Heading Back up North Pt 1

 Yes, the decision has been made (for us) by the Queensland government/Health Dept. who would not allow us to cross back into Queensland if we had come through South Australia and New South Wales. It has left us with no other choice but to head back up through central West Australia, come across through the Northern Territory and across into Queensland that way - basically, from Port Hedland we will be doing our earlier travelling down the coast in reverse. Ah well, at least it appears we will be able to get back home. It is very disappointing that we cannot complete 'the loop' around Australia, but I guess it just wasn't meant to be at this time.

It has been a long 10 days of travelling (10 days we really didn't plan on) up through the centre on roads that carry most of the freight for WA from Perth up north, along with all the mining road trains  from both gold and iron ore mines along the way. It is also a good road for carrying wide loads as well - there is not as much traffic, but at times like this where these swimming pools were heading south to Esperance you need to just pull over and let them go. Mind you it is really cold down in Esperance at present, why would you need a swimming pool, let alone 6 of them? This way is used as there are fewer towns to go through and with long flat straight roads they can really move along. 

Our travels took us up through Kalgoorlie, a lovely old goldmining town, with beautiful old buildings built about a century ago.

Our early morning in Kalgoorlie saw the temperature at 6.30am sit at 3.4 degs, but 'felt like' 0.1 deg.! Oh it was a chilly morning. Kalgoorlie is like an oasis in the desert and about a century ago a gentleman decided that a pipeline for water was necessary for the goldminers as there was no water source in the area. Well, he achieved his dream, and the pipeline was built between 1896 and 1903, and the great day came when the water supply in Perth was turned on, but because it didn't immediately flow through in Kalgoorlie, the poor man was distraught. Apparently it took 4 days for the water to reach Kalgoorlie, and in the meantime, the poor man took his own life, thinking he was a failure, yet it is the greatest thing out for Kalgoorlie. It is some 566 kms in length.

Another interesting, and I believe, uniquely Australian,  is where on quite a number of outback roads, there are sections of the road (some may be just a bitumen strip on a dirt road) that is painted with the markings of an airstrip, and these are for emergency landings by the Royal Flying Doctor Service if the need arises.

Between Leinster and Mount Magnet we stopped off for morning tea (and refuelling the vehicles) at the Black Range Tea Rooms. It is a little tin shed behind this couples house and oh my, what a lovely morning tea in front of a cosy heater.

I have mentioned (and you can see from photo above) that there are some very wide loads, and some have a police escort, well, the following one is MASSIVE!! Bear in mind the two lane highway is the standard width of 7.2m, however, this load are 8.5m wide each, and as much as they try and keep right over, it is just impossible to be on the road with any of them.  The Police really did make sure we were right off the road as they went past.

We continued on our way, having to stay overnight at some very lovely and peaceful free camp sites. The main reason for this is that because getting back into Queensland The people who stay in these places are nice and friendly, and have to head back to Queensland via coming back up the top of WA and through the Territory. With this in mind, most caravan parks and roadhouses are full to over-brimming, so free camp sites are a boon, least of all to say the sunsets out here in the bush are something else!

For now though, this is where I shall leave our trek heading back north,

'Til next time,

June