The Wheatbelt Way

The Wheatbelt Wayers

 Even before we headed north for our winter break we had discussed catching up with family and friends to do the “Wheatbelt Way” which is a self-drive tour of around 500km (more like 800km if you follow Mr. Google like I did) thru the central wheat belt of WA. 

Weird sheep  out here

So, after meeting up with the gang at Dowerin for diner at the local pub (allegedly with the grumpiest publican in WA) we set off - visiting various sites. I must say that day one was a little underwhelming, as whilst I am sure a fresh water well was critical to the early settlers, once you have seen one hole in the ground the rest look similar. The floral reserves where likewise nice, but again, we had been spoilt by the masses of wildflowers further north earlier in the trip. 

nice flowers at Korrelocka Reserve

The free camp at the end of day one was Marshall Rock which is one of many granite outcrops that are common in this area. It’s a nice flat camping area with one of the cleanest long drop toilets I have shat upon. Great night with raging fire, BBQ, drinks, music and good company.

Day two was a little more interesting particularly the Pergande Sheepyards (made of granite slabs), more bloody wells, and a great free camping area at Beringbooding Rock. This is a massive outcrop where, for two years during the great depression of the 1930’s, men toiled to build (with no machinery) the largest rock water catchment in Australia.  It’s a large area where you could easily spend a day or two exploring. We had stopped to cut wood during the day so after a friendly game of Molkky (those bloody cheating women won!) it was fire, BBQ, drinkies, music and pull up the doona to keep warm.

Two shots Ian!

Next morning we headed off to Elachbutting Rock which has a one way road (suitable for caravans) around most of the 100 acres of rock. There are rock tunnels (Monty’s Pass) and wave rock formations via an easy walk and further round a free camping area (dogs not allowed). The northern end of the drive trail was also carpeted in masses of yellow wild flowers. The Rock is well worth a visit if you are in the area. From Elachbutting (where do these names come from?) we bolted across another 80km of dirt road (good on you Mr. Google!) through Muckinbuden (again, where do these names come from?) to our next overnighter at Trayning Caravan Park. What a little gem, clean flat drive-in sites, artificial grass, water, power, playground, pool in summer, camp kitchen and spotless amenities for $22/nigh per van. The local tavern had friendly staff, great food, and cold beer. I won’t mention that I am the undefeated Traying eight ball champion.

Would I recommend the Wheatbelt Way and visiting every site on the map – NO Way. I would however recommend the free camps at the various rocks and the Trayning Caravan Park.

Next day saw us drop into a small free museum at Yelbeni, drive through Wyalkatchem (??) to Pumphreys Bridge free camp. Usually, a quiet area, there was a caravan club and two family groups taking up most of the camping area – but we snuck around the back, encircled a fireplace and held our ground. A different night with fire, BBQ, drinkies, music, and good company. 

In the morning, after 138 nights on the road - Linda, Molly and I finally pulled into our driveway in Collie -  Home!

Rather long video is HERE

Camel Soak

 Having some time to kill before meeting up with family and friends out in the wheatbelt we decided to head further east to a campsite we had never been to before but had good reviews on Wikicamps (my bible for campsites).

Nice camp for 4 nights

Camel Soak is around 45km east from Perenjori and this time of year is a peaceful and colourful camp. The granite catchment, also known as “The Rock Hole” was sunk as a watering point for men and their camel teams working on the No 2 Rabbit Proof Fence from 1903 to 1905.

When we arrived at Camel Soak I off course asked Linda “one hump or two?” – something must have got lost in the translation as all I got was a stern look and a slap around the ears. So much for my genuine interest in the species of camel that frequented the area 😊.

Linda's outdoor dog clipping service

As luck would have it the whole area around the outcrop was carpeted in wildflowers and the outcrop had water in most of the gamma holes which was great for Molly the hound to have a paddle in the mid-day warmth.

There are lots of flat open areas to camp and quiet a few tables and fireplaces scattered across the site, a clean long drop dunny and nice walks thru the bush and up on the outcrop. 

We did search high and low for the fabled wild orchards that are supposed to be in abundance in the area but suspect they had bloomed and gone as we couldn’t locate a single specimen.

A mans not a camel!

We spent 4 nights here – warm days, cool nights with fire, and pleasant walks – it is certainly a place I would recommend in early spring.

Short video is HERE

Mullewa Southern Loop

 On our way south we always seem to drop in for a couple of night at Tenindewa Well free camp just west of Mullewa. It is a great spot with lots of wildflowers, views, level camping spots, and this year more birds than you could poke a stick at. Flies were very friendly during the days necessitating the use of fly veils if your outside, but the upside this year was that there were very few mossies at night and no flies.

