Better than JohnM's WA mid-west circuit

[JohnM]

Is it very far .... Cue?

They're a step of you at the Cue pub, mate...



I have two of these bumper stickers; PM me if you'd like me to post you one.

 

[Daver6]

Saturday morning we went for a little walk around town. The markets by the river were going strong.



Then time to hit the road north. Pretty uneventful drive. The road wasn't overly busy, but had to pass a fair few three carriage road trains at a bit over 50m long. Not really a big deal due to straightish roads and truckies who will indicate to let you know that you're good to go.

However, also came across mining gear like this. You needed to wait for the pilot a few kms ahead to give the all clear. Again, done safely and easily.



We found a little spot to pull off from the main highway and a good enough spot for a lunch break under the only bit of shade. Parking on a slope made making sandwiches a little tricky....but shade was a priority.



We arrived in Cue later afternoon. Our accommodation was The Queen of the Murchison Guest house Queen of the Murchison | Guest House & Cafe The couple of who it are lovely. At check-in the lady saw we were there for two nights and very kindly moved us to a bigger room at no cost. The rooms are clean and the shared ablutions very clean and tidy too.

Now this is where the story of the trip goes downhill. There were rumours of some other rabble doing this loop in the reverse direction. As so, MrsDaver6 and I met up with @JohnM, BrotherJohnM and BrotherPartnerJohnM. We did a little walk around town and then MrsDaver6 and I went to the pub to scope it out for dinner with the rabble and his brother.

Some pics from around town. The old Masonic Lodge.


The main drag with a rotunda in the middle

Now by this stage, @JohnM had informed me he had consumed most his good wine. Problem was, the pub had this on offer


With this in mind, we decided to reconvene later for dinner with the gang and stuck to beer and the famous Cue Burger which was a meal and a half. A good evening on catching up on travel tales. BrotherJohnM and BrotherPartnerJohnM were lovely company. I suppose @JohnM isn't too bad after all

 

[RooFlyer]

Typical scene when a Geologist organises a cricket match. If it had been a Surveyor, each position on the field would be marked by a can of beer. I too was in and around Cue in the mid 80's, although after having met @RooFlyer in real life, we obviously hadn't crossed paths back then.

Ha ha. If daver6 will excuse a little side banter.

I remember when they opened the new grassed oval at Mt Magnet, c1984. Real proper-job, a miracle in the desert. Opening cricket match between town and stations. The surveyor's-offider occupied himself for a few days cutting out white cardboard seagull shapes and putting them on sticks. Come the day, dotted around the far side of the oval,.the effect was brilliant! We organised a squash court to be built, too.

 

[Daver6]

Ha ha. If daver6 will excuse a little side banter.

It's the best type of banter

 

[RooFlyer]

The main drag with a rotunda in the middle

Oh, wow. Memory lane. In about 1983 the Australian Youth Orchestra did an outback tour and performed to a large audience at the Cue town hall (or something - but it wasn't a shearing shed!). It was bloody hot but they did really well. Afterwards, after a little lubrication of fans and orchestra, about 10 of the orchestra adjourned to that rotunda for a jam session, till very late. By the end the audience was singling along ... fortunately we had taken swags and didn't need to drive the hour back to Mt Magnet.

 

[Daver6]

Other than need a break for the drive to Mt Augustus, we wanted to go check out Walga Rock, a large granite monolith. Also home to some quite spectacular Aboriginal artwork Walga Rock - Wikipedia The rock is about 50km west of Cue. A fairly easy walk to the top of the rock with great views. It was quite a windy day. The total lack of explanatory information about the artwork was very disappointing. A missed opportunity IMHO.



Now I know we have some members who know a lot about rocks and the like. Could someone explain to me how these large boulders land up on the top of a granite monolith?

 

[Daver6]

The view from the drone doesn't quite do it justice. Taken in the middle of the day, the lack of shadows causes a loss of perspective.

