Mangowine Homestead W A

On Easter Saturday we went for a drive out to Mangowine Homestead. When we Arrived the homestead was closed, but we were welcomed to have a look around at all the old machinery, laying around the paddock, and told to come back on Sunday for a look through the old home .  Didn’t look much from the outside, but said we would do that. 

We took some time to wander around the old farm machinery, which again Chris and Steve reminisced over.

This old car was my favorite.As we couldn’t go inside, we left to find another point of interest, water holes in  rocks called Gnamma holes. These are at Weira.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Next we headed back to camp, lit the fire, sat around to have dinner and cook marshmallows . And yes I had way too many, and suffered all night.                           Easter Sunday we got up to a breakfast fit for a king, and cooked by Steve. Followed by Easter eggs from the rabbit we saw hopping around the night before. This was to be our last day out here, so off we went to see the rock climbers on Eaglestone Rock, in the National Park. And no we didn’t climb this one. However Chris and I did drive up on one, where we had a good view of  the salt lake below.  Later we went for a walk on the lake, the salt is so clean and sparkles in the sunlight. Very crunchy to walk on. 

After spending some time at the park, we needed to make our way back to the Homestead for a look. The men’s bar room was very interesting. No women were allowed in, back in the day. 

The kitchen was basic, but the dining areas were beautifully set out, on the uneven stone floors.

A few other things of interest.

This chest took my eye, as my mother had one, almost identical, that I have revamped and handed down to my daughter Kym.

The bedrooms were beautiful, as if they could still be slept in.

Loved seeing this crocheted quilt, just like my Grandparents had on their old ratterly iron bed. Same pattern and theirs was also mainly black. Guess that was why I remember it. As a child I thought it was horrible. No doubt my older cousins will remember it.

     Here is a few other photos, from our day out, a wind driven race horse.!!            At Cleomine.

Lunch stop, at Mukinbudin, and a yummy strawberry milkshake, from cafe across the road. Red Hat Statues. And a few more old wells and gnamma holes. Took awhile to find these. Weira Reserve W A

Then it was time to go back to camp for our last night.                                               On Easter Monday. Just like that the camping trip came to an end. We packed up and headed back to Kalannie, only to stop for a cuppa at Beacon. 

Hopefully we will be back one day as we have really enjoyed exploring the midwest.                                                                                                                                    For now its time for a much looked forward to, trip home to Casino, for 2 weeks. We both need a rest and are looking forward to catching up with our families and and friends.                                                                                                                       So no more entries on the blog for awhile, take care all, and hopefully i’ll be back on here by the end of May.

Baladjie Rock and Nature Reserve W A

Easter Saturday was another good day to be out and about. After an early breakfast we packed a picnic lunch, and went looking for Baladjie Rock. It’s in a Nature reserve, most roads are just dirt tracks out here, and it’s not hard to get lost. That we did, driving around on someone’s property. We realized the road into the park was just over the fence, when we came to a dead end. Not a problem, with a little bit of handy work, we had the fence down and out on the right track, in no time. Fence back in order and we drove on into the park.

Putting this next photo up, I can see we didn’t cover our tracks up. Opps!!Found a parking spot in the shade at the base of the rock .

Ok time to get some exercise, before lunch Climbing this one was rougher but somehow easier, as the rocks were very uneven on the way up. 

Think this rock is my favorite. So fortunate that we are able to do this. Will be a special time to look back on when we aren’t able to travel anymore. So many caves and overhanging rocks, you could spend all day around here.

When you reach the top, the views of the salt lakes below are beautiful.

 we also put a rock on the pile as a memoriam to my daughter Jodie.After our climb we really enjoyed our picnic lunch when we returned to the cars. Note how good Olly is, as Steve makes his lunch in front of him.

After lunch we go to see through an old Homestead. More on that later…