Hi all,
I went for a drive to get out of
Perth for a couple of days. Most of my time was spent driving so could only visit a few
places. I traveled lightly with only my swag, spare wheel, jack, plank, shovel, jerry of water and my tool box in the back and the rest chucked on the passenger side. I went up the track to the east of
Lake Moore.
Merion
Rock was just off the
Paynes Find Sanstone Road up a track a few kilometres. It was a nice outcrop with many many goats hanging around and an emu too.
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It felt like it was 40 degrees on Tuesday - I couldn't decide whether to have the air con on with the windows down or up???
I wanted to visit Poison Rocks (Austin, 1854) but access was a challenge. There was an old over grown track coming from roughly south (is on natmaps) however I did not have enough time. Did not visit.
Austin's horse Hastey was in a poor state when he was shot dead. Austin called the Place Horse
Camp, however on the maps, there is Hasteys Grave. So went and tried to go in. I had to drive parallel to a
vermin proof fence for a few ks before going off-road for about 1500 metres. I came to an outcrop, there was dry rockpools, and a
rockhole, also dry. Also a small
rockhole covered partially by a
rock.
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At Hasteys Grave, I did not find a grave. I didn't find anything actually except a few outcrops, with some rockpools. The country there was a mixture of sand/mulga and boulders/outcrops.
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I went to
Mount Magnet (also Austin) and got some fuel and a whole chook :)
Drove on back to Younami, then took the
Diemals Road, which headed around the western side of Lake Barlee. I had never been on this road before. Most of it was recently graded. It had to be above 35 degrees. Approaching the far western arm of the lake I was tempted to go in and have a look at
Retreat Rock but continued on. The road went straight over the arm of the lake and I'm glad there was no rain.
Nearing
Diemals I stopped at a truck parked in the middle of the road and an old guy got out. I thought, "Oh here we go". He was the owner and he was looking for someone who nicked something and headed in my direction. No one had passed me that meant the person he was looking for was still on the property.
I've forgotten his name but I have never seen before such a fit old farmer, who covered in grease looked like he was at the tail end of a hard day. He must have been 80.
Now I head up the
Mount Elvire Peninsular and stopped at the old
homestead.
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I wanted to get to the tip of the peninsular. I followed a track to the northeast. The where hills and the ground became rocky. I followed old tracks around the tip but the track never had sight of the lake at all.
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I followed the track right around and it came to an end. I had to go back the way I came. I stopped at a point close to the sandridge at the tip and started to walk to the north to reach the lake. This was the scene at the top of the dune... I felt like Burke and Willls, never actually reaching the destination :) (sshh,
well no Victorians will be reading this thread surely).
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A bit disappointed I headed back to some hills near the north east. I climbed the 3rd or 4th one. I felt a bit like
Forrest standing and observing all the high points.
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I left the
hill and then drove down a track which I presumed to lead to
Mount Elvire which I could see in the distance. I drove this track in but turned back as I was truly unaware of my vehicles maximum tilt angle and didn't want to take any chances. I walked for a while but the heat got me, and I could see the cairn on top easily.
Then I headed south to
Southern Cross for another feed and zig zagged across the wheatbelt north of the highway until I got
home. I had hoped to do this trip in 48 hours, but I was late at 51. No punctures :)
Cheers
Alan