The sunrise was beautiful, but cloud was darkening on the western horizon, and a few spots of rain hurried pack up along nicely. Breakfast, washing up, tent pack up all done by 8.30. We departed the camp at 9am headed for Wiluna 93 kms away. First stop well 2a, the Granites. This well was dug by hand out of solid rock and is 10 feet deep. They also built a rock wall around the the top of the well to stop animals from falling in to it. At the Granites we had morning tea of pikelets with strawberry jam.....yum! Back on the track to well 2 we came across two other lots of travelers. The first a group of 6 people in 3 cars from Mt Gambier heading out on their first day on the track. The second group, two cars with 4 passengers from Keith in SA. Everyone and their cars were looking all shiny and clean and raring for action! We gave them the run down on camp sites and track condition. They will probably end up camping at well 3, as it will be too far to make Windich Springs tonight. While chatting to the second group, a bloke roared past us, obviously on a record attempt. I had done a radio call earlier reporting our position, and he responded with a smart comment, but didn't tell us where he was. Stupid really as we didn't know if he was traveling toward us or the same direction. The way the track meanders through the Mulga stands and twists and turns back on itself doesn't leave a lot of time to react should you find someone coming the other way unexpectedly. That is why its so important to carry and actually use a radio. It is pretty silly to use the radio to please yourself with smart comments, rather than using it to potentially prevent a head on smash in the middle of nowhere. It happens too often for no good reason. The scenery was pretty spectacular with lots of golden spinifex shifting in the wind, the horizons black with really interesting storm clouds. The road alternated between really rocky, slow going and faster bits of straight corrugated dirt track. We arrived at well 2 at 1.30 and decided to skip lunch to head straight for Wiluna to see if we could get some mobile coverage to book the ute in for a service in Kalgoorlie before we head across the Nullabor. We left Jon and Kerrin at Well 2 having lunch and arranged to meet them at North Pool 20 kms north of Wiluna to camp for tonight. We left well 2 and shortly came across the main road into Wiluna......OMG! The road is smooth graded dirt, six lanes wide! A bit hard to take in after 3 weeks of two wheel tracks through the sand dunes! Into Wiluna, the town itself is very neat and tidy. The fuel at the post office is $1.55/litre and as we are half full we will fill up tomorrow on our way back through. We rang Ultra Tune in Kalgoorlie and they were very happy to book the ute in for Friday morning at 8am. A quick look in the supermarket, we stocked up on cornflakes, fish fingers for dinner and a block of chocolate for Jon and Kerrin, then headed back out to North Pool. The camp site here at North Pool is delightful. It is right next a large body of water ensconced in river red gums with their wide reaching branches overhanging the riverbanks, making a lovely camping spot. Jon and Kerrin had secured a grassy, waterfront location and were waiting with water boiled ready for a cuppa. We arrived just in time to see Jon take a dip in the cappuccino colored water. It is about 12 degrees air temp as I write, Jon found the water"refreshing"! A brisk wind has sprung up, but the sky is looking less threatening than it was earlier. At the point the CSR hits the road, the odometer read 1968.6 km since leaving Halls Creek. Will double check tomorrow, but reckon fuel useage was around 250 litres or thereabouts.
Well 3 campsite
Well 2
End of the CSR.
North pool
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