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Week 7

Monday 22^nd May 2005 Odometer reading 115956

Hurrah! I had my last Weetbix for breakfast this morning. What a tasteless breakfast cereal. No wonder it was top of the Choices list. It can't have anything bad in it to make it tasty. Even with a sprinkle of brown sugar and some dried fruit it is an endurance each morning. I have bought some Purina toasted muesli and hopefully breakfast will become my favourite meal of the day again.

We start off along the last 25 km towards Neale's Junction. Pat says she can hear a knocking sound coming from the left front wheel. Ian investigates and finds the suspension is moving where the worn rubber was situated. It is very annoying that the one problem we have had with the truck is due to someone else's negligence.

We reach Neale's Junction, the corner where the Anne Beadell Highway crosses the Connie Sue Highway. Len's marker marks the sport. Connie Sue had been there a few days before and left a new visitors book which we were the third visitors to write in. She even painted the marker post with a new coat of white paint. The Connie Sue was built by the Gunbarrell Construction Party in 1961-2. Len's wife Anne together with 5 month old daughter Connie Sue and dogs Bonnie and Lassie travelled with him while this road was being surveyed and built.

The 650km road is from Warbuton to Rawlinna, on the continental railway line, is through almost waterless country

As we turn along the Connie Sue north to Warburton 320 km away the red plains on either side of the road are bare as are any trees remaining. After the vegetated Victoria Desert this is like a disaster zone. Obviously a bush fire Within a km or so the vegetation returns.. We drive along a sandy track which stretches endlessly straight ahead and disappearing into the distance.

As we head north we pass an area of high vegetation and the area of just spinifex. Out of the spinnifex rises an Australian Bustard bird. This is the second time we have seen one of these rare birds. We also saw one on the Anne Beadell but not so close. After poring through our wildlife and bird books we were able to correctly identify it. A huge bird with a long neck it was about 1 mt long with a wing breath of about 1 - 2 mt . It slowly rose from the ground giving us a good look at its cream brown and black colouring. These birds are in danger of extinction and it is good to be able to say we saw two specimens in this remote area. We are reminded that Captain Cook shot and ate a Bustard bird north of 1770 in Queensland. "Good eating too". We had made an exciting trip to try and reach the Bustard Head lighthouse by 4wd from the land for Pats 60^th last June.

We saw lots of bore exploration holes on either side of the track. Caps had been placed over the holes which were about 4 inches in diameter. Ian found this all very interesting!

We detoured 300mt to see an airstrip. Heaven knows why as it was just a flat piece of land. As we got out of the truck to inspect it, I could not believe my ears! I could hear the sound of birds, hundreds of birds twitering away. They were Pipits (tiny bush birds) in their hundred flying from tree to tree. An amazing sight.

In our determination to get to Warburton and shower we powered on through sand dune, stoney then sand dune country again. It is first country we have seen that has been stripped bare by bush fire with other well vegetated country alongside. We even meet a 3 group 'tag-a-long' tour headed toward Rawlinna, the lead vehicle an Australian OKA.

The last few kms into Warburton seemed to go on for ever. We had travelled more km today than we would usually however we were now in Aboriginal land and we didn't have a permit, so must press on. Suddenly a flock of Galahs swooped down across the front of the truck. They made a beautiful sight with the pink and grey and really lifted my spirits.

Finally we arrived at Warburton and discovered we are on WA time and have gained 2 hours. Instead of 6 o'clock it was 4. We bought some fuel (152cents a litre) and some unbelievable expensive apples, meat and cordial, before we discovered the caravan park was $10 a person per night. They locked you in the park at night for safety, The water, which we refilled our tanks, was free!! The staff are 2 young Irish backpackers who have been there 5 weeks. Might as work there as anywhere else because you can't spend any money!!

We went of to the local cultural centre located nearby to access the Internet and phone Josh. We ran out of time before we could read all the emails waiting for us. The girl in charge was waiting with the keys in her hand ready to lockup. We had dealt with the company that supplied the Internet kiosk when we had the shop in Sandgate. It was painfully slow and had a trackball mouse that was past its prime. Can’t believe how good and fast our gear was for the public at Sandgate.

With all our tasks done we decided that we weren't comfortable in Warburton whose town sign announced "Private property. No access without a permit". We decided to head toward the Gunbarrel Highway and camp out of town. We wandered down a tiny bush track with lights blazing until we could finally find a small place alongside the road without the spiny spinifex.

