Easter 4WD Trip

Over Easter I joined the local 4WD club for an outback trip to Peak Charles.   A 1500km journey with the emphasis on avoiding bitumen roads where possible.

The RV for the start of the trip was east of Perth at "The Lakes" which is a road junction with a large service station.   Last time I had an RV here it took me more than an hour to drive out of Perth and I was almost late.   This time I allowed myself two hours and (of course) arrived more than an hour early.

Eight vehicles made up the group.  Three of us were towing trailers or a caravan.  The first stop was at Tammin for a comfort break and late morning tea. 

 

Continuing on the Great Eastern Highway we reached Merredin for lunch.

Old Merredin Railway Station which is now a museum.  The new station is much smaller and far less grand.

I spent some time checking the trailer and attachments knowing we would be traversing some rough terrain over the next few days.

Merredin's main street

Another stop at Southern Cross where I topped up the fuel tank on the Isuzu MUX.  A small fuel tank (65 litres) is the one major weakness with the vehicle.  It's the major reason why I carry another 100 litres in jerrycans on the trailer.

By late afternoon we had reached our bush campsite for the night, Karalee Rock.  Today we covered 415Km.  The route is the red line on the map below.  Double clicking on the map should increase it's size.

Karalee Rock is an interesting campsite.   The urgent need in the Western Goldfields was water.  Especially for steam locomotives.  The early settlers enhanced the knowledge of the local aborigines who knew water collected in depressions on these large rock formations.  The Europeans improved the quantity of rainwater water being captured and stored by constructing a 500mm stone wall around the base of the rock, channelling the collected water into reservoirs.

Everyone set up their campsite and in the evening there was a group meeting to discuss the next few days