Camp at Tenindewa 

This drone shot of our camp site captures the tranquillity of the place. If you look closely at the photo you will note a smudge near the centre of the photos which is actually a bird (Swallow I think) which was dive bombing my drone.

There are two self-drive loops around Mullewa called the Northern Loop and Southern Loop (surprisingly north and south of Mullewa). Last year you may recall we did the Northern Loop so this year it was time to tick the Southern Loop off the bucket list. For those interested in doing these drives a map can be found HERE

I was a little disappointed in the Southern Loop as although there are a lot of sites with signs and information in many cases nothing remains of the actual historical site (so in my video there are quite a lot of photos of signs but not what the sign is describing. It’s a 145km drive around the loop so still worth doing. 

There are a lot of little dance/community halls spread out across the region and these were extremely popular in the days before E-Harmony and Tinder where you had to actually go out to have a chance of meeting someone and then sweep them off their feet at the local Saturday night dance!

I am just old enough to remember sliding around on the dance floor as a kid – they used to put a powder on the floor called “pops” which made it easier to slide.

The wreath flowers near Pindar were pretty spectacular this time and covered over a kilometre of barren roadside. Its always difficult to convey the scale of things in a single photo so this time round - used my drone -  came out pretty good I reckon -  see video below.

HERE is the link to a short video I made 

Horrocks Beach

 After over three months of basking in the warm Pilbara sun, in mid September it was time to head slowly south towards home. 

As we were committed to catching up with family and friends on the 4th October to do some sightseeing out in the wheatbelt (doing the Wheatbelt Way Drive Trail) we had 20 nights to fill in before catching up. 

Horrocks townsite

We decided to spend a week at Horrocks Beach Caravan Park (about 80km north of Geraldton) for no other reason that we had not been there before, and the reviews on-line were good. Horrocks is one of those little seaside settlements that once would have been all beach shacks. Today it is becoming yuppy and although most of the beach shacks still remain, towering above them, are million-dollar retirement homes. 

Nice flowers

The sheltered swimming areas, beautiful clean sandy beaches, and clean and tidy town must be a mecca for holiday makers in summer – but not so in early spring, with a couple days of over 45km southwest winds interspersed with quiet sunny days but the cool nights had us digging out our coats, beanies, and UGG boots.

Long beach walks with the hound became a morning ritual.

obviously - the Pink Lake

We did a day trip via Port Gregory into Kalbarri for lunch taking in the costal scenery on the way – nice day out.

Bowes River sunrise

This was going to be the first week in months where the fishing gear stayed stowed away but I just couldn’t help myself and got up an hour before sunrise to flick some surface lures for bream in the nearby Bowes River – not a sign of a fish but took some good drone photos.

Finally a “thumbs up” for the Caravan Park – nice and clean, good amenities, and some green stuff on the ground – apparently it’s called grass?

Short Video is HERE

Shay Gap Rock Art

Linda's 98cm threadfin

 After 55 days at Pardoo Station of fishing, beer, fishing, fishing, beer, food, wine, fishing, and more fishing we decided to take a day off to visit the Aboriginal Rock Art out towards the deserted Shay Gap townsite. 

After the late autumn rains up in the Pilbara the countryside has that rare green tinge to it and the early flowering of some of the native vegetation hints at a spectacular spring to come.

It’s a 170 kilometre round trip out to the area where the rock art is situated but an easy drive on mostly good condition dirt road.

The original punk rocker

The rock art is surprisingly in good condition and looks as though the local indigenous group return occasionally to touch things up? Looking at my photos and visiting the rock art made me realise how little my generation of Australians know about the culture and lifestyle of the first settlers in Australia. I probably know more about the ancient Egyptians than I do about our Aboriginal culture – a sad fact.

It’s a good half hour walk through the spinifex into the rock outcrop where the art is displayed but well worth the walk.

Railway to nowhere

The rock art site is adjacent to a section of the now abandoned Port Hedland to Shay Gap railway line (closed in 1994) – the Shay Gap townsite prospered for over 20 years and I am told that it was one of best mining towns in Australia to live in at its peak. More information on Shay Gap can be found here - Shay Gap

No drone video this blog as since I had last used my drone my phone had an update and the drone app no longer worked – bugger!

Very short video is - HERE

 

 

 

 

Giralia Station

Entrance to station

 After spending an enjoyable week at Coral Bay we did the long 105km haul to Giralia Station (no blog for Coral Bay this time – but snorkeling, swimming, bakery, pub for dinner, and seafood platters – same as always) . 

Plan was to stay at the Homestead camping area and spend a day checking out the beach sites as possible camping spots in the future.

