Mon, 25th Mar, 2019 10 Mile Outcamp, Tarmoola Station, 60km north of Leonora, WA

Strong south-easterly wind blew all night.

7am 17 degrees, clear sky and the wind is still blowing. All the windows are closed and I had pulled up the bedspread in the early hours. Steve turned on the heater to make sure it still works – it did.

Washed the sheets and aired our big blanket that had been packed away. I cleaned the van’s windows and gave the side of the van under the awning a wipe down as the other side got a wash with the recent rain. I washed the floor with rain water then put the carpet back down which we had stored in the cottage for the summer.

Steve took the old ute for a run down to Glens Bore to turn the pump on for a while. He is trying to refill the tank. The pump only pumps water for 15 minutes before it starts sucking air but he is slowly getting more water in the tank.

Lunch 24 degrees with the cold wind still blowing.

After lunch we did our bore run. All good. We stopped for a cuppa at O’Keefes bore. There were about 10 cattle hanging around the old tank and windmill nearby. Three dingoes – looked pure bred in colour – wandered over to the cattle. We thought they might have been after a calf but they just wandered around the cattle then walked along the track towards us. I think they were just trying to find water and could smell it in the trough near us. I spoke and the lead one stopped and looked, the other two headed off in the other direction. The first one eventually turned but we think they just went to the other side and waited until we left to go into the trough for a drink. We have never had a problem with any dingoes we have seen in our travels but we are always careful, just in case.

Back home for drinks. ‘Mabel’ and her big calf are enjoying the fresh shoots popping up around the cottage and shearers quarters.

I finished off my 6^th jigsaw – might even get another one done if it is as easy as this one was.

Steve having fun watching videos on the tablet and dreaming of digging up a big nugget like some of the guys online have done. Saw a great one of two guys catching a huge Barramundi and a huge croc come up out of the lagoon to eat it.

Cool evening though the wind has settled down a bit.