Thurs, 17th July, 2025 Bush camp off Meeka/Sandstone Road, south-east of Meekatharra, WA

7.6 degrees, clear sky. Rick come back from his wander as we came out of the camper. The wind is cold but in the sun it is ok. No joy for Rick except for a piece of conveyor belt he can use to fix the mudflaps on the trailer. The ground is just red dirt so we decided to move on to where we had found nuggets on a pending lease further over.

This area is old dry blowing and scrapes so we all went for a wander. I got a couple of good signals near the truck but it was just old bullets. Continued wandering and was rewarded with one little bit. Nothing for Steve or Rick. Rick had hoped for one more bit to get him over 12g. Steve gave him two little rocks that had gold on them that someone else had smashed and left in a pile. He was stoked with his trip and to have found some WA gold too. He decided to head off now. I checked with Leinster and the van park was still open so we suggested he go there tonight so he can get his washing done and it’s a cheap van park compared to ones in Kalgoorlie. He will have about 10 days then to get across the Nullabor and up the centre and back across to Cairns so that shouldn’t be too bad. We said farewell and safe travels and to let us know that he got to Leinster tonight ok. I will see him and Kaylene in October.

After lunch I wandered for exercise as I only got one bit of rubbish. I watched a willy-willy work its way along the flat then up the side of the hill whipping up the dust as it went.

Steve went for a big walk to try and find where he found his big nugget when we first came to WA in 2016 as it was around this area. He didn’t find the spot but did get one little bit on his way back.

The wind had picked up so we stayed inside for drinks - no visitors to sit by the fire with tonight.

Rick got to Leinster and enjoyed a good wash, Molly had one too and he got his washing done so feeling ready for the big drive ahead.

I used the oven to cook dinner so we didn’t need to put the heater on straight away but by 9.30 it had dropped to 14 degrees so into bed to read our books.