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The night before we left Sandstone there was an amazing sunset. Hence the first photograph.
We mentioned in the last blog that we bought some fresh lettuce from William a Chinese man who grows vegetables in Sandstone. When Chris opened the bag she was gobsmacked. There were about 8 different varieties of lettuce and salad vegetables (red, cos, butter, iceberg lettuce, spinach, rocket, bok choy and an unknown chinese leaf) they were so fresh they were amazing. We had GMan’s home made burgers and the most wonderful salad for dinner.
We left Sandstone still sulking about Port losing to the Crows and stopped at the Windsor overnight stay just 74 kms west. Supposedly overnight, well it ended up two of course. When Chris was wandering about chasing an elusive bird she saw a Desert Sky Warrior sail past. That is unusual as there are so very few Desert Sky vans on the road and we have seen two this trip one north of Port Augusta and now one near Sandstone, perhaps it was the same one.
Since leaving Wiluna Chris has been commenting on and watching a very different green shrub and each time we have stopped they
have been checked out. This is a shrub which seems to grow to about 6 feet. It has the same form as a Shasta Daisy, you know a round compact bush and as it gets
older the branches die from the bottom up and become very untidy. At the Windsor stop there were between 40 – 50 of these dotted about in the 500 metres surrounding our parking area. Then all of a sudden Chris found one in bloom and them a second one. Only the two blooming so far. The leaves are very tough and hard to feel with serrated edges and the blooms are about as thick as your little finer and an inch and a half long. I am sure Alan will know. Photo 3 I think.
We left on Wednesday morning and had to manoeuvre ourselves around come idiot who had parked his enormous Supreme caravan across the two best exit roads from the campsites. Hopefully we woke them up as we drove past. Tonkered down the road a while and then the big STOP yell went up. We came across the first lot of white everlastings. When we got out
a looked closely they had not yet opened properly but they will be incredible in two weeks.
The wildflower season does not officially commence for another three weeks.
There was also a grevillea in bloom at the same site, the whole tree was covered in blossom and was a magnificent sight.
We got into Mt Magnet and headed straight for the information centre. There we discovered that our early relatives from the Krakouer side are mentioned in the Mt Magnet history book. With all GMan and my investigations on them we thought that the original Krakouer (Theodore) was German or Polish, but
according to the Mt Magnet history book he was a Russian Jew. There is a photograph of his son, also Theordore as part of the Fire Brigade in 1909.
Theodore’s son Leonard married a Vi Perham, Dad’s sister I believe and he was apparently still living our near the mine he worked up until his death despite all the noise and dust from close mining operations. We did not explore anymore as we decided to do it when we came back up the main highway after visiting Yalgoo and Paynes Find.
We did however
go to the Mt Magnet Butcher, his meat is excellent, and whilst there we got talking and when he discovered the connection to Leonard he showed me a photograph on his wall of a car which Leonard told him he had purchased at the age of 14 for 2/6 p from some fellow and he knew it was his because he broke the headlight which was damaged in the photo. GMan thinks it was an Austen Ruby.
We stayed overnight in the Mt Magnet Caravan Park because it was too late to try and find somewhere to free camp and there are no official sites on the road according to Camps 7.
Early next morning we headed off to Yalgoo and were glad we did not try and free camp along that road. A good tar road all the way but it had fences very close to the road and the truck parks were meagre. Once in Yalgoo we headed out to their main attraction Joker’s Tunnel about 10 kms from town. Half way up the hill when we turned to look back we saw a lake in the distance. We checked 4 different maps when we got
back to the van and not one of
them named it, so it is now Lake Dunno. We need some more words which mean unnamed, all suggestions considered.
Jokers Tunnel is an actual gold mine tunnel which went from one side of a hill to the other and you can see the other end. It is in very good condition, however just before you enter the tunnel it says “beware of snakes”. Anyone who knows Chris well knows that she has a major phobia of snakes which dates back to her childhood. We got about 20 feet into the tunnel and despite it being winter and very cold she chickened out and turned around and
left.
It was still very early, about 11am, but we decided that if possible we would free camp here overnight. There were no signs saying that we couldn’t and people had obviously done so before so we set up camp and settled in with our kindles. There was one persistent bird call which kept pulling Chris outside to try and find the bird. During the Thursday afternoon she managed to find a “Splendid Wren” both male and female but the one with the
call eluded her.
First thing on Friday morning she saw a bird fly past the caravan and said so the GMan who looked at her a little strangely. An hour later the bird call started again so off with the camera and ages later emerged with a photograph of a “Red Capped Robin” and our bird book tells us that the call is correct as well. One more to tick off.
We headed back to the Yalgoo townsite. The entry signs are very impressive. One has the Yalgoo sign and a wonderful example of a windmill and the other a sign and stamp battery. We then checked out the historic railway station which is now the sports centre. It really appears to be the Yalgoo Jockey Club. The building has been renovated and there is a very fine race course here. Can’t see any other sports about though. The caravan park has been renovated as well with new amenities and powered sites.
There is a railway Water tower which has been listed and is on the historical register. It is unusual because the base of it is made out of stone rather than the usual iron structure
we are so used to seeing.
Of course we went to the Cemetery and could not see any names which affected us though there are a lot of Irish names in the Catholic section. There was a funeral just the day before, we saw the hearse as we drove through town on our way to Joker’s Tunnel. Throughout all these small cemeteries one thing which impresses us is the war graves. Those that are placed by the War Graves people are immaculate, they must have people who travel around and ensure that these graves are always kept immaculate. The War Cemeteries they oversee are some of the most peaceful and best maintained sites I have been in, especially the Adelaide River one just south of Darwin.
One head stone here actually stated that the person was the recipient of the Australia’s first postal bomb in 1903!
Of course we couldn’t leave Yalgoo without checking out the Dominican Chapel. This was designed by Monsignor John Hawes the catholic priest who designed 43 such structures in WA in the 1800’s one of them is of course St Francis Xavier Cathedral in Geraldton where the Perham brats were christened, did
first holy communion, were confirmed and brother Ross was an altar boy.
I already have too many photos to add to this blog, so I will continue another day.
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anne
non-member comment
Nice bird pics :)
Like it says :) Also "Lake Incognito", "Anonymous", "Anon" (Haven't you got a thesaurus handy??? ;) )