Day 43

Saturday 18th 2015

New Norcia to Nambung Station, Cervantes

The boys cook eggs for brekkie while Shirley Temple goes off to Mass with the monks in the monastery chapel. I wander about the ‘town’ getting the feel of it and a few early morning photos. After breakfast Double or Nuthin’ does a fair job of ironing his fingers in the awning arm but quick-thinking Woody shoves Double’s hand in a wine bottle cooler and the swelling soon goes down. There’s something to be said for the old adage of everything on the van having two uses.

As we leave we get caught up in the roadwork that is constructing a town bypass. The old monastery buildings are being damaged by the weight of the road trains thundering through. This road is the Great Northern Highway (the Perth to Darwin road). 

Hectares of grain fields have been burnt around Moora, this is a method of putting more nutrients back into the soil. We fuel up at Moora where there is an excellent RV friendly 24 hour park opposite the IGA and friendly locals offering directions as well. This is beautiful country with rolling sheep farms in gum tree lined paddocks.

We pull into Nambung Station after travelling 22kms along a good dirt road and Sonia the manager greets us with a warm freshly baked cake. The property is owned by Brian and he has 5000 acres on which he grazes sheep and cattle and a few alpaca. It is also home to mobs of kangaroos and emus. The land adjoins the Nambung National Park better known as the Pinnacles. As I write this I can see the dunes in the distance beyond the paddocks. The camping area is large, flat and well grassed. Water is available and a dump point, there is even an airstrip. I’d like to see Big4 caravan parks try to match that.

Once we’re set up and comfortable Brian takes us out to the Painted Desert in the National Park. It is also a good chance to see his herds up close and the wildlife. The dunes are higher than one realises and it is a steep climb but the view across the district is excellent. The limestone Pinnacles rise up from hollows exposed by the wind. There are sun bleached bones and whitened sea shells of indeterminate age in the sand. Brian tells us that the dunes constantly move exposing and burying as they go. The sand skitters across the tops of the dunes in a blur. By the time that we climb back into the car our shoes are filled with sand. Our hair, even our ears and it is fine yellow sand that can only be removed under a good hot shower and Nambung has two lovely new bathrooms!

After scrubbing up the boys light a fire and we chat with Brian who happens to be a New Norcia Old Boy, Paul and Lillian retirees from Switzerland and four backpackers, three from France and one from Taiwan who’ve just finished a vineyard stint in Margaret River. We are all heading to Darwin.

Accom: $20

Travelling Kms: 159Kms

Note: The friendly folk at Moora, provide a dump point in the car park opposite the supermarket. That’s what I call a one stop shop.