Warwicks Wander Our Great South Land: Part 6—From Busselton to Bruce Rock by Steve:

From Busselton, which we left around 10.00 am—this seems to be the time we normally get away from a place, which is far later than almost everyone else—we drove through Capel and towards Donnybrook, where we stopped for the chemist and the nearby bakery where we ordered a coffee and lunch—Val had a fruit salad and I had honey pork and rice, which we ate in the park over the road. It was very delicious. Leaving Donnybrook we headed in the wrong direction, so very quickly made a u-turn towards Mumballup where we turned as we made our way to and then through Collie. Just driving through this lovely little town brought back memories of the rain, a lovely quiet caravan park with a friendly manager, the Church of Christ that we had attended on the Sunday and the Collie River Trail parkrun—my first parkrun after straining my hamstring at Champion Lakes the previous week. We found the Collie-Williams Road and headed towards Williams, but turned off at the Quindanning-Darkin Road and followed that until we reached Boddington, where we pulled into the RV parking area behind the Anzac Memorial. Along the way we had driven through forest reserves, pine plantations and beautiful pastures for both sheep and cattle, with a few crops as well and at Quindanning there was the wonderful St Boniface Anglican Church which we could enter. Val was so impressed with the acoustics. How this small church building resonated with her rendition of “Thine be the glory’. Services here appear to be very irregular, with the last one held on 31^st March while we passed through in late August.

St Boniface Anglican Church, Quindanning

Val singing "Thine be the Glory' in St Boniface Anglican Church, Quindanning

As we neared our destination we saw what looked like clear felling near the top of a hill, only to find out further down the road that it was a bauxite mine—we had no idea that bauxite was mined anywhere except in the Top End. After setting up camp for our one night stay we had a cuppa and then went for a walk. We were going to go into town to the local IGA but saw a bridge under which the track in front of our van passed, so we took that. What a wise decision that turned out to be for we found donkey orchids and Yellow Sun Orchids in one spot. Not having a camera we intended to return there the next day before we set off. Our walk continued further along the Hotham River until we saw a man on the track spraying weeds—that was our signal to return along another track. We kept going passed the RV parking area, which we shared with another van, into town for the toilets and IGA. Along the way we saw lots of statues. On our walk down the main street we discovered that there is a gold mine in the area with a long life expectancy, so that will be good for the community for a few more years. Several times during that night I could hear magpies melodiously warbling away. What a marvellous day we have had on our drive from Busselton to Boddington.

RV Parking Area at Boddington

The next morning, even before we had had our cuppa I went for my run, starting with a short warm up. Then it was the early edition of RunClub @ Boddington. It was just amazing to watch the mist hovering over the Hotham River at the dam that had been put in by the Lions Club, and sad to read that one of the men involved in the building of it had earlier lost two sons in a drowning accident there. I was pleased with my effort and surprised at how easily I was running except for the fact that I was tiring, not being used to running at this pace. Even before we had finished our breakfast we spent time with the couple in the other van, and I realised that I am more of a goal oriented person rather than a people person, as I was thinking of what needed to be done. I’m going to have to learn to put people first. We got everything set up for leaving then walked up to the weir for Val to take photos of the statues around town before dropping into the Rusty Camp Oven Cafe for a coffee. The statues around here are simply amazing for this community that prides itself as the WA Sculpture Town. We then walked out to find the Lemon Scented Sun Orchids we had seen the day before—I had mentally noted their location on my return leg of this morning’s run—before returning to the van to set off. This walk made me realise how much my running has been affected by my time off, as my legs continued to be sore as I walked behind Val who set off at a cracking pace.


Sundew

Lemon-scented Sun Orchid

Rodeo Sculpture in Boddington

One of six Season Sculptures in Boddington

ANZAC Sculpture in Boddington

Sculpture in Boddington

Our first stop after leaving Boddington was at Wandering so we could get a selfie of the two of us Wandering Warwicks standing in front of the entry sign to the town of Wandering. While Val sat in the car I walked to the little Church of St Martin Anglican Church. I was able to go inside and found a very plain building with the furniture covered in cloths to protect it from the dust. This would be a necessity because they only meet every fourth Sunday and the corrugated iron roof is not lined.

Wandering Warwicks detoured to Wandering for this photo

Church of St Martin Anglican Church, Wandering

Continuing our drive we made it to Congelin Campground where, after a few attempts, I managed to back the van with a left-hand turn into a spot. I couldn’t fully get it level, but it is only for one night. There was no place to put the $14 camping fee, as you have to do it by phone or post—but we have no phone connection so we will have to post our fee when we get to a town along the way. Following lunch and a cuppa we went for a walk along the old Congelin siding and were amazed at the orchids that were on display. There were Pink Fairy, Blue Fairy, White Fairy, Lemon Scented Sun and one Spider. We also enjoyed the history of the area that had been preserved. That night we had a fire going in the fire pit—and there was also a small amount of firewood available to add to what we have been carting around with us.

