7am
21.5 degrees, clear sky and light breeze.
Packed
up then had a cuppa with Mickey and Chris before we headed off. Got a photo of
them with Diesel and Saffron, though Diesel was more interested in barking at
the camera than posing for it. Said farewell to Chris as he will be back at
work when we return to watch the Supercars race at Bathurst with Mickey.
Headed
towards Lake Mason. Steve noticed the sub-tank dash light was on and the actual
sub-tank button wasn’t working so we won’t be able to pump fuel across to the
main tank – really it had to happen now. Steve said he will be able to make a
short cut switch so we will be all good till he can work out how to fix the
actual problem.
We
continued heading north-east to check out some pending leases. Mickey had said
to call in and see the pastoralists, Colin and Maralyn, at Youno Downs if we
get that far. I hadn’t checked which pastoral lease we would be on but as we
got closer we realised it would be theirs. The track we wanted to take was
gated and locked so we headed along to the station homestead. We pulled onto
the side of the road first and had lunch. So much for all Steve’s work
siliconing up the gaps as there was dust everywhere. Then Steve asked did I
open the dining room window – I said no and he said that’s why all the dust was
inside. I had walked around the outside of the van pushing the windows closed
before I did the latches inside – obviously I forgot that one and it wiggled
open. So much for all my cleaning – stupid me.
We
pulled in to say hi and let them know we were doing some detecting. Maralyn was
not very friendly when we said that and said she would ring Colin who was
around at the mine. He came back and Steve introduced himself and said what we
wanted to do and boy did we get an unfriendly response. He hates all
prospectors and he ranted and raved about how they had wrecked things, stolen
things, ruined water troughs with soap etc. I informed him that we were one of
the good ones as we had called in to let him know and appreciated his problems
but we didn’t think we deserved to be spoken to so harshly as we hadn’t done
anything wrong. He kept going on so we said we would be on our way and as he
runs his cattle on the neighbouring station which is owned by a mining company
we decided we wouldn’t go on any pending leases there either. Oh well it was a
nice day for a drive.
We
went back to Lake Mason where we have camped previously. The wind had picked up
and it was quite hot so we parked alongside the old shearers’ quarters to get
some protection from the wind and sun.
A
chap was filling up his water containers from the rain water tank next to the
old kitchen. He was detecting with ‘Scruffy’ who has heaps of leases around
here apparently and is part owner of the Sandstone Hotel. We have heard some
interesting stories about him!!
Wiped
everything down to remove the dust and gave the bedspread a big shake so we
will all clean again. 3pm 38 degrees so we have all the windows and vents open.
The
wind got stronger and lots of dusty willy willies zoomed around us but the dust
was still be blown in as the wind whirled around the quarters. Oh well – plenty
of water here to keep wiping things down.
Made
a cuppa and got out the cards – A few games of Skipbo to pass the afternoon
away.
A
couple in a 4WD drove in. They are botanists looking for rare plants and have
been working their way down from above Meekatharra. They are heading across to
Cue tonight.
Read
our books for a while as we had our drinks and nibblies. The wind has settled.
Cooked
dinner and finished off one of our TV Series, Coroner. Watched a good movie
about the elite soldiers who fought the Taliban after the US Sept 11 bombings.
10pm
still 30 degrees, no wind. Leaving all the windows open tonight and folded back
the blanket.
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