Monday 18th March

On our way north out of Kalgoorlie we stopped by the side of the road when we saw this very tall chimney. It is from a burner which continues the gold extraction process after the initial crushing and washing of the rocks

 

Further on we passed this beautiful mineral lake just by the side of the road.

There are many small gold mines in this area and this is one of them. This cylindrical container on its side crushes the ore ready for gold extraction.

We passed this unusual roadhouse which was covered in old signs and number plates.

We arrived in the small town of Menzies and went to see the cemetery there which is known for the unusual metal work on many of the graves.

It was also at Menzies that we left the surfaced road and drove for 50km on a gravel road to Lake Ballard, a partially dried salt lake where Anthony Gormley erected 51 of his metal sculptures for an installation called “Inside Australia”.

As we were about to leave, this 3ft long goanna lizard walked silently across the parking area just in front of us.

On the way back we were surprised to see quite a few head of cattle near the road. We understand that they are now being raised in preference to sheep as they are less prone to be attacked by the increasing number of wild dogs in the area.

As we were heading into Leonora, we spotted this wedge tailed eagle overhead.

After we had checked into the motel, we took a drive to explore the area close to town. As we were returning, the sky became much darker and we could see these unusual clouds and the downpour coming from them.