Yalgoo and $30 fish and chips

Lying in bed in the ?? Hotel after another full day and long drive from nallan Station via Cue, Mt Magnet, Yalgoo, Mingenew . We saw small carpets of WA's famous wildflowers, some of which I photographed. After 300+ kilometers we were ready for dinner and a shower, in the other order. This hotel is run down in places but the staff are friendly, the Sunday roast excellent and the rooms cheap.
Back to Perth tomorrow. Need to import photos and get on wifi to upload these posts. Part of the outback experience is coming off the grid!
Foot seems to have enjoyed the exercise.
Another early start. Breakfast of white bread and "juice". The route today takes in Three Springs and then heads to the coast at Cervantes to see the Pinnacles, limestone spires rising to 4 metros. Then we continue down a coast road through Lancelin and onto the Brand Hwy to Perth.
Physio tomorrow.

Rob Vines

Walghana and $24 pizza

The aboriginal word for Walga rock, the second biggest monolith in WA. It's much lower than Uluru but impressive none the less. Famous for the painting of a sailing boat among the traditional aboriginal rock art images. Now thought to have been painted by a Malay pearl diver who settled in the district. Worth a visit, especially when you have the place to yourself like we did. Lots of goats and resting Roos of course, and an impressive goanna.
We then rocketed across the red soil to Big Bell Mine, home to the longest bar in Australia at the time, 1935-55. Then nothing.
Cruised back to Cue in time for the start of the grand final rematch. The pub opened specially, if reluctantly, judging by the old fashioned service (I mean that in a bad way). We had hoped for lunch but pizzas were all on offer. And what pizzas they were! Straight from fridge to pie oven. And $2 change from a fifty for two! Plates were in scarce supply it seemed so Jean was less than impressed overall and decided to take the two non fans back to the Shearer's

Rob Vines

Cue, Queen of the Murchison

Up early after a damp night. Wyn and I were fine in our shearer's huts but the campers got wet. Off to Lizard Rock on this property and then north to Mt Magnet and Cue. Race meetings and festivals everywhere make accommodation a lottery. Take each day as it comes.
Late night toilet stops were tricky with complex lighting systems for the distant outdoor loos. The hot water system is wood fired! Kitchen and dining areas were perfectly adequate. The red sandy soil and thin scrub is everywhere and the dust gets into everything as well as up the nose:(
More later tonight.
5.30pm WAT
Lizard Rock met expectations. Mind you, explorers weren't pushed for landmarks to name out this way. We sped back on the red dirt track along the fence to the Homestead and paid our dues and made our way 70k north to Mt. Magnet. It seemed to live up to its reputation as unfriendly town so we pinned our hopes on Cue, a ghost town on the make with a couple of new mines starting. It is a tidy town of 200 souls at present with hopes of several thousand to come. The local Central School seems new and plenty of money has been spent on town facilities. The old shire offices once hosted a Gentlemen's Club and Herbert Hoover was a past president before leaving for the US and a less demanding post.
We visited the enormous pit left behind at Day Dawn gold mine

Rob Vines