Blue Fairy Orchid

White Fairy Orchid

Cowslip Orchid

Little Pink Fairy Orchid

Snail Orchid

Greenhood Orchid

Shingleback

Donkey Orchid

Spider Orchid

Lemon-scented Sun Orchid

Congelin Campground

The next morning I was up well before Val, so, putting on my jacket, I went for a walk around the campground looking for more orchids—specifically spider orchids, but found no more of them. We had a late morning, only getting away at about 10.45 am. We wound our way through further Dryandra Reserve areas and farmland—though it is the edge of the wheat belt there were still plenty of sheep and cattle on land that looked to be of good quality. We pulled into Narrogin so we could pay for the last night’s camping at Parks and Wildlife. It was in an out of the way place and when we drove in it appeared to be impossible to park the van. While paying, a young fellow asked us for our opinion on signage for this administration site in regards to vehicles towing vans. We were happy to share that and also make a suggestion for the caravan campground at Congelin. Then it was to find the Dump Point, which caused me a bit of angst in the way of a street that had a no exit sign at the end so I had to, with Val’s expert guidance, back down the street to find another way out; and then getting close to the Dump Point to drain the grey water tank only to find it locked. We were able to get the key but, being on a slope, I could not empty the tank, only the cassette. We refueled and then stopped in a nearby street so Val could upload her runs and I went a couple of blocks to get us a coffee and myself a piece of rocky road. We drove onto Wickepin and booked into the council run caravan park for $22 for the night. After setting up we had lunch and then I went for a short run. I put a load through the free washing machine while I had a shower and then hung it up in the wind while we went for a lovely walk around the trail they had built. Wickepin’s claim to fame is Albert Facey, author of “A Fortunate Life” though he and his family walked off the farm and left the district in 1934 to move back to Perth because, not only had the Depression led to low wool and wheat price, but there was also a devastating mouse plague.

The Old Lock-Up, Wickipen

Railway Traffic Office, Wickipen

Children's Sculptures, Wickipen

Bert Facey's old Home, Wickipen

In honour of Bert Facey's Brother, Wickipen

In honour of a Trooper from the 1st Australian Camel Battalion, Wickipen

ANZAC Memorial, Wickipen

It had been wet and windy during the night with more expected the following day, so we opted to have another day here in Wickepin and use the time on power to process photos and for me to start Val’s tax return. Thus the day passed uneventfully, except for the small load of washing I put through that I had to rescue from the line and put under cover near the laundry on a number of occasions until it was all dry. But I did get some photos of an emu that was in a paddock over the road and some honeyeaters that were busily chirping away in the trees around us. We did go for a late walk around town and then into one shop for a milkshake (thin, almost watered down at that) and to the grocery store for a couple of things. The smallness of this town is seen by the scarcity of products in both places.

Emu, Wickipen

Yellow-plumed Honeyeater

It was strange not being woken to our phone alarms reminding us that it was 6.00 am on a Saturday and time to get moving to attend parkrun. There’s just nothing at all in these regions of WA, and it is something we will have to get used to next year when we make our way south from Darwin to Perth. After breakfast it was packing up and heading up to Yealering where we stopped at the lake and went for a walk along a sealed path that soon became gravel, sand and wet clay, which clung to our shoes, till we could go no further so we turned around to retrace our steps. We walked over the road to the Yealering Store-cum-Post Office-cum-Newsagent and bought ourselves a bottle of ginger beer, there being no coffee available. Driving back through the Town Centre left me feeling depressed at the state of the old houses, though on the road to Corrigin there were newer ones and we had seen some people playing golf on their course. There was a United Community Church that looked not too old, but the general feeling I had was one of sadness at the condition of a town that appears to be declining. As we were pulling into Corrigin there was a galah on the road trying to get its mate to get up—but the mate had been killed by road traffic. My mind immediately turned to the movie “Australia” and the comment that was made to justify taking half-caste children away from their mothers in that Aborigines don’t have feelings and that this was proven by science. I found it incredibly sad that our nation had thought that way. Having had lunch in Corrigin we turned our thoughts to Bruce Rock where we planned to pull into the RV Friendly Stop for the night. Along the way I continued to gaze at the various patchworks of crops; at the way farmers would sow their crops around rocks and bands of trees; at the saltpans, but not knowing if these were naturally occurring as with Lake Grace or were the result of clear felling for farming; at the wonderful looking crops of different types; at the trees lining the roadside. We had been traversing gently rolling hills. On the way into town we passed a dog cemetery! I had a lovely Messenger request from someone wanting to know if she could use one of my bird photos for a painting and, if so, could I forward her a high resolution photo. While Val was on her computer I went for a walk into the Town Centre, which looked lifeless with a number of shops closed down and not many still operating. There were quite a number of war memorials around town so that this is one of the most comprehensive and all-encompassing War Memorial I have ever seen: one specifically commemorating women; another to the Fuzzy-Wuzzy Angels; and others to the Salvation Army and Red Cross. Old bikes were scattered around town, each with a sign on them. I could only suppose that they were for a show/fair that might be coming up.