Four vehicles left The Lakes servo then headed to Northam Bakery for morning tea, next we went onto Goomalling and then to Gabby Quoi Quoi look-out.
Gravel roads beckoned so we headed to Cadoux for lunch via the gravel. The Mt Collier Dam provided a point of interest with the granite outcrop having walls built around the rock directing water into the dam which is still used today. A mallee fowl sat in the middle of the road un-willing to move until Dave and Tammy stopped to talk to it, then it moved.
Camp was made at Datjoin Rock (east of Beacon) next to a large boulder with an overhang. Our camp fire next to the rock gave us some great photos. Intrepid Charm slept in a swag in rather chilly weather, she is so impressive!
It looked like Dave and my chair were on fire but it wasn’t that dangerous. What a great backdrop the Datjoin Rocks and a full moon pro-vided for our camp fire.
We set off the next morning coming across a farmer herding his sheep with his ute from one side of the road to a paddock on the other. “Cubism” seemed to be the go west of Mukinbudin. There was some large dice, a Rubic’s cube, licorice allsorts and a Jack in a Box. Near Muka we stopped to admire some Men’s Shed work on a horse named “Cleomine” with a windmill driving the movement of its legs. Just east of Muka we spotted an echidna. Also saw “28’s” and pink and grey galahs in large numbers. A large tank and granite outcrop at Geelakin was found where Dave got his drone attacked by an eagle. It was an inter-esting drive through the Baladjie Nature Reserve around the Baladjie Lake which we only glimpsed occasionally. Found a plaque for the first gold mining lease issued on the eastern gold-fields in 1888. Nearby was lots of current and abandoned mining.
Found a camp spot in some bush east of Westonia after not being able to camp where we initially planned due to long awaited road works on the Great Eastern Highway. Had some rain during the night. Next morning Tony and Charm headed off early. The rest of us meandered home through some mist and then heavy rain. Thank you to those who came along, it was an enjoyable trip,
