Mt Magnet WA. May 29 2018

Another long-ish day of more-of-the-same: scrubby, mostly flat with low hills in the distance... no, wait, they are great heaps of tailings from the many mines that must be there out in the bush. All we can see of them are the mounds of dirt, the occasional road train full of ore, and a nice neat blue 'MINE SITE' sign pointing down each one's dirt access road. We are heading for a place called Leinster about 130km away. When we finally get there we miss it altogether as its a few km up the road to Wiluna, whereas we really want to turn west again and head toward Mt Magnet via Sandstone. Sandstone is only another 150km away and we haven't seen anything else, apart from a growing number of dead beasts on the side of the road: kangaroos and cows, each with its attendant eagle on the top and flock of ravens picking away at the edges.

We stopped in Sandstone, intending to get fuel, have a rest and do lunch. The fuel was a single bowser with credit card facility - simply do it yourself and move on. Taking a rest meant using the conveniences next to a mining museum, taking some random snaps of 'town' and going back into that museum for a look-see. I amused myself by walking out into the middle of the busiest intersection and taking snap in each direction, just to give you a feel for the place

North. Sandstone WA

East. Sandstone WA

South. Sandstone WA

West. Sandstone WA

Finally we landed in Mt Morgan, expecting it to be a bigger town, but found ts only bigger in the way it sprawls out across the plain. The van park is pretty good, but the only coffee shop closed at 1pm. We made a promenade down one side and back up the other of the one block, a side step up another block toward what was listed as 'railway platforms' on the brochure, but when we saw it in the distance, changed our plan and went back to the van! How's that for excitement?

Mt Morgan WA

Mt Morgan WA

Mt Morgan WA

Both Mt Morgan and Sandstone are again typical of the towns out here in the Goldfields Belt: They boomed back in 1900 odd, lasted 5 or six years and then all but disappeared overnight. Mt Morgan went from 10,000 people to 200 in a year. Would the last person out please turn off the lights?

Here's a snap for my bird-fancying friends

Bird. Small. Yellow head. Pointy beak. Mt Morgan WA