 

[Daver6]

Not too far from Walga Rock is the ghost town of Big Bell. Details here Big Bell, Western Australia - Wikipedia The hotel is the most intact remaining building.

 

[Daver6]

 

[Daver6]

Our digs back in town. Most the shops on the main street were empty.


Back in Cue, it was time to head to the pub for a coldy and watch West Coast play. An unfortunate loss.

Half time in the footy meant I got to use a cue in Cue.


But at least the sunset was spectacular

 

[TheRealTMA]

Other than need a break for the drive to Mt Augustus, we wanted to go check out Walga Rock, a large granite monolith. Also home to some quite spectacular Aboriginal artwork Walga Rock - Wikipedia The rock is about 50km west of Cue. A fairly easy walk to the top of the rock with great views. It was quite a windy day. The total lack of explanatory information about the artwork was very disappointing. A missed opportunity IMHO.

View attachment 227832View attachment 227833

Now I know we have some members who know a lot about rocks and the like. Could someone explain to me how these large boulders land up on the top of a granite monolith?View attachment 227834View attachment 227835View attachment 227836View attachment 227837View attachment 227838View attachment 227839View attachment 227840View attachment 227841

aha! You’ve found @JohnM’s messages!

 

[tgh]

High qual pics…more…..

 

[Daver6]

aha! You’ve found @JohnM’s messages!

So that's what it mean. Send help. Need wine. Tyre stuffed.

 

[VPS]

Fantastic sunset photos

 

[Daver6]

Next morning it was time to get cracking to Mt Augustus. About 100km on the main highway to Meekatharra. A fuel top up there and then I expected unseal roads all the way to Mt Augustus. Was pleasantly surprised to get about another 50km of seal road. That would be dirt until about 100km from Kalbarri. So I think all up about 1400km of unsealed roads. For the rest of the trip, unsealed roads were somewhere between pretty good (cruising at 100km/h) to slow going (40km/h). Probably averaged around 70-80km/h. Conditions could change quite quickly. Most cattle grids were sign posted, by the odd one wasn't. They're pretty easy to spot if you know what you're looking for.

Onto the dirt


Crossing the Murchison River (we landed up crossing it several times during the trip). The mouth of this river is in Kalbarri where we land up later on.


Mt Gould police station and lockup. Literally in the middle of nowhere with nothing else around.

 

[Daver6]

And after about 6 hours of driving, there in the distance is what we came to see and climb. Mt Augustus!

 

[RooFlyer]

Now I know we have some members who know a lot about rocks and the like. Could someone explain to me how these large boulders land up on the top of a granite monolith?

I don't know about those members, but I'd guess that its the same process that produced Ayres Rock / Uluru. Everything around it eroded away leaving the monolith; for the boulders, all the granite eroded away, leaving the boulders on top; maybe they had more silica (quartz) in them. Isn't it better when there are no weeds covering up things .

 

[TheRealTMA]

So that's what it mean. Send help. Need wine. Tyre stuffed.

Yes! You were warned!

 

[Daver6]

Accommodation options at Mt Augustus is one. The tourist park. You can pitch a tent, park your caravan, sleep in a donga with shared ablutions. We opted for the luxury option. A little self contained unit with its own facilities. Basic is the word I'd use to describe it. However, we weren't here for the accommodation and the grassed area was lovely.

One thing we hadn't banked on was no potable water. This wasn't mentioned on the website or anything else I had read. We had a decent water supply on us, but we would have been quite depleted after two days and didn't want to leave for a long drive to Wooleen Station later with minimal supplies. Therefore 10 litres of water for $15 it was.

Home for the next two nights



After unloading the car we headed to a short walk

 

[Daver6]

Time to relax with the finest QF J champagne and just enjoy the serenity with some noisy, but cute little guys keeping us company.


Then time to watch the sunset


Followed by a coffee rub Scotch fillet and WA's finest beer...the old bush chook before a very early morning (at least by holiday standards) to hike to the summit.