As we were so late with everything theVKS sched was made with Perth who have a later slot to call. Eventually succeeded on the second of two channels they use. As we are heading west it will become a clearer signal as it was difficult tonight.

Recipe of the Day:

A stir fry number that hit the spot beautifully. (made with skim milk and coconut essence as no coconut milk available) I even had a lime cordial to go with it, courtesy of the Warburton Roadhouse (at $6 a bottle!)

Our track from Warburton meets up with the Gunbarrel Highway. We feel very excited to be back here. I have bought with me the diaries I wrote on our trip in 1989. As we travel along I read them aloud to Ian. It brings back memories half forgotten. Sam was 13 yrs and Josh 9 yrs at that time.

The track has bad corrugations, exposed rocks, washouts and holes forcing us to drive slowly. Any bypass tracks are just as bad. Ian thinks the tracks so far are not as bad as in 1989. It may be that corrugations have been worn away as more bed rock is exposed. So far he thinks the Anne Beadell highway corrugations more intense. When we travelled this road in1989 we used the original track almost exclusively. Now we use the bypass tracks more commonly.

Eight camels crossed the track. As the group is split they stay warily watching so we are able to take some photos. We also saw a total of four Black and White Fairy Wrens. Not much wildlife here.

The track lined with mulga trees and spinifex. No Mallee to be seen here. It is certainly not as attractive as the Gt Victoria Desert. We have passed areas where bushfires have destroyed all vegetation leaving it barren.

We saw just ahead the rock cairn of Mt Samuel, a tight different style to those previously encountered. Magnificent panoramic views from Mt Samuel across the desert . What a wonderful sight. We were able to look in all directions, north, south, east and west. It is a landscape covered in vegetation. Hardly what we call a desert. The trees, bushes, rocks and red soil all make for a colourful scene. It looked like a well planned parklands. We could see the track of the Gunbarrel Highway heading off in the distance. We really were a long way from civilisation here. We took lots of photos in the hope of piecing them together to make a panoramic scene. A beautiful erected cairn at the top of the hill. I usually add a stone or two to any cairn I see but this one was too high for me to reach. There was no plaque to say to whom it commemorates. I was reluctant to leave the hill it was such an incredible sight.

We suddenly had a good connection on the Satellite phone so rang Josh just to say we are on the Gunbarrel again. It was nice to hear his voice but then we suddenly lose the connection. This sat phone is very unreliable. We will need to replace it when we get back to Brisbane.

We stopped at a bore site that has a hand pump that we remembered from our last visit to the area. We had showers, they are cold but refreshing. We then refilled our grey water containers with the bore water using the bilge pump. A bowl of water was left for any wildlife. Being a hand pump bore they are unable to raise the water. I remember on our last trip finding dead roos around bore sites. They obviously know water is there but are unable to access it.

We know that there are travellers in front of us. We have seen fresh tracks from their tyres and we passed a warm camp fire early this morning. We don't know if theses are the same people that we followed over the Anne Beadell but never caught up with.

We saw two abandoned trailers on the side of the road today.

We stopped off at Camp Beadell camping area. It may once have been an attractive camp site with Desert Oaks. Now was littered with empty beer and wine bottles as well as broken car bits. It is really upsetting to see this uncaring attitude in fellow travellers. We try and be as responsible as possible taking our rubbish with us, leaving ourcamp site clean and staying to the designated tracks.

The surrounding trees looked vandalised as bark had been stripped from them. Perhaps this was the damage feral camels have done.

Lynette's Bore (water at 43.5m) was dug by the CRA Exploration team in April 1989. This is probably the exploration team we saw when we were here in September 1989, although they said they were a seismic team.

I was speechless!! Well almost. Words cannot express what I was looking at. We were at the top of Mt Beadell which is 536mt high. From there it was the most impressive and fantastic sight ever. I had the most wonderful view of this beautiful country from up here. This was why I came so far. And it was all ours. No one else there. Just Ian and myself looking at this marvellous view across deserts as far as the eye can see.

There's a cairn to Len at the top and a surveyors theodolite and tripod similar to the one he used.

We left one of Tomas' red poppies at the top of the cairn. We both felt it was the right place for the 3^rd one. "He owns all her surveys".

We tried to contact Sam on Satellite phone but unable to get a connection - even from the top of Mt Beadell!.

