Monday 18th: Kirkalocka

We wake up for breakfast at 7:30. Breakfast, we were told last night, starts at quarter past seven, or whenever the girl gets here.

As far as we can tell, the breakfast girl never arrives. Breakfast is being set up by a woman who looks more manager than breakfast girl. Not to worry, she makes good coffee and the rest is continental self serve.

Our room is pleasantly warm, the washed clothes are all dry, we had left one air con running all night. We pack, load, leave.

We set the gps for Dalwalinu, it leads us across several rivers, till we hit the main road, the road to Goomalling.

We are in the wheatbelt though half the crops are yellow canola. It's a beautiful drive, 10 or 11 degrees C but warm in the truck. A mix of fine, sunny, and occasional light rain. Hardly any traffic, gently rolling green countryside, all very beautiful.

We stop for morning tea -- a break, to stretch our legs, really -- at Wongan Hills, a very pleasant town. We have coffee and a slice of "rocky road" cheesecake which tastes like delicious Turkish delight.

I read and enjoy the local newsletter.
===

A pause in the story: Deb is knitting a jumper. How can I measure 26cm? she asks.

We have no ruler but we do have an orienteering map. After messing round with the scale line... I decide that the map is printed on a4 and a4 is 210 x 296 cm... possibly. Problem as good as solved...
===

We pass a few wheat silo locations. One has a few deserted buildings, only the silo is still in use (though not at this time of year). One has a row of derelict houses and another row of new houses. I wonder why some silo "towns" survive.

Next stop is Dalwalinu.

We eat lunch in a cafe, hamburgers. Solid, meaty, excellent. This is our main meal for today, we want hearty.

We also look for our first geocache -- and fail to find it. Not to worry, we do find a few caches as we drive further on.

We also find wildflowers... so our trip is a success :-)

It's two or three hundred km to where we stop for the night. On the way we stop for some caches and just for a break, to enjoy the country.

The only "town" is Paynes Find: tavern, shop, fuel, accommodation.We buy iced coffee and drive on. Deb starts to worry that it will be dark before we stop. I have a more accurate idea of the time. The sun is still well and truly up when we reach Kirkalocka, at 4:30.

The "old homestead" where we stay the night is old but not ancient. Clean and comfy. Cool and getting colder. We settle in then go for a walk.

The station ran sheep but has been destocked, years ago. It will be restocked with cattle. First, the fences need to be fixed, lots of work to be done. Meanwhile... it's income from rented accommodation (tonight just us and one other couple) and the farmer works fulltime off the station.

We walk to the creek, across bare and barren land. There's only a handful of "pet" stock animals but they must do a lot of grazing. It's a permanent creek with a large pool -- now with a couple of olympic pools' worth of water -- just 100m from the homestead. We enjoy the walk.

Back inside, we eat dinner. Deb made cheese and gherkin sandwiches for post-orienteering lunch but we ate in a Northam cafe instead. So the sandwiches are our dinner tonight. Delicious :-)

We're 100m from the highway and it sounds as though the passing trucks are much closer. Plus, the power generator is noisy. I expect that Deb will have trouble sleeping. I expect that I shall sleep like a log.

Now it's time to press send... but actual sending will wait... until we have internet again.

Nick Lethbridge    /    Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting    /   Problems? Solved.
   ===

When all else fails, have someone else read the instructions" … per Ginger Meggs