interesting view of the dried up mud also revealed dead yabbies , so would be interesting to see it with water .

    There was an interesting addition to the lagoon - this old steam boiler - looks like it came form an old steam train locomotive , but there aren't any rail tracks out this way !!

   On our trip back to Coolgardie we passed through another ghost town , with the remains of Kunanalling Tavern still standing . 

   We caught up with friends Gary & Linda , who stopped with us for a couple of nights , on their way back to Queensland . It was good to catch up with them , it always is !!

   Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1o9pwlNVMOInzyJWGBCDjPCW6220_a6s&usp=sharing