As we travelled through the Gibson Desert Nature Reserve the track was lined with yellow flowering Wattle bushes. (Mimosa for our English readers) A beautiful sight.

As the day came to an end we sought our camp site for the night. The sky is darkening with rain clouds just like on the Anne Beadell. As we sat down to our supper there were sprinkles of rain. It would pay real havoc on the track if it develops into real rain.

Recipe of the Day

Variation on a beef hotpot

Only have beef mince so use that instead of topside or rump. Add any vegetables to hand - mine are onions, carrots, sweet potatoes, potatoes and dried peas. Oxo, Lea & PerrinsWorcester sauce and black pepper.

Tasted great.

Cheese and rice crackers for dessert.

It rained for most of the night. It was light rain but persistent. By morning it had stopped but the sky was dark with rain clouds. There was a beautiful red rainbow in a red cloud quite unusual. We had a quick cuppa and breakfast - no porridge for Ian that morning and he made do with my muesli - packed up camp and set off along the track. The rain had made the track a little softer but it was not boggy. The sky looked lighter ahead but was still very dark to the south.

We passed two impressive rocky outcrops - Mt Gibson and Mt Everard. We stopped to take photos but did not explore further as we were keen to keep ahead of the rain. This was almost exclusively Mulga country and it thrives here. We have never seen such healthy Mulga.

We stopped at Everard Junction, the turn off to Gary Highway and Windy Corner. I thought I was already standing on Windy Corner as the wind whipped around my ears. One of Len's markers was displayed. It had been replaced by Connie-Sue on her current trip this month with a replica of the Len original. It is an unfortunate fact that travellers have stolen these over the years as souvenirs. It was stamped that it was a replica. On the Anne Beadell Highway they were all originals. We signed the Visitors Book and noticed two other travellers had signed yesterday. When we were at this junction in 1989 the land was barren with a solitary tree to mark the spot by the marker. Today the area was covered in spinnifex and the tree was gone.

The corrugations moved everything that was on the dash, causing it to jump around and make a lot of noise. We stopped to have a clear out. It is amazing how much junk had accumulated there including batteries, pens, fuses as well as the steering lock. Once we had removed all these items the truck became noticeably less noisy.

The highway was littered with broken and unwanted parts. By 11.30am today we had passed five broken and discarded trailers and also a water tank from a camper trailer. By the end of the day we had also seen a truck.

We stopped at Geraldton Bore that was drilled by the CRA in 1989. A container and rope was provided and we lowered the small container by rope 16mt and drew up clear water. I enjoyed that!

Bush fires had cleared large area of vegetation in places. Often on one side of the track but not the other. The Gibson Desert does not have the variety of vegetation or be as attractive as the Great Victoria Desert. But then the Great Victoria Desert wasn't like a desert in the true sense of the word. It just didn't have much wildlife.

The weather was still blustery and overcast but not raining so we stopped for lunch near Mangkill Claypan. We were running out of bread to make sandwiches but was hoping to be able to buy some at Carnegie. I had enough meat to last us to Wiluna.

Six camels including a baby passed on the track in front of us before they took off in the bush. They looked a bit thin and we could see their ribs protruding.

The road improved dramatically after we entered Wiluna Shire boundary. It had been graded and widened. Our speed increased on this surface but in some ways we were disappointed as this did not look or feel like the Gunbarrel Highway any more. Still we didn't feel we had to be martyrs so enjoyed the smooth ride.

Ian stopped the truck as he had seen something long and thin lying on the track. He thought it may be a snake but when we looked we found it was about 2 - 3meters of furry caterpillars end to end, each one about 3-4cm long all following head to tail. These are Processional Caterpillars whose home are the silk fur lined bags we have seen hanging in trees.

We passed the old Aussie Rules oval (on a stoney claypan) that we had seen in1989. It looked pretty abandoned but the grandstand (upturned car) was still in situ. If they can play and take marks on this surface how would they perform on rich green grass, be like playing on a carpet.

Suddenly to our surprise we saw a vehicle coming towards us In fact it was two vehicles travelling together. One was towing a camper trailer which we were pleased to see looked stronger than the ones we had seen abandoned on the side of the track. We stopped to exchange travel stories. They had experienced some rain and had left Carnegie 2 hours before so we would be there by late afternoon. We were glad we did it the east-west direction, they would be just getting used to the smooth gravel road when it would suddenly deteriorate.

