18-08-13 Mt. Florence Station to Millstream NP

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18-08-13

On rising this morning, and after a lazy breakfast, we made our way down to the cattle yards, it was here 900 head of cattle were being drafted and drenched, dehorned if necessary, and their tails were also getting a little trim.

Even though we were not allowed to move around and get a good look at the cattle, we were able to stand at the end of the race, it was here the cattle are led up a race, blocked by doors and when they reached the end of the race, they were given an injection for something, and a quick squirt on the back with some stuff for something else, and if needed, they were dehorned, or if the horn was too long, as was the case with one we saw, you simply start the generator, get the electric saw out and cut a bit off. Don’t think I could do this all day, with 900 cattle, some of them were crazy. After around an hour, we had seen enough, it was time to pack up and head to Millstream NP.

The drive today from Mt. Florence Station to Millstream wasn’t very long and wouldn’t take long, as the roads, although dirt, were in really good condition. And then, all of a sudden, the unthinkable happened, a bloody stone had gone through the tyre wall causing the tyre to shred, after all the rough rocky roads we have traveled on, this was the least likely road we both would have expected something like this to happen! Anyhow, it did, and while Peter was changing the wheel over, and there was nothing I could do to help, I took the opportunity to take some photos of the lovely wild flowers now blooming on the sides of the roads, with the beautiful pinks, a little bit of yellow and white and patches of magnificent red from the Sturt Desert Pea, it’s like natures patchwork quilt in places. Magic!

We weren’t really sure how long we were going to stay here, depends on what there is to look at. On arrival, the signs around weren’t as good as they could be, or we just didn’t read them as good as we could have and we turned and did a detour around all the campgrounds, hungry, hot and getting a little inpatient to find our little bit of turf for tonight, we pulled into the next campground we come across.

Once we had eaten, and relaxed a little we went for a little stroll to the old Millstream Homestead, here we were able to have a look around at some memorabilia and aboriginal artifacts from the past and do a quick little walk around what used to be the Homestead grounds. What a magnificent place this must have been in its heyday, but unfortunately, apart from some easy walks, that really only meandered their way along dry creek beds, there wasn’t a lot to do. So, 1 night here would be enough for us.

We did however meet up with a couple of young families we had been talking to in a few campgrounds along the way as we are all travelling in the same direction. We enjoyed their company in the camp kitchen and will hopefully meet up with them in Karratha or even Cape Range NP.

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Photos

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cattle in for drenching, etc at Mt. Florence Station

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beautiful wildflowers Millstream NP

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more beautiful wildflowers Millstream NP