Day 97: Sun 23 Jun 24 - Great Northern Highway Bush Camp (FC) to New Norcia

Sun 23 Jun 24 - Great Northern Highway Bush Camp (FC) to New Norcia (227km)

4 Deg C, partly cloudy in the morning, reaching 17 Deg and a fresh SE wind at New Norcia, very fresh all day. First the not so good about today, the return of our battery issues which I had no idea were so dire, following our successful off-grid test the night before. Last night our batteries started to drain suddenly and unbelievably quick, so fast that they were completely dead by 8:00pm - not enough to even power water pumps, lights or the heater this morning. Leaving Karijini early because of the gorge closures and battery concerns now seems like a good call as we are now close enough to civilisation to resolve the issue. With no power, and keen to get going on such a fresh morning, we were on the road early at 07:15am to New Norcia.

With only 227km to travel, we knew we would be there early and thereby having a good chance of snagging one of the few powered sites available behind the roadhouse. We arrived by 10:00am, and first on the agenda was a hot coffee at the roadhouse, then we returned to wait for a couple of vans to leave so we could grab their site to stay overnight. Being a Sunday, there was no point going anywhere until I make a few calls tomorrow and decide if we need to either head closer to Perth or if we can go in the opposite direction towards home via Northam. After testing the batteries with my multimeter, both batteries indicated that they for 100% charged, but apparently, after a call to Greg (thanks again), and advice from a couple of experienced caravaners (who we were waiting to leave so we could grab their site), all indications were that the batteries are indeed dead and need to be replaced. Apparently the cold weather can increase the speed of battery deterioration, which makes sense as its been quite cold. Thankfully we have power tonight, but no connected water - we're using our own tank water, but there is a hot shower available at the side of the roadhouse that we can use. Very reasonable for $20/night. Fingers crossed for a speedy resolution tomorrow.

Now the good...Attached are website links about our stay tonight (so i don't have to write too much), the remarkable New Norcia. A town with many heritage sites and places of interest, New Norcia is the only monastic town in Australia, with its Benedictine abbey founded in 1848. The monks later founded a mission and schools for Aboriginal children. A series of Catholic colleges were created, with the school that became St Benedict's College in 1965 later gaining notoriety for being the site of sexual abuse that took place in the late 1960s and 1970s.

New Norcia - Old Convent

New Norcia - Old Convent

Thanks Wikipedia (New Norcia) for the following:

The abbey was founded by two Spanish Benedictine monks, Giuseppe Serra and Rosendo Salvado on 1 March 1847. After two years spent among the local Aboriginal people, Serra and Salvado came to the conclusion that they could be more easily converted by establishing a mission rather than following them on their journeys. Salvado was appointed the first abbot of New Norcia on 12 March 1867.

In 1886, 13,000 acres (5,300 ha) of land was leased to Salvado, in order to fulfil his aim of encouraging local Aboriginal people to settle there, become farmers, and eventually own the land. However, after Salvado's death, the new abbot, Fulgentius Torres, turned the focus of the mission away from Aboriginal children, and was more concerned with the education of children of Catholic settlers. In 1949, the Benedictines applied to the government to purchase the land, which the government eventually permitted, despite other competing interests, in order to honour the 1886 agreement with the monks. However, the agreement did not include any ongoing obligation on the part of the Benedictines to ensure that Aboriginal people could use and benefit from the land. There were two institutions for Aboriginal children: St Mary's (for boys) and St Joseph's (for girls), collectively known as New Norcia Mission.

More about the history here New Norcia - heritage/history if interested.

After getting ourselves settled for the afternoon, we did a very interesting two hour guided tour of New Norcia. Unfortunately, the young lady who showed us around was giving her first solo guided tour, but thankfully she was more than ably supported by Jim, an experienced guide who specialises in art and architecture. Enough said about this, you can read more about it at the links, or if ever in the area do yourself a favour and come for a visit. After the tour, Noel and I returned to the van for a warming coffee, then I went for another walk around the old township before wrapping up the day back in the van.

New Norcia - St Gertrude's College

New Norcia - St Gertrude's College

New Norcia - Old farming equipment shed

New Norcia - Hostel (now a function centre)

New Norcia - Mission Cottages Interpretation Centre

New Norcia - Mission Cottages Interpretation Centre

New Norcia - Abbey Church

New Norcia - Monastery

New Norcia - Monastery

New Norcia - Monastery

New Norcia - Abbey Church

New Norcia - Abbey Church

New Norcia - Abbey Church

New Norcia - Abbey Church

New Norcia - Abbey Church

New Norcia - Abbey Church

New Norcia - Abbey Church & Monastery

New Norcia - Old Convent. This road is the old Great Northern Highway which passed through the centre of the township as recent as five years ago. I can't imagine the damage that heavy transport passing so close to these heritage listed buildings has caused.