We arrived at Carnegie Station 16 years after our last visit. When we were last there the owner was planning to make the station a tourist centre with camping site, cabins and travellers mess hall. He obviously fulfilled his plans and we saw these facilities not far from the homestead. We met Peter who was just leaving to meet a truck. He told us to make ourselves at home and make use of the facilities until he came back. We boiled the billie for a cuppa and read all the interesting articles on the walls of the mess hall. When he returned Peter, who originally came from the Gold Coast in Queensland, told us he had worked at Carnegie for 9 years. He said, in typical bush fashion, that he had enough to do with looking after 24 calves and doing a muster without working in the shop and attending to tourists. He said that Fay usually attended to the tourists but she was away. Ian purchased a t shirt last time we were here with "Carnegie Station End of the Gunbarrel" written on it. This time, with Peter's indulgence we purchased polo shirts with the same logo. Peter had become quite friendly by then and chatted about the Broncos, State of Origin and the price of houses in Queensland.

Wildlife was still in short supply. Up until Carnegie Station we saw 2 Wedge tailed Eagles , four Roos, three alive and one dead. One Dingo and 2 Pipets darting into the spinnifex lining the track. As we approached the Station we saw 3 camels and 2 head of cattle lying dead in a paddock not far from a bore.

The road to Wiluna appeared to be good so we decided to press on for another hour. Suddenly we saw endless number of roos, an emu and 2 Wedge Tailed Eagles and it was back in cattle country. More wildlife than we had seen for a week.

We stopped to see Mingal Camp a stock camp that is not for public camping. Camp beds stood ready

and a shelter with tables and benches in such a delapidated state no camper would have wanted to stay there. Nearby Harry Johnston Waterhole held a small amount of emerald green water. Worse than any

neglected swimming pool I have ever seen. It yelled toxic waste to us. We decided to find a more hygienic camp site.

Recipe of the day:

All in one Hotpot

Meat was the beef mince I bought in Warburton. It had more fat than we are used to so cooked the meat first and drained off excess fat. I had run out of onions but still had plenty of carrots, potatoes and sweet potatoes.

Ian was up before dawn to update the maps on the web site. The website is a lot of work and he still has to put on the photos before it can be sent out to everyone. He was so engrossed that he almost missed a beautiful sunrise. A picture of pink and purples.

We have slept in the truck these last few nights as the weather has been unpredictable. It was cosy and warm away from the wind and we slept well as snug as a bug.

We drove along the graded road towards Wiluna. We were keen to be there now we were no longer on the Gunbarrel Highway. The sun was shining again and the leaves of the mulga trees shone in the sun.

After the rain grass was growing along the verge of the track. It seemed unnaturally green and we stopped to examine it to convince ourselves it was actually grass. There were also plants with large blue/purple flowers called Flannel Bush. It is amazing the difference a bit of rain makes.

Just before Wiluna we headed to a vineyard. We had heard of this place through a visitors' book entry at Everhard Junction extolling its virtues. It is a vineyard producing table grapes and has a traveller's facility. It had a nice green lawn and 'dongers' (typical mining site accommodation). We thought we would call back after we had checked whether the mail had arrived.

When we came to Wiluna 16 years ago the town was as if in a siege. The Pub, with barred windows was the main focus of the town and was at the end of the road from the Gunbarrel. We were made to feel unwelcome, we had made the mistake of going into the bar for the aboriginals, and we did not stay for more than a couple of hours. Our kids, however did have a pizza that met the spot.

How Wiluna has changed and for the better. New houses lined the streets with kerbs, a well stocked supermarket, a sports oval, many health facilities and a shire office. A swimming pool is soon to be built. We are not sure what has caused the changes. Gold mining outside of town may have influenced and provided employment. As in Coober Pedy we still saw groups of aboriginals sitting and standing on corners along the main street and outside the pub.

Our awaited mail of spare parts for the truck and documents from Josh had not arrived and the helpful post office guy there said that they would have gone to Perth before being sent on to Wiluna. If they had been sent from Brisbane on Monday he would not expect them to arrive here before Friday.

We asked a police officer, Wendy, who was parked close by as to whether a pharmacy was available in town. She said there wasn't but on hearing that the medication I required was for cancer treatment, offered to escort us to the Health Centre in a nearby street, which they did!. When we arrived the police officer spoke to the staff on our behalf and we were issued with the medication I required at no cost to us. Such service impressed us greatly.

