Condingup and beyond.

 

Refueled and resupplied, we again headed to Condingup, where we were to again meet up with my sister and brother-in-law who were in the area. After a few days waiting at the sports ground campsite, they arrived and we spent another few days catching up and swapping travel stories. They then continued their way north on the main road.

We, also were heading north, having gone as far east along the coast as we could. Our route north was a little different though. From Condingup, a track heads off into the scrub and picks its way through to Balladonia on the highway on the nullabour. From there we planed to keep our northern heading and come out at Zanthus on the Transcontinental Railway line, where we had travelled when first entering WA all those months before. From there we would go to Kalgoorlie and again continue north. The weather was cooling down as winter was approaching, making the northern areas more comfortable to travel through.

The road from Condingup we were travelling on, first goes through farming land, then it deteriorates to an unmaintained track through the scrub. Long loose dirt stretches with large bull-dust holes leading to rises of rocky patches and then reverting back to bull-dust and sand stretches. This made the going slow, 17kph was a sprint most of the time. This didn't bother us, the country was changing as we passed through and offered up many different sights to keep us entertained. Passing a few camel skeletons on the track, Din finally convinced me to pull up at one with what she considered to have particularly attractive scull. After a bit of persuasion from her, I made enough room in the rear toolbox and we had another camel souvenir for our collection.

Some 55km down the track we came to the remains of Deralinga station homestead. Old stone buildings standing amongst the harsh terrain, the present lease holder has been slowly restoring these and other buildings in the area for years. He stood in the doorway of the main house as we pulled up. A friendly hello and he welcomed us and invited us in for a cuppa and chat. Being a stone mason, trained in the old ways, he was full of info about the place and how he, and friends had worked on the buildings. We had a good, informative chat and he said we could camp up by the dam out back.

Taking him up on his offer, we retired to the dam side campsite, spent a lovely night amongst the towering gums and woke, as usual to the cheerful chirping of birdsong at sunrise.

Leaving in the morning, we we called in and thanked old mate for his hospitality and wished him well.

A couple of camps on the track later and we crawled into Balladonia.

A refuel and some treats from the roadhouse and we were on our way north again. The track to Zanthus was again rough and slow, just how we like it. More bull dust holes and rocky terrain. Days later, the now familiar sight of Zanthus loomed into view. In the time since we left Condingup, except for Balladonia, we had not seen another vehicle, well over a week. These vast expanses of outback Australia, with diverse landscapes and amazing spectacles always leave us in awe, and feeling privileged having experienced it.