Geraldton to Norseman

We left Gero after farewelling our Son, his Partner and their children and meandered down the Brand Highway to Dongara. Along the way you see large signs saying "Beautiful Marina x Km" (where "x" is the number of Kilometres from that sign), so we thought we'd go to the Beautiful Marina and have our breakfast.

A number of lobster fishing boats operate out of Port Denison, near Dongara, and many of these were tied up in their pens at the various jetties. People were also kayaking or just sitting and having breakfast like ourselves. The view was pleasant, but fell short of what I would call "beautiful".

We ate our cereal and enjoyed the fine weather before hitting the road and heading further south to Badgingarra. Here we were to head south-east to Moora. This road takes you through some grazing country with gently rolling hills and some very attractive eucalyptus trees. Also in abundance are the Western Australian Christmas tree.

                             Nuytsia Floribunda - Western Australian Christmas Tree

The Christmas tree is so named because it flowers at Christmas time. It is a true member of the Mistletoe family. Rather than grow on its host, it has a parasitic  root system that seeks out the roots of other plants. When it finds a root it grows a parrot-like beak around it which then cuts into the host root. The Christmas tree then draws its nutrients from the host. I have had first-hand experience of this from my former life as a Telecom Technician. The Christmas Trees regularly mistook telephone cables for host plant roots and would literally cut through the telephone cables with their "beaks".

We carried on to Moora, a town that has made a good comeback from devastating floods back in March 1999. The town has bucked the trend of rural towns shrinking and has a great community spirit. We stopped in at the local supermarket and contributed to the local economy by buying a few things. Then it was time to head more eastward.

We headed to Whalebing, then across to Piawanning, Wongan Hills, south to Goomalling, back east  through Dowerin (famous for the Dowerin Field Days), Wyalcatchem and then southeast to Merredin. I was going to buy fuel at Merredin but couldn't find a servo that was open, so we turned east and found a campsite just east of Burracoppin.

As campsites go, it was more like a truck stop, but we did find a little nook up one end of it and parked up out of direct view. As it happens, Burracoppin has a claim to fame in that the original "Rabbit Proof Fence" (now known as the State Barrier Fence) was commenced there. Two teams started at Burracopin, one went north, erecting the fence to Cape Keraudren (east of Port Hedland) and the other headed south and built the fence to Esperance. Unfortunately the rabbits were quicker than the fence builders and had already gotten through before the fence was finished, necessitating two additional fences inside the original. A small section of the fence remains at the rest-stop we were at, along with a blurb about its history.

We were also adjacent to the water pipeline that feeds water to the Goldfields. The pipeline is also steeped in history and was a major undertaking in its day.

                         Sue finds a use for the water pipeline. She also got silver paint all over her duds.

                          The rig in its little "nook" at the end of the Parking Bay.

We were pleasantly surprised that the traffic on the highway dropped away to almost nothing and had no effect on our ability to get some sleep. So it was, that at 5:30 AM the next morning we were on our way east again.

We fueled up at Southern Cross (also unfairly....or maybe fairly.....called Suffering Cross.) By 09:00 AM we had reached Coolgardie, where we had a roadside breakfast (with views that certainly made thoughts of the "Beautiful Marina" a lot more appealing.) Sue and I have been to Coolgardie plenty of times and were keen to get to Norseman nice and early so that we could have a decent break from driving. We were at the Gateway Caravan Park in Norseman by 11:00 AM.

Again, we've spent a couple of bob here, filling the car, buying some groceries, a magazine and some hardware. We also gave $3.00 to the local Visitor Centre for the key to the only Dump Point in town! We've never had to pay to use a dump point before. The rest of the afternoon has been spent chillaxing before we tackle the Nullarbor tomorrow.