We left Mullawa and headed down the inland route towards Perth. We've given up on seeing the plentiful wild flowers that we had hoped for but appreciated the random small patches of flowers we did see. Everyone was telling us this was a bad year and the stunted grain crops we saw told the same story. We were surprised though to see the huge piles of grain along the way that had already been harvested this year. We can only imagine what a good year would produce.

As we travel through Western Australia's wheat belt our next stop was Mingenew, another small country town. We stayed at the caravan park and along with one other vehicle, we were the only travellers. The other campers were workers during this harvest time. One day we drove to the Coalseam Conservation Park where we drove and walked around the area. Everywhere was so dry and the campgrounds held little appeal for us but I'm sure in a good year for rainfall and wild flowers, it's a different story. We also climbed to the top of the lookout just out of town which was a bit of a scramble, having to climb up and over big rocks for some of the walk. It was surprising to see benches set out along the walk at the top and I wondered who had carried and set these up in this place. That evening we enjoyed fish and chips at the caravan park along with the workers and locals.

Our next stop was a free camp (by donation) at Three Springs where we stayed for 3 nights. It was a big area and with toilets and hot showers it's a popular place for travellers, especially with those who have a more basic setup than ours. Again another small town with an Op shop where we bought a few more books that we like to read. We drove out to the Talc mine lookout and saw where approximately 120,000 tons of talc a year is processed.

After Three Springs we drove further inland by about 60 kms to Perenjori, a hard name to pronounce! (Sounds like Perinjury) Again another small town with not too much to see but we did pick mulberries from the community garden. I'm not sure if it's the time of the year or if these places are always this quiet. We did have a good chat with the lady in the hardware store though who just happened to have an op shop out the back and we enjoyed a good Tuesday night special at the pub of a $15 T Bone steak meal.

From Perenjori we went to Latham and had a night at the free camp there. This town seems to be the smallest that we've driven through and that's saying something! We met a lady at the free camp who now lives in Perth but was back for the weekend having organised a 100 year anniversary of the school and a commemoration of a 96 year old local woman who had recently died. There was a plaque been laid to remember this lady who did so much for her community.

Next stop Dalwallinu, and at risk of repeating myself, another small country town. We stayed here at the caravan park for a few days while we explored the town and surrounding area. There was quite a lot of large businesses here but all mainly farming related. We drove a big loop out to Kalannie, stopping at Petrudor Rocks along the way. No camping at this place but a big picnic area. We drove around Kalannie and only saw two people and they were the staff at the IGA supermarket. From here we drove back to Dalwallinu by another route and made a point of finding the old Rabbit Proof Fence along the way. No longer intact but it served it's purpose back in the day. Chris managed to get in a few games of golf, one in both Perenjori and Three Springs and two at Dalwallinu.

From Dalwallinu we went to New Norcia which is not actually the name of the suburb but the name of the large area of land on which is the only working monastery in Australia. We stayed behind the roadhouse on power but no water hook up for $15 a night. Only expecting to stay one maybe two nights, we stayed four in total. We attended an evening service in the chapel along with the five remaining monks and Chris noticed that the song books we were holding were printed in the UK, in the city of Norwich where I was born. We did the guided tour of the monastery on the Saturday morning and listen to Father Robert play both the large impressive organ and the piano in the church. A musician in a previous life, he certainly knew how to play. The cost of the tour included entry into the museum and we could enter as many time as we liked while we staying here. Hence why we stayed four nights. There was a lot to see and read here and although we are not religious people it was very interesting with so much history. The museum included the history of the monastery and stories of the monks, a couple of art galleries with pieces from well known artists, the aboriginal history which was not all good and the stories of the old boys and girls colleges of the time. We did the river walk and wandered again around the grounds, finding the old cemetery and the monument in reference to the wrongs done to the aboriginals at the time. We enjoyed the bread that's still made at the monastery and the very friendly people who worked there. I'm sure the memories of New Norcia will stay with us as we remember them fondly.

Next stop, Bindoon. We camped along side the oval in town and next to two German backpackers who were working at the local fruit packing shed. Both nice quiet young guys who kept us supplied in plums and mandarins. We looked around the Heritage museum and then wandered over to both the craft centre and the men's shed. At all three places we enjoyed the company of friendly locals. Driving back to our van we called at a roadside stall and stocked up on more locally grown fruit and veg.

One day we drove to Toodyay about 50kms from Bindoon. We looked around the town including the impressive Christmas shop and then on to the lookout. Another day we drove the loop of the area through Gin Gin and out to the Local Goat, a small family run goat's cheese business. We were able to sample all the cheeses and ice creams and probably spent more than we should on cheeses to take with us. While we were there we met three other couples who were on a mystery picnic, first stop the Local Goat. They get a clue at each stop along the way and collect food items as they go. They finish up with a great picnic in a beautiful setting while seeing maybe a part of the country where they haven't seen before.

We have now hit "civilisation" again when we booked into The Discovery Park at Swan Valley, only 50kms from Perth and back in the hustle and bustle of the city traffic. We spent a while here looking at new caravans and decided that there weren't any that we liked better than the one we already have. This is just as well as the only one that came anywhere near close to our liking cost $150,000. We saw a couple picking up their new van (the $150,000 one) and as luck would have it, they later parked next to us at the caravan park. We chatted and were happy to share their pleasure in the new van. May they enjoy their van and travels as much as we do.

Wundowie free camp is the next stop and back in the countryside again where we stay one night spending the day reading our books under the shaded BBQ area of a very well laid out area. We met the local business man who is responsible for setting up this camp and listen to his plans to extend the area. As we talked he was measuring up for new benches to be added. The next day we drove around the area before later heading to Beechina.

Now we are here at Beechina, a small suburb that nobody seems to have heard of. It's near the town of Chidlow and we are here to look after some chickens for a week. It's not really a Housesit as we are still staying in our van but we're on power so can enjoy the aircon in the very high temperatures that we are experiencing at the moment. Chris is watering the veggie garden and plants while it's my job to feed the chickens. The fresh eggs we are enjoying are a special treat!

As we are coming to the end of November, Christmas will be on us before we know it so I will take this opportunity to send our Christmas wishes to everyone (if anyone!) who is reading this. Good health and happiness to you all and have a great 2024.