The Homestead camping area is well set out with heaps of level spaces, a good camp kitchen, laundry, dongers and a cottage and a shearing shed converted to toilets and showers (with a view overlooking the paddock). But there is very little to do around the Homestead so if you were not going to the beach sites two nights would be more than enough for most. There was at least a half dozen campers/vans in the two nights we were there.

Camped up  near shearing shed

It’s almost an 80km round trip from the Homestead if you want to visit all the beach sites and the track suffered some damage during the recent deluges but apart from the usual corrugations wasn’t too bad. The tracks along the beach were sandy in places but easily navigated in 4WD high and 25PSI in the tyres.  There was one washout on the way in that would stop me taking in my caravan as it would drag its bum coming out of the ditch. There were lots of vans down on the creek and beach but most were slightly higher/shorter than my van. 

There are primarily two types of beach sites – one area for 8-10 vans alongside the creek with a reasonable high tide mud ramp, and numerous sites (>20) along the beaches with pretty good access. All were nearly full on the day we visited but several were pulling out as another deluge of 30-40ml of rain was forecast that night/next day.

Old man and hound

The day we visited most tinnies were still anchored up waiting for the tide. We did have a chat to a couple who were packing up who said they caught some good whiting the day before (but hey – fisherman tell stories).

So would I go back to Giralia – probable not - as the Homestead while nice, is limited in things you can do, and the spread out beach sites (which would be spectacular in good weather) are fairly exposed and not as good as other options.

Short video can be found HERE

Coal to Coral - winter 2022

 On a cold and miserable day we left Collie behind for the winter and headed north to our first extend stay at Coral Bay. Its only 1300km to Coral Bay but in our usual fashion we took our time planning six overnight stays before we got to Coral Bay.

Hardly lady like!

Day one saw us travelling inland thru the sheep and wheatbelt areas to a free camp on the Avon River just south of York called Gwambygine Park (Ascent). It’s nice to head this way as you avoid going through the hustle and bustle of Perth and instead meander thru the wheatbelt towns of Williams, Narrogin, Pingelly, Brookton and Beverly. The Gwambygine Park (Avon Ascent) camping area is primarily set up for picnickers but there are a few level spots where a caravan can park up for the night. It’s a pretty campsite area but unfortunately lacking a little maintenance/TLC – and could easily be a great campsite for grey nomads if there were more dedicated caravan size overnight sites. But in saying that I would come here again.

Day two saw us continuing north thru more wheat belt towns like York, Northam, Dalwallinu, Wubin to a great little stopover at the Recreation Center at Latham. Spotless facilities with hot showers, room for a hundred vans, wood delivered most nights and internet faster than the NBN at home – all for a voluntary donation – these little country towns go out of there way to attract the Grey Nomad brigade. Only three vans parked up when we were there so nice and quiet. Its next to a main road but not many trucks during the night – and there are some advantages of getting old and a little deaf.

Just flogged  me at Yahtzee :(

Day three was a fair hike to Galina Bridge – skirting around Geraldton and stopping to top up with water, bread and beer at Northampton. We have stopped at Galena Bridge many times and included this stopover in many blogs so only comment this time round was that it hasn’t changed and is still a popular, well organized and serviced spot. 

As we had friends staying at Gladstone Bay we decided to stay a couple of nights to catch up and check the spot out (we had driven past the turn-off many times but never ventured in) - so nights 4/5 were spent at Gladstone. Gladstone Bay campground is about 70km north of the Shark Bay turn-off and is located on the ocean edge of the eastern gulf of Shark Bay. Lots of waterside level parking spots, flushing toilets, bins, dump point, and primitive showers that are heated by the sun on the pipe that runs from the bore some kilometers away. At $10/night/person it’s probably priced toward the top end of what you would expect to pay up this way. Unfortunately for the shore bound angler there didn’t seem to be much happening in the shallows around the camp area and after a couple hours of flick my favourite whiting popper I gave up. 

After we left Gladstone we stopped at Carnarvon for water, food top up (Coral Bay is rather expensive), fuel and then headed out the 130km north to Minilya River free camp for the last camp before getting into Coral Bay.  Like Galena Bridge we have stayed here many times and included in previous blogs. A sign of the unseasonal heavy rain up north was that when we arrived the river was running hard and fast – we have only ever seen it as a dry riverbed.

Fuel prices have been steadily increasing as we get further north with prices per litre (diesel) around:

$2.00 at Dalwallinu

$2.18 at Carnarvon

$2.28 Minilya, and 

$2.33 at Coral Bay

Not much you can do about it – its hard to tow a 21ft caravan with a push bike.

a short video is HERE