October 2017: A Brief Trip into WA's Wheatbelt (Part 3)

We left Tressies and Karlgarin and turned north on Karlgarin Lake Rd. These unsealed minor roads through this area are so much nicer than sticking to the bitumen main roads. 

It was on these roads that we saw a nice selection of some very colourful wildflowers.

You can see big black ants on these yellow/gold flowers. Something in there must be a good source of food for them.

We drove into Anderson Rock on one of these side tracks but it was very tight for a full size van. Nice for campers but really not good for vans.

We also stopped for a look at some dams that had been built onto granite rocks where the water could be captured.

Some of these places have some nice secluded campsites that are probably only ever visited by locals.

We popped out onto the Great Eastern Highway adjacent to Carrabin Roadhouse and drove a little further north to Westonia.

We had a couple of nights in Westonia caravan park. It's very nice and backs onto a camp for the Edna Mae goldmine; a very swish camp it is, too. 

The mine has rejuvenated Westonia.

We met yet another Bushtracker couple here. They were on their way home to Burekup so we had a couple of beers at the Westonia tavern that evening.

One place we looked at during a day trip was Boodalin Soak. This is 6km west of town and was used as a watering point for the early travellers from York to Kalgoorlie.

On this same day trip we stumbled onto the abandoned town and mine at Chandler. It was really interesting. 

Here's a link to more info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandler,_Western_Australia

We left Westonia, using the town's Dump Point on our way out. Well sited and plenty of turning room. All good points. Thanks Westonia. 

It was only a short drive to our next stop at Nungarin. 

Nungarin has a very nice Community Caravan Park at its Recreation centre.

We visited the town's Military Museum https://www.wheatbeltway.com.au/heritagemachineryandarmymuseum/

which was very interesting. 

Later that afternoon we sank a coldy or two at the Woolshed pub.

That night a couple of huge thunderstorms came through and dropped a lot of rain on us that made us reconsider the rest of our trip. We were thinking of staying overnight at Kwolyin but when we drove through there were signs saying No Camp Fires. So, the prospect was no campfires and/or heavy rain, so there wouldn't be any sitting outside under the stars. So we decided to head home.

Here is a link to my previous post about Kwolyin.

http://farcanal.blogspot.com.au/2014/09/kwolyin-rest-area.html

It was only a short trip but was very pleasant and very relaxing.

Our thanks to these towns in our Wheatbelt that are doing it tough but still putting out the Welcome Mat.

October 2017: A Brief Trip into WA's Wheatbelt (Part 2)

After a pleasant night at Gnaala Mia we left driving east on Tomingly Road past the  Lions Dryandra Village . Turning right into Wandering-Narrogin Road we stopped at Cuballing for a morning cuppa in front of the Cuballing Tavern.

Still heading east through Wickepin there was a convoy of vans and camper trailers heading west home from the Kulin Races. Apparently there were upwards of 800 vans etc there for the weekend.

Our destination tonight was Yealering. This is another wheatbelt town that has provided a small caravan park to attract people. We turned north on the Wickepin-Corrigin Rd and parked up on the edge of Lake Yealering.

Surprisingly there weren't too many mosquitoes around. 

We walked up to the pub later that afternoon and had a beer there.

The caravan park is equipped with a Dump Point. An essential item and appreciated.

The next morning we drove up to the General Store and paid for our night in the CP. We headed east purposely taking the unsealed sandy minor roads. They are much more interesting and we see a lot more of the farming properties. We actually ended up coming into Jilakin Rock from the north which is where the Kulin races were held just a few days previously.

We then drove north-east to Karlgarin and stayed at Tressies Caravan Park. What a nice place, and what a fascinating private museum in one of its buildings.

We met up with another Bushtracker couple visiting from Newcastle in NSW.

We had two nights here and visited Hyden & Wave Rock. just a few kilometres down the road.

October 2017: A Brief Trip into WA's Wheatbelt (Part 1)

It was still a little cold but rumour had it that Spring was here and some wildflowers were out, so we decided to dust off the van and look around our own backyard.

We enjoy WA's Wheatbelt and we thought we would visit some more of these small towns that have built community caravan parks to attract people like us. 

However, the first night would be in a campsite called Gnaala Mia. It is in the Dryandra forest just next to Congelin and only a couple of hours away from home.

https://parks.dpaw.wa.gov.au/site/gnaala-mia-campground

We have been to Congelin many times, even before it was turned into a proper campsite by the Dept of Parks & Wildlife. Gnaala Mia is very new and we hadn't been there before.

There are sites for caravans, campers and tents and a very nice camp kitchen as well as drop toilets. Each campsite has its own firepit. Firewood was provided by the Rangers.

No power and no water, but that's OK by us. Our van has all we need.

There were only about 4 other campers there. It was nice and quiet.

In the morning light I took some photos of some of the wildflowers.