Tuesday 13/5/25.
We left Perth this morning after getting fuel and doing food shopping. We headed north following the coast and first stop was Yanchep where we ate lunch looking at the Indian Ocean.
The Indian Ocean is a beautiful blue colour.
We continued on northward stopping at Cervantes and Jurien Bay. We will definitely come back to Jurien Bay and spend some time here.We then found a free roadside camp east of Jurien Bay.
Wednesday14/5/25.
The next day we drove across to the Great Northern Highway and up to Paynes Find. Apparently a Mr Payne found gold in the area. There is a working gold battery there and museum but is only open in school holidays.
The museum.
Mr Payne.
The gold battery.
After Paynes Find we turned north east and headed to Sandstone 230 klms away. This was a fabulous dirt road as we could travel at 100klms most of the way.
We went past some station workers hot refuelling a helicopter.
About 90 klms from Sandstone we drove in off the road and around behind some trees and found a perfect camp for us where we could have a campfire.
Camping at dusk.
Countryside looking out from our camp.
The pink and the blue in the eastern sky at sunset.
Cooking fried rice on the campfire.
Thursday 15/5/25.
A beautiful sunny morning.
Once packed up we continued northward and just before Sandstone we called in to see the old State Gold Battery, London Bridge and an Old Brewery.
Old State Gold Battery. It is very hard to see the hammers for crushing the ore but there were 5 or 6 of them.
There is not much else out here.
Workers lived in these buildings. Boiling in summer and freezing in winter.
Next stop was London Bridge, a natural rock formation on the breakaway. In the old days the folk of Sandstone used to come out here for picnics.
London Bridge.
The view of the country through the bridge..
Other rock foundations in the area.
Next up was the old brewery. The beer was stored in this cave dug out of the cliff face. It was brewed by an Irishman for the local population.
Cave entrance.
Air hole in roof of cave.
Inside view of cave.
The next stop on our way was at a mining town called Leinster. It looked a bit like the town Leigh Creek in SA. We had lunch here and then drove on to Leonora.
In Leonora we visited the Sons of Gwalia Mine. This was started by Edgar Hoover of USA President fame, when he was a young man. He designed most of the buildings. The actual mine is really huge and brings out a lot of gold each year.
The mine.
I
Old mine head.
Old managers office.
Hoover House.
After getting a coffee we drove the 130 klms to Laverton and finally met up with our friends Keith and Rhonda and their friend Alan who is travelling with them.
It was a relief to stop driving after 3 big driving days. We booked into the caravan park for 2 nights.
Friday 16/5/25.
Today we spent the morning looking around Laverton. We went to the Great Beyond Visitor Centre where we saw a short film on Forrest and other explorers of the area. Then we had a look around the museum before having morning tea and buying some books to read. No tv out here when we are travelling.
Afterwards we walked around the town which didn’t take long as it is not a big place.
Park area near the PO.
An emu in the museum made of wood.
The old coach house which is now the resource centre.
The War Memorial.
In the afternoon we did a few jobs and relaxed. Then we went to the pub for dinner. It was a lovely evening.
Tomorrow we start the Great Central Road!!
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