We went to the supermarket to check out the prices which were comparable with Coober Pedy and met David and Marilyn Betteridge the owners of Gunbarrel Groceries. David offered to escort us out of town to where there were claypans. We set off on a "tag along" tour. Not our style normally following another in their dust cloud, but we headed out to the track opposite the vineyard, Gunbarrel Grapes. We followed in close formation across claypans until suddenly we saw water and small distance further we came to the edge of a lake. It was so unexpected in this type of country. These claypans had only filled in the last two weeks. When this occurs after rain it then becomes the 'Wiluna Yacht Club'. David said that it would probably last until November and with more rain would last until next year.

After we had another photo session at the lake we called back at Gunbarrel Grapes. We met Christina, a PhD student undertaking an anthropology thesis on the delivery of services to aboriginal communities. She acted as guide whilst Gill, the owner, was in town. We made ourselves at home till Gill returned. She was delightful and we sat and chatted before we decided that we should pay up ($10 per head/night) and set up camp on the lawn in front of the dongers.

We made use of the well equipped 'mess hall' and Christina showed how to access the Internet with a LAN cable. It gave us a chance to sit in comfort, eat at a table and complete some of our computer chores.

Pat headed to the laundry and the washing machine at $2.00 a load.

There were mining engineers and contractors staying here as well as us. We met Andrew, also from Brisbane, who was working here for few weeks helping with preparation of the vines. He used a modified fork lift that had a hedge cropper to trim the vine branches. He wandered back to work after his tea break.

Recipe of the day:

Spaghetti bolognase with last of the parmesan cheese.

We slept in the bivouac on a cool night

Ian was up in the night and sent the latest edition of the journal by internet. I let him sleep in and was up at dawn making tea.

Relaxing morning pottering around and chatting and then we headed into town to see if the mail we were a waiting for had arrived. Package from Josh had arrived but not the spare parts for the truck we were awaiting.

We toured around town taking photos and chatted to a group of blacks sitting outside the pub. We waved to police officer Wendy who had helped us yesterday and she posed for a photo.

We filled up the truck with fuel to take us to Halls Creek at $1.39 per litre. The truck is now super heavy again with 350 litres of fuel and over 100 litres of water. Stocked up on food for 3 weeks at the supermarket. Once we are on the Canning Stock Track there won't be anywhere to buy food. Fresh vegetables won't last more than a week even with the fridge. Our freezer will only hold meat for 10 days at the most. I have stocked up on tinned tuna, ham and sausages as well as eggs.

We will be staying on at Wiluna until Monday for the next mail delivery.

We returned to Gunbarrel Vineyard for the weekend. We couldn't have a more friendly, more relaxed place to stay for 3 days. Checked out the troopy suspension and drive train for any movements or knocks. Nothing found. Repacked the truck again, gets slightly better each time we eat a tin or a bag of pasta. Gill loaned us books on the Canning Stock Route and plant identification. We had free use of all the kitchen equipment which I appreciated. She even had a stock of Swan Valley red and white wine at $12 a bottle.

Evening chatting with Andrew and putting the world to right! We solved all the problems of the world, like Chapelle Corby (result today), Saddam Hussein, SAS, Graham Kennedy has Aids, Paul Wolfowitz and the Worls Bank, Bush and the far right church, divorce, tsunamis, Pearl Harbour and watching TV. Great night. Can't remember since we were still up at 10pm Brisbane time (we still run on Brisbane time, strange I know).

Gunbarrel Grapes Yineyard

Gill, Christina, Andrew, Chris, Simon and temporary residents from mine

Swan Valley bottle red wine

David and Marilyn owners of Gunbarrel Groceries

Wendy Police Officer Wiluna

Recipe of the Day:

Chicken Satay and rice. Gill's bottle of red Shiraz wine went down well.

