KARIJINI TO SANDSTONE VIA TOM PRICE & LAKE NALLAN

We left Karijini National Park and made our way to Tom Price.

Here I spent my 60th Birthday. Rather than go out for dinner I decided that we would have it at home (the caravan). We had some very tasty fish and salad, and of course my favourite bubbly. I really did miss everyone and thank you all for your calls.

From the caravan park we could see a mountain called Mt Nameless. We were told that you can drive up there and look over Tom Price and, on the other side, over a mine.

The following day we drove up. It was quite steep and the road was okay to start with but was very rocky/bumpy as you started to climb.

The view from the top was great!!

Looking over Tom Price

Looking over the other side to the mine

We left Tom Price after a couple of days. We headed back to Newman and down the Great Northern Highway. After a freecamp at Middle Gascoyne we were about 180klms out of Meekatharra when we got a call from a truckie on the UHF telling us about a young couple whose car looked to be having trouble. When we got to them Arnold checked the engine and found that it had seized. They were from England/Ireland and this was the second "bomb" they had purchased and it had happened to in a month. The young girl was very upset as they were making their way to Darwin for a job. It was decided we would load their stuff into the caravan and we would take them to Meekatharra to see what they could organise. When we got to Meeka they went off and were gone for some time. When they got back it was in a car with a lady from Centrelink. She had organised for them to catch a plane to Perth and it was leaving in 20 minutes. So they took what they could - their car was just left on the side of the road and their bedding and bits and pieces were left with us to do with as we pleased. I suppose for them it was the easiest way out. We were glad we could help in some way!!

After Meekatharra we found a lovely freecamp on Lake Nallan. There were quite a few vans there already and, as the lake is large, they were camped all the way round. We could use the generator without it annoying anyone. It was so relaxing we stayed 2 nights.

These beautiful birds were there. They look like a larger Blue Wren.

We left Lake Nallan and drove down to Mt Magnet. We turned off the Great Northern Highway and onto the road to Leinster. We decided to stop at Sandstone as there was a bit to see around the town. A few k's from town down an unmade road is a place called the Brewery and the other London Bridge. (Nissy - the car - is getting quite used to these unmade roads now.) We went to London Bridge first.

As we had driven passed the Brewery to get to London Bridge, we drove back and stopped there. In the early 1900's an Irishman decided to build a brewery so dug into the rock to form a cellar and built the wooden structure on top of the rocky outcrop and a shaft down into the cellar part. Apparently it was used for a number of years.

The shaft down to the cellar. It looks like is might have had some sort of structure over it.

A concrete slab where perhaps the main brewery building was

We drove back to Sandstone, took some more photos and then back to the van. We will leave tomorrow and make our way to Lake Ballard. So until then, bye.