Submitted: Sunday, Apr 27, 2008 at 14:44

Bucky & Lyn came to visit us for a few days this week and we decided to take a day trip to Milmed Rock and the desert country. We had a glorious day for a drive and made our way from Beulah across to Rainbow on the bitumen then out to have a look at the Pella Church.

Pella area was settled by German immigrants in the early 1900's and they built the church, the manse and school building from local stone. It's beautifully looked after and is still used for services by the community. Inside the church there is a wonderful pipe organ which is well worth the time to see.

From Pella it wasn't long before we were entering Wyperfeld and the Milmed Rock Track. The farming land fell away behind us and we were surrounded by native vegetation. It was easy to see that fires had swept through a while ago but the regeneration is going ahead rapidly. The track soon became white sand and we approached the first of many dunes. We let air out of the tyres when we stopped for smoko at Look Out Dune which we climbed to get a birds eye view of the surrounding area. In front of our eyes a sea of trees and dunes stretched for as far as the eye could see. It really is beautiful country out there.

We crossed some clay pans that could prove treacherous during the wet and commented on the various areas where camping was possible. Bucky had taken over the driving after smoko and was enjoying driving through the sand. It brought back memories of the Simpson trip. The Prado was handling everything with ease and before long we came upon the highlight of the trip. Milmed Rock.

We warned Bucky & Lyn to be prepared for a strenuous climb but nothing really prepares you for the size and magnificence of Milmed Rock. Not to be daunted, we donned the climbing gear and set off. Before long we'd reached the summit and had the photos taken as proof.

At Pigeon Ponds we stopped for a late lunch and soon we reached the Murrayville Track and our drive through the desert was over. At Murrayville we did a little drive around town then went on to Underbool for an icecream, detoured out to the Pink Lakes at Linga before making our way to Walpeup then to Patchewollock, Hopetoun and home to Beulah.

It was a really enjoyable day, great company, good tracks and great weather. It doesn't get much better than that.

Viv

Tags: Places/Destinations
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