Category: Beacon W A

Back to work

Time at home in Casino went quick, and before we knew it we had flown back to W A for Chris  to work in the wheat belt.                                                                           I usually spend one day a week going with Mary to help her with whatever she needs to do, either to Perth or out to a farm . Olly the dog is always ready to come along, he is never far from Mary’s side, and I’m becoming quite attached to him too. Such a great companion for her.

The farms are so big out here, and the roads to them very isolated at times. We enjoy each other’s company and always make time for a bit of shopping, a coffee stop or even a photo stop if something takes our eye.

Chris also likes company as well, so I’ve been with him on some of the more interesting runs. He took the float trailer down to Manjimup area and picked up an excavator for the eucalyptus farm, one day. Quite interesting for me to see over the distillery plant . The oil is extracted from the cropped trees by feeding plant into the furnace and distilled into stainless steel vats,           Cooled and put into plastic pods. Mainly it’s sold overseas to Johnson and Johnson. The plastic pods are worth around $35,000 each.Another trip was out to the farm where the eucalyptus trees are grown.They’re harvested, loaded and brought back to the distillery in Kalannie.

They take a while to load, so the camera and I went for a walk around the farm.

There’s always gotta be one black sheep eh!Unloading is simple, just tip it off.After 2 weeks, the work is starting to slow down in the area, as the farmers wait for rain. It’s  so dry and not looking good for this years crop. Chris and I have decided it is time to head towards home. So with one last load of sand from Jurien Bay, our time here will come to an end, well for this year anyway.! I went for the last trip, leaving early in the morning and getting back to Kalannie as the sun set, after unloading on a farm out near Beacon.

Well that’s it from the work side of this adventure, its been 15 months since we left Casino in the van.  Sure has been interesting.  We have decided to go north from here and over the top, which means we will do the big loop as they say, this trip.No matter how many times you loop this country, you would still not see it all. Just a  magic country we are privileged to live in.😊

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.