WA for Easter- Thursday 18th April 2019 (646km)

The last day to get to Perth took a bit longer to get going as we ran out of gas while trying to boil the billy , and then the back up can of gas for the light weight stove as well.

First stop was Coolgardie, where we read the historical signage and wandered a little before heading onwards.  The opinion below was about the new post office building.  It is pretty ugly, but not that bad...

This is the courthouse nearby. Much more fancy.

The "Yerdani Well" rest stop was a very nice one for morning tea, but it did get us asking "where is the actual well.??"

These lovely pink satiny gums graced the stop.

After a bit of a map search we discovered that Yerdani rock and well were a bit further along the road and in along a track, so we decided to see if we could find them.  We found the rock (and some less impressive ones nearby that also held some water in pools)

but never found the well.  Maybe the green patch at the right of this photo is where the well was (water probably holds here in the wet)

It was a very pretty track and there were many spots between here and the main road where we could have happily camped.

A little further along the road we stopped at the memorial to truckies burned in a bushfire.  The map below would have been helpful for us to find Burra Rock the night before.   We were attempting to come in via Widgiemooltha.  It looks a clear enough road on this map.

This was the memorial in the bush to the Truckies.

The lunch stop was at Karalee rock and dam, where we walked to see the workings that captured water off of the large rock surface into a huge reservoir and supplied water to many people heading for the goldfields. Impressive workings and worth the 5km drive in to a fantastic campsite. 

The kids camping here with their families over Easter are in for a great time.  It was nearly 2pm by the time we got back on the road after lunch and we still had miles to go to get to Perth.

the drainage into the reservoir and the steps up to the wall of the reservoir. 

Kids playing in the massive drain to the reservoir. 

wattle just coming out in flower. (very strong smell)

the sluice gates 

drainage channel from the rock. 

the wall around the rock channeling into the sluice.

an old well

butcher bird companion at lunch.

We stopped at Meckerling, had another cuppa to revive the driver and a brief shop stop to replenish some supplies, and read about the Earthquake in 1969.  It measured 6.1 on the Richter scale and destroyed most of the town. .. which then was relocated. They have a book exchange in an old fridge in this  town.

We finally arrived in Perth in time for tea with Nic and Maggie and Sarah and Rebekah.  The rain on the roof and chilly night made us happy to be under their shelter tonight instead of camping.

Four days to drive across is a bit too fast I think.  Trevor was pretty tired. Next time we might aim for a bit longer so that the days are not so long. It made it hard for Trevor to think clearly with a tired brain. Not good as a lead in to a weekend of orienteering.