Too much time has elapsed since the last blog post. It’s not that we have been incredibly busy. Rather, not much has happened. The soaring cost of fuel has meant only one trip with the trailer and that was a trial to test the latest modifications.
It was 200km to Kwoylin in the centre of the southern wheatbelt. In 1908 the State government was requested to designate a township at the site which would be beside the proposed Quairading to Nunagin railway line. The town was gazetted in 1913, which coincided with the opening of the railway. The following year the Kwolyin's State Hotel was constructed. Many rural hotels had the name ‘State’ in them as they were owned by the government. Apparently this was done as a means of enforcing the State liquor laws and capturing the revenue.
In 916 the residents of the nearest town of Shackleton opted to pay to connect to the Goldfields Water Scheme. The residents of Kwoylin refused and that was the start of the demise of the town. Businesses gradually moved to Shackleton. It appears that by the 1930’s the State Hotel was the only significant building left in the town. This resulted in the unusual situation of Shackleton being the town and the nearest hotel in Kwoylin. That lasted until 1992 when the hotel was destroyed by a fire.
Kwoylin is now a campsite with toilets and a basic kitchen maintained by the Shire of Bruce Rock.
The rea has returned to natural vegetation apart from a small cemetery.
Although looking at the size and age of those interned in the graves I suspect they might be ashes
On the morning of the 25th of April I drove 50km to Bruce Rock where they were holding an ANZAC Day Service.
It was a little disconcerting to see some of the Vietnam War veterans using mobility scooters and walking frames. Others were shuffling along. These were men my age!
On the way back to the campsite I took a short detour to visit Shackleton. The town’s (it’s very small) major claim to fame is the bank which is 3 metres by 4 metres and is the smallest bank in Australia.
Meanwhile Jan has been shopping. She has decided to dehydrate surplus fruit and vegetables from her garden. The Lemon tree has been picked bare with the fruit dehydrated and then ground to powder. Today it was the Lime tree.
Jan has also decided to dehydrate vegetables which I can take on my outback trips.
The other purchase was a pasta maker. Apparently you add flour and water of make various types of pasta. Some of which will them be dehydrated
I need to get on a complete the grandson’s boat navigation system and the rear bumper on the 4WD needs to be repaired after someone backed into the Isuzu when it was parked and unattended.
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