11-14 Apr, 2025 Bush camps east of Kalgoorlie, WA

Fri, 11^th

15 degrees this morning, clear sky and breezy.

Rang Malcolm and confirmed our plan and dates for Steve joining him.

After lunch Kerry sent through the Virgin ticket confirmation for Steve - efficient lady considering she is so sick.

Moved up the slope to an old shaft and set up camp. Very white dirt.

Got to 31 degrees.

We enjoyed had a delicious BBQ dinner and then ice cream - hard life.

Lots of satellites again to night and the moon is getting fuller.

 

 

Sat, 12^th

Clouds came over making a warmer night - had to throw of my blanket. Woke to the sound of light rain on the roof at 5.30 so we jumped up to bring in our boots and put the chairs under the truck but by then the rain had stopped.

Min of 19.7 and warmer by the time we got out of bed. The sky is clearing now.

The sky is clearing as we packed up headed out to the main road. Drove back to the turn off towards Lake Perkolilli - track now has bitumen on it to the turn off into the lake. It is still a dirt track which we followed into the edge of the lake. Crossed over a section of it to the ‘camping’ area. Another vehicle here with some motorbikes. We parked and had lunch overlooking the dry lake. This is where Malcolm will zoom around in his 1926 Buick in October.

Back out and continued eastward to the next pending area that Steve wanted to check out. Found a spot and parked up.

Forecast had been for a hot day and they got that right, 37.8 degrees in the camper though there is a light breeze but that doesn’t get into the camper! There are clouds building in the east as there was a shower of rain forecast too.

As we park the nose of the truck to the NE to keep the heat off the fridge we get the afternoon sun in the dining window which makes it a bit uncomfortable to sit at when we have these hot days. We had bought a small windscreen shade to cover the window with so we can leave it open to get the breeze but block out the sun. Steve pegged it on to start with and it worked. Previously I had pegged a towel over the window which is what gave me the idea. I found some elastic in my sewing kit and sewed that to the edges in two places so then Steve could slide it over the window and it held in place perfectly. Needs a ladder though to put on but can be pulled off easily if we need to close the window in a rush etc.

Steve found some old bottles and a kerosene tin so made a display in front of the fireplace. Very nice.

Drinks outside but well back from the fire as it is still very hot. The clouds are building up so we will make sure we put everything away tonight just in case.

Watched the moon rise as the clouds covered the sky and then it disappeared behind them. No star gazing tonight. The flies go to bed then the mozzies move in!

6pm still 33 degrees in the camper. No blankets or even a sheet needed tonight.

 

 

Sun, 13^th

Light shower of rain at 11pm last night - still very hot.

More rain early this morning - no heavy which is good as we are on dirt tracks.

Overcast and another light shower when we got up. Min 21 degrees, light breeze.

Steve went wandering, I did my my baking.

A vehicle drove past but didn’t stop. Steve came back later and said they stopped when he saw them and it turned out to be Scottish Sandy that we met at Quinns, near Meekatharra, in 2017 - small world. He was showing a friend how to detect. Steve said good luck as he hadn’t found anything.

Had a cuppa and fresh date slice. Steve went back wandering and I did some cross-stitch. I got more achieved then Steve, he just got exercise.

After lunch the sky is clearing in the west though there is still dark clouds to the east. We packed up and moved further up the lease to some old mine shafts and set up there.

Another hot day, 37 degrees at 3pm with a light breeze and the sky is mostly clear now.

By drinks the clouds were coming over again and the breeze has stopped. Still 34 degrees in the camper even with all the windows open.

Full moon tonight but we only saw it for a little bit on the horizon then it disappeared behind the clouds. No star gazing again tonight.

6pm we could hear a ‘wave’ of wind coming from the north. We thought we were going to get rain but then it changed to the east. It was strong and cool so the temperature dropped nicely. Inside for dinner and we even had to close the kitchen window from the strong wind.

Much nicer for sleeping tonight.

 

 

Mon, 14^th

Min of 20 degrees, perfect. Cloudy and a cold wind.

Cooler morning so I worked on my cross-stitch again while Steve went wandering. At least he is getting lots of exercise.

After a cuppa we packed up and headed back out the main road and continued eastward. We haven’t had any phone reception but at one point the phone went off and we got a few messages so stopped and answered those. Turned off into another pending area over some old mine shafts and parked up near some old mines. Steve put the shade on the window again - working well.

I walked up to look at the shafts - not sure how they got down into this one. The other one is quite deep but I zoomed in to the bottom - some rubbish has been thrown down it. There is a lot of old tins and bottles about.

Looking back to the camper at the dark clouds to the west.

After lunch we went wandering - much cooler today which is nice. 28 degrees. The clouds are heading our way.

2.30pm the rain and wind started for an hour but it wasn’t heavy.

4pm the sky is clearer to the west but the clouds are still over us and the rain has stopped. Down to 23 degrees - what a change from yesterday’s heat.

Played cards while we had drinks for a change as it was quite cool outside and we weren’t bothering with a fire after that shower of rain.

Nice sunset as we were up on the hill and the cloud band over us is slowly moving eastward so the sun was in the clear as it disappeared on the horizon.

The sky was all clear by the time we went to bed so we could see the stars outside our windows though there is a very cool breeze coming in so closed them up when we went to bed.