Gill arranged for us to have a tour of Wiluna Gold Mine. Paul Tan chief Geologist met us at the mine and took us around in his Toyota. The mine vehicles all have orange flashing lights on their roofs to be seen. The ore trucks carry 42 tonne each load and the driver sits about 12 foot off the ground. Paul was the head geologist and the mining is currently underground up to 600 metres deep. It has been an open cut mine as well in the past. The different seams, the Golden Ore and the Republic, have been mined. In the early origins of the mine the rich gold bearing ore was close to the surface and 100000 ounces of gold was removed. Cyanide is used usually to separate the gold from the sulphite in a 24 hour process. This mine is one of only 3 (perhaps 4) that uses bacteria to breakdown the slurry prior to cyanide separating, in a more ecological approach. But it takes 28 days. We saw an open cut operation and were able to see the different strata of rock and the presence of fault lines was explained where the gold is normally located. Bit too hard for a pick and shovel operation that we had expected, it has about 200 staff of whom the vast majority fly-in fly-out for work. The whole seam is about 10 kilometres long, with a substantial crushing plant, their own electricity, airstrip and mining village. Overall it was a very interesting experience and would like to discuss it with Tim and Jo in Townsville if they at home on our way to Cape York.

The spare parts for the shock absorber had arrived and the guy opened the Post Office to give it to us rather than wait until Monday. This means we can head for the Canning Stock Route on Sunday.

We visited the cemetery on the outskirts of town. It is divided into area for different religion and culture. Few graves look as if they have been recently tended. Lots of artificial flowers lie around, old and faded. Lots of graves have numbers only. Most of the graves I saw show that their occupants died at an early age some from mining accidents. Only one I saw for someone of 83 years. Last week there was a funeral for a 26 year disabled woman stabbed by her husband.

Wiluna cemetery would benefit from some research into just who is buried there and their place in the town's history.

Ian worked on the truck all afternoon. He moved the wire tow rope from the roofrack onto the trucks bonnet so that high weight was reduced. Inserted the spare parts for the shock absorbers, fitted new anchor points inside the truck, cut down the foam bedding to fit the truck and managed to find time to make an extension cable for Gill.

Meanwhile, knowing that washing clothes will be difficult over the next three weeks. I washed the bed covers and every bit of clothing I could find. Cleaned out the meal preparation drawers and made Ian cups of coffee to keep him going while he did his jobs.

Paul Tan Geologist Wiluna Gold Mine

Flannel Bush with purple flowers

Aubergine dip (made by Christine) with rice crackers

Chicken in Oyster Sauce

No cashews unfortunately but still looked and tasted good.

We were sorry to leave the Gunbarrel Vineyards. We had really enjoyed our few days there. We had enjoyed the company and the facilities.

The Canning Stock Route is named after Alfred Canning (1860 - 1936) who, in 1906-7, surveyed the 1700km route from Wiluna to Hall Creek. He then led the well sinking expedition in 1908-10. Pastoralists in the Kimberley and Northern Territory required a route for their cattle to reach the railhead at Meekatharra near Wiluna. Their cattle could then be transported to market in Perth. The route Canning advised traversed the Little Sandy, Great Sandy and Tanami Deserts. Once this had been established the problem of watering the cattle over such a long distance was solved when Aborigines were persuaded to reveal water sources in the deserts. Canning and his construction team of 20 men,62 camels 400 goats (for milk and meat) and 2 horses then constructed 54 wells, springs and natural soaks by hand at these points.

The first lot of cattle was taken down the CSR in 1911.

When we were at Carnegie Station, we read the story of DW Carnegie and learned how they 'persuaded' local aboriginals to show where their waterholes were. Originally he had a 'friendly' aboriginal in his expedition 1897 who he felt was 3 loaves of bread (I though that as I didn't have anywhere to freeze it them astray or pulling the wool over their eyes when it came to finding permanent waterholes. In frustration and desperation he fed the aboriginal salted beef until, in a desperate thirst, he finally relented and led them to Empress Springs on the Hunt Oil Road between the Gunbarrel and the Great Central Road. After that it became the pattern to look for smoke from aboriginal hunting parties or camps to capture a local who then persuaded to tell them where the local water was. Canning's expedition was only 9 years later.

We stopped at Wiluna for fuel, water and food.

Our total fuel capacity is 350 lt diesel. The main tank holds 90lt , long range tank 180Lt and jerry cans 80Lt. To reduce weight on roofrack we fill the main tank with fuel from the jerry cans every 150 km. This is so when we reach the sanddunes at 290 km we have reduced roofrack weight by 40kg.

We filled the main water (drinking ) tank with 55lt, roof rack pipes with 40 lt and extra container with 20lt A total of 115Lt of water.

