Perth to Dalwallinu

So we headed due north on our second major wheat belt trip and departed Perth about 8.30am on Australia Day. The weather was good and the forecast has us hitting hot temperatures for the next few days. Hot being over 40 degrees. However, Tracy did load up the car with extra duvets and pillows and stuff just in case! Some mumbles about cold nights and you can never be sure. We decided to take the back roads and passed first through Toodyay where we stopped to have a look at the Avon River. It was bone dry, except for some small stagnant pools. Amazing that just a few months earlier, Joe had been canoeing down this same stretch with so much water!

There was no flow and it was already 35 degrees and only 10.00am. We filled up with fuel and cold drinks and headed north east to Dalwallinu.

We took the back road to Goomalling and started to see the trend for the next few days unfold. It goes something like this, drive along long straight roads crossing endless fields of corn and scrub and see no cars or people. We drove sometimes for over 100 km without seeing humans or large wildlife.

From Goomalling we headed off the beaten track even further and took the small road till we arrived in the small rather unknown town of Cadoux and saw there was a sign for a earthquake. This seemed like a joke, but it was real and the area had a small fault line that moved resulting in a 6.6 richter scale earthquake that had considerable power. The effect on a city could have been devastating, but

considering where it was, the damage was limited to mostly burst water mains and a few single story houses where the porches ended up disconnected from the main house. It was a serious seismic event and so unexpected out here in the middle of nowhere. The damaged houses were knocked down and the community got together to rebuild, but now the economics of large scale farming was doing what the earthquake could not, and forcing the people out. We stood in the middle of the road to imagine the earthquake and after ten minutes of absolute silence, decided to move on.
On our way we passed through another little town of Koorda which is where we stopped for lunch. Our main amusement was counting how many actual 'cars' went past whilst we were there. We counted one. Koorda is a small little town that you can see is trying to pretty itself up and had a good sense of community spirit especially at the local 'park' where we had lunch. The pots filled with dead or dying plants, along with watering systems which didn't really connect anywhere,

but in amongst it there was fresh dirt to create paths and the shelter was newly constructed.

After lunch we passed through a very small town of Gabbin which is trying to resurrect itself by being part of the 'Wheatbelt Way' tour. This abandoned town had interesting posts highlighting where old buildings once stood. A derilict community hall still stood and was open - much to our delight. We headed inside and Tracy was thrilled to find a very old piano on a less than sturdy looking stage. What was more amusing was the boxes of wine left sitting outside from 1998! We left Gabbin and passed through Bencubbin. A bigger town that had perhaps more success in the grain world.

Along the never ending road we came across the most unusual sight. A grain farm that all along the fence had bikes of all sorts, shapes and sizes in many stages of decay. An amusing, but actually quite artistic sight - abandoned bikes that were up against the wire fence all along the front of the property.

Further along we stopped at some salt flats. These are an increasing sight across the wheat belt as the water table rises. The water is naturally brackish and when it evaporates it leaves a layer of mineral

salt. This can build up over the years to a stage that it kills all the plants that try to grow on it. The water table is rising as the early settlers cut down the trees which had kept the table low. The error is now understood and trees are being planted, but in many areas its too little, too late. The soil is contaminated and will take decades to repair itself even if large efforts go in. That effort is not clearly visible.

The campsite at Dalwallinu was well organised and had some permanent campers. We pitched the tent and had a drive around town (took all of 4 minutes) . We unfortunately arrived too late to get some groceries as they shut at 5.00pm, and the local servo had a poor selection. We saw that the pub was doing a special for meal and drinks so decided to give it a go. So we went back to the camp site and after showering and putting on our best pub gear walked into town. We were passed by a cat, one car and a ute with a dog on a string. It was an omen for the rest of the trip. The pub was reasonably busy being Australia day and we were served by two female German back packers from Dusseldorf. They may have traded on their looks, but certainly not their bar skills. They seemed to spend most of the time wandering around looking for their customers holding their dinner and did not know the price of any thing. The owner was there and so kept the show on the road. The pub was full of locals who looked like they had really scrubbed up well in shorts and a non stained singlet. After a traditional Australia Day meal of lamb chops, we played some pool and walked back to the campsite which was quiet except for the late night trucks.