Day 96: Sat 22 Jun 24 - Meekatharra Rocks FC to Great Northern Highway Bush Camp (FC)

Sat 22 Jun 24 - Meekatharra Rocks FC  to Great Northern Highway Bush Camp (FC) (424Km)

11 feeling like 6 Deg C at Meekatharra, clear with a very fresh NNE wind reaching 18 Deg, and cloudy near Paynes Find. We woke to a beautiful clear morning with lovely pastel colours in the sky as the moon disappeared. 

We drove away from our free camp at 08:30am, and drove straight through Meekatharra about 20km away, as there there didn't appear to be anything worthwhile stopping for. Our first stop was about 15km south of Meekatharra as we drove past the Blue Bird Gold Mine. Interested to see what the deep hole in the ground beside the highway looked like, I put the drone up for a few photos. 


We stopped again shortly after 10:00 at Cue to refill our water tanks, not because we needed water yet, but to make sure we had enough if we decided to free camp for a few more days. Here we had a wander along the main street of this historic old town where there are a lot of old unoccupied buildings. The only open business was the Ampol service station. After refuelling here, we continued on our way, with a quick stop at Mount Magnet. With one very disturbed (or intoxicated) old aboriginal yelling at nobody in particular on the street, I climbed straight back into the car after taking a few photos, and continued driving south.

At about 2;00pm we stopped for a late lunch/snack at a roadside rest area, then continued on to our final stop for the night at another free camp about 200m off the Great Northern Highway. We didn't quite make the distance we hoped to cover today, but we're both feeling weary after another day dealing with a lot of heavy transport traffic. Noel had another turn driving too which makes a big difference. It's nice to have a break, and still click over the km's. Tomorrow we are aiming for New Norcia, about 230km away.

 

A stunning pastel sky at sunrise (The best skies aren't always in the direction of the sun)



The Bluebird Gold Mine, located about 15km SW of Meekatharra and owned by Westgold Resources LTD

The Bluebird Gold Mine located about 15km SW of Meekatharra with the Great Northern Highway passing through the middle

The Bluebird Gold Mine located about 15km SW of Meekatharra with another mine site on the opposite side of the highway

Cue - Former Masonic Lodge

Cue - Old Municipal Chambers

Cue - Old Municipal Chambers

Cue

Cue - Kintore Blow. It was in this area that Gold was discovered in 1892

Cue - The Old Fire Station built in 1936

Cue - Main Street

Cue - Main Street

Cue - Main Street

Cue - Main Street and Rotunda

Cue - Old bank built in 1900

Cue - Main Street

Cue - Main Street

Cue - Main Street War Memorial

Cue - Main Street

Cue - Main Street

Cue - Main Street

Cue - Main Street. Sturt Desert Rose

Cue - Main Street. Sturt Desert Rose in front of the old Post Office

Cue - Main Street

Cue - Main Street 

Cue - Main Street

Cue - Main Street


Cue - Main Street

Cue

Mount Magnet

Mount Magnet

Mount Magnet War Memorial

2 more 8.5m wide loads today, with many other smaller oversized vehicles and road trains along the way

A late afternoon snack stop (instead of lunch). Lots of green along the roadside with more rain coming.

The direction we're heading

The direction we came from

This is where we landed today - H1's Bush Camp on the Great Northern Highway




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