I purchased 2 weeks supply of meat for the freezer and fridge. A large box of fresh vegetables including potatoes, onions, capsicum,cauliflour, brocolli, celery, tomatoes. A selection of fruit including apples, pears and oranges. Three loaves of bread,( as I was unable to freeze it I thought it would be mouldy before we ate it. Anyway I have flour n board so can cook damper .) I also stocked up on tinned and dried foods including powdered milk, breakfast cerials, fruit, and 2 bags of peppermints.

Well 1 is just 7 km outside of Wiluna but even so we needed to use the GPS to find it. It was off the main track and hidden among trees and bushes across flat terrain. I have been putting in the waypoints for the first few wells. Some will be easy to find and some will require GPS use. As we headed in the direction directed by the GPS I was able to tell Ian, who was driving, when we deviated from the direction - one more thing I have learnt!!

Well 1 had 2 large water containers . After all this time the well was lined with wood that was in poor condition. Even so we could see just how much work it must have taken.to have lined the well to such a depth. A windmill and piping allowed water to be drawn.

Well 1 was the first well sunk by Canning's party in 1908. It was dug to a depth of 13.7 metres with a capacity of 18,752 litres and a replenishment rate of 2636 litres per hour.

Water 1A was even harder to find. We followed tracks that led nowhere or to a fence. After a few aborted attempts we eventually found the right track. 10 km later we arrived at a beautiful waterhole lined with River Gums on the Negrara Creek. It wasn't even a well but this beautiful natural waterhole that you would retreat to on a hot summer weekend. The trees reflected in the water making the scene very picturesque. We decided to stop a while and have lunch.

As soon as we turned off on to the Canning Stock Route the track deteriorated. The track was rough, with deep tyre tracks, holes and washouts making it bumpy and slow going.

Well 2 was situated beside the track. The water tank was completely full and the windmill started to turn when Ian touched the pipe running into the tank. The well was covered with wood and when we removed it we were surprised at the good condition of the wood lining the well. A long cattle trough is nearby.

Well 2 was originally dug to depth of 65 feet with a capacity of 4200 gallons and a replenishment rate of 600 gallons per hour.

We drove along badly rutted, track. This is caused by people driving after rain and when the ground is soft and boggy. Property owners are justly annoyed when this happens on their property by 4 wheel drivers.

The track was very winding and lined with low growing acacia, flowering cassias and spinnifex. We saw groups of roos and 3 emus. It was nice to see wildlife again after the Gt Victoria Desert.

Three 4wd vehicles passed us heading south. They have taken nine and a half days to travel from Halls Creek.

They inform us that 2 vehicles were ahead of us by about 6 km and travelling north.

Well 2A was originally blasted from solid rock and was 16 feet long by 10 feet wide by 10 feet deep. It is called the Granites with a capacity of 9600 gallons. This was the last well sunk by Canning before his return to Wiluna after it had proved too hard on the outbound journey.

The water was stagnant and polluted. Evidence of this is seen from the number of dead roos scattered around the well.

32km later we arrived at Well 3 in a glade of River or Ghost Gums and Minnantchie or Red Mulga. This latter tree has curly red bark and sparse foliage. A band of these trees are only found in a narrow latitude across Australia. We had caught up the group of two vehicles who had already camped. One of the party, Dick introduced himself as the Sherrif of the party and his 3 companions as his deputies. In fact Dick was the ex-owner of 1 million acre De Gray Station in WA. He was a very knowledgable man about the Canning and told us that Canning had began his expedition 99 years ago yesterday.

Well 3 was originally dug to depth of 43 feet (with a shaft of 39 foot 6 ins) with a capacity of 8475 gallon and a replenishment rate of 130 gallons per hour. We arrived to see a renovated well with galvanised steel operating gear and bucket. A small cairn had been erected to celebrate the completion and name all the sponsors and 4wd club that actually renovated it.

Dick said that the drovers used to carry their own canvas buckets to bring up the water as the aboriginals would steal them.. The buckets would hold 20 gallons and they would use bullocks to pull up the water through a pulley. They would have needed to bring up a lot of water to satisfy the many hundred of cattle that they brought through at a time.

Corkwood Tree with thick bark and yellow flowers

Meeting Dick, Tony, Robert and Mick

I had bought fresh beef steak for the first 2 days meals (Allows the frozen meat to defrost slowly in fridge) A stir fry was quickly thrown together using up the remains of the vegetables from our arlier purchase. Before we left I had cooked white rice at Gunbarrel Grapes using their kitchen facilities.

(Week 1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12)

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