Good Morning Merredin!
Low 4°c (39°F) – High 15°c
(59°F)
We woke this morning to thick fog after a very peaceful night’s sleep
despite a couple of trains passing through nearby, but boy was it freezing cold. First job for the morning was definitely
turning on the heater and then back to bed to wait for the air to warm up a
bit. We knew we had a big drive ahead of
us but being so cold we had a pretty slow start and didn’t get out of the park
until around 9.00am and the first part of the trip was fairly slow as the fog didn’t
lift until well after 9.30.
We made a stop at the point where one of the famous Rabbit Proof Fences
commenced. Rabbits were introduced into
Australia in 1859 when Victorian grazier Thomas Austin imported 24 rabbits from
England and released them on his property as a harmless addition to hunting
sport. Not so harmless, the rabbits
multiplied and spread throughout Victoria, New South Wales, southern Queensland
and South Australia. By 1894 they had
advanced across the Nullarbor and reached Western Australia’s border, all the
way impacting crops and pastures and costing the farming community dearly. The threat became so serious that a Royal
Commission was held in 1901 and a survey line for a barrier fence was determined
commencing at Burracoppin. Six years
later the world’s longest fence was completed with 3 different fence lines
stretching 3,256km (2,023 miles). Gates
were installed every 34km (20 miles) to provide access for transport and yard
traps were also erected every 8km (5 miles) to capture the rabbits by funneling
them along the fence line.
For more than 30 years the Rabbit Proof Fence helped to minimize the
movement of rabbits into the agricultural areas of Western Australia, however
in the early 1930’s drought conditions sparked an emu migration. Like rabbits, emus are drawn to the
agricultural area by the lure of food.
In 1976 more than 100,000 emus gathered along the northern section of
the fence and in 1994 more than 40,000 flocked to the eastern section. Today the fence is known as the State Barrier
Fence and continues to prevent entry of feral goats and provides a barrier in
the event of exotic disease outbreak. Each
year around 3% of the fence is replaced.
We had a bit of a laugh as Shane had just finished saying how the roads
in Western Australia generally have been really good. Shortly after that theory hit a snag. This has been the worst road we’ve travelled
on so far for pretty much the entire trip with a rough and bouncy surface that
was almost like driving on a corrugated gravel road. It is an incredibly busy road with not only a
lot of road trains but general traffic as well.
Not surprising there were an enormous number of vehicles that had been
in accidents, mostly rollovers. One
nasty one had rolled right over the huge water pipe that supplies Kalgoorlie
and the surrounding area with water all the way from Perth.
There are lots of passing lanes and we soon discovered why as we were following
a road train that was fully loaded and we were not in an area able to pass. The speed got down to about 40km/hr so I
guess some people just get impatient and pass when it isn’t safe to do so which
would explain some of the accidents.
Those things are huge and it can sometimes take a bit to get past them –
especially looking at the sign on the one we were following - 53.5 metres long! Roadworks are on the go in a few areas with a
couple of delays waiting for traffic coming the other way to pass on the one
lane that was open.
Along this stretch you definitely get a sense of being back in the
outback with the red dirt and the scrubby bushland with signs all the way for
Emus and Kangaroos. There wasn’t that
much roadkill but we certainly saw a few Emus including a couple that crossed
the highway thankfully well in front of us.
While the red dirt had us smiling, so too did the clearing weather with
clouds making way to blue skies the closer we got to Kalgoorlie.
We located our caravan park about 1.30pm and after setting up and
having a coffee and something to eat I got to work to make a start on a few
loads of washing and oh my there is a lot to do. I knew it wouldn’t dry before dark but it was
good to make a start on it, and we need to get it done whenever we have the
opportunity to put out the awning and have dry weather. The “Chinese Laundry” look in the van is a
pain to live with and while we can get things dry eventually you don’t really
catch up. Lots more washing to do tomorrow
and Kitty, who is quite itchy from the dust in her coat, needs a bath and a
haircut too so it will be a big day.
NRL match this afternoon and into the evening with a win for the
Storm. It was so lovely to be able to
sit outside again and watch the match with a few nibbles and a wine. It was pretty cool by the time the sun went
down, but still pleasant enough to make the most of no wind and rain.
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