Spring 2026 4WD Trip–Day Three

Another cold and windy night.  However we did get some shelter from the trees.  We woke to a grey and blustery dawn.  It was my turn to cook breakfast and as I’m a very lazy cook we had bacon & egg jaffles cook on the fire.  No plates, cutlery or dishes.

By 7:30am were were back on the road.  It would be a long day as we needed to drive 370km on remote and unsealed roads.  The plan was to head east on the northern edge of the central wheatbelt and then turn north through the western goldfields region to reach Mt Elvire Homestead on the shore of Lake Barlee.

It must have been remote as we only saw one vehicle all day.  At midday we stopped for lunch eating two of Jan’s home made meat pies which we reheated in the trailer 12V oven

The recent spring rains has resulted in the desert becoming a riot of colour as the wildflowers briefly bloom.

Mount Elvire Homestead is part of the abandoned Mount Elvire Station.  The homestead is located up a 37km track from the ‘main’ shire road.  It was first established as a cattle station before new owners tried running sheep.  Both failed and the lease was returned to the State Government in 1981.  It’s now a remote Department of Conservation Park.

Looking around the homestead one gets the impression it must have been a hard life 

Main building

The homestead kitchen

Dining Room

Bedroom

Lounge

Station Hands Accommodation

The House of the Lords

We decided against staying the the homestead.  The was no firewood and the site was very exposed

There were some ‘Breakaways’ west of the homestead which we though might provide more shelter and some wood for our evening fire

 

It was to be another cold and windy night

Spring 2026 4WD Trip–Day Two

After a restless night at the Mollerin Rock Campsite.  Consequentially we woke early and cooked bacon & eggs for breakfast before continuing our journey east along the northern edge of the central wheatbelt.  Part of the route took us beside the rural railway line that terminates at Bonnie Rock where there as a grain terminal.  The small township of Bonnie Rock has all but been abandoned.  There are two origins of the name.  One source claims the name of the town originated from a rock formation that is situated close to the town, that was named by a sandalwood cutter from Scotland.  The second source states it was originally named "Bunny Rock" by sandalwood cutters who camped near a local water catchment and shot the district's first rabbits; it later evolved into Bonnie Rock.

Shortly after midday we reached Elachbutting Nature Reserve and were surprised to find a number of caravans in what is a slightly remote location.  The rock has two distinguishing features.  The first is a wave wall, similar to the one at Hyden and the second is ‘Monty’s Cave’ which is a short tunnel created when part of the rockface broke away.

 

We continued on to our evening campsite at Lake Baladjie.  The is a popular location and if you camp in the vicinity of the sole toilet the area is picked clean of firewood.  We elected to drive further on around the rock to find a more remote and sheltered spot with plenty of firewood.  It was Daniel’s turn to cook the evening meal.

Spring 2026 4WD Trip

Day One

Our youngest son is visiting and we decided to make a 2200km 4WD trip around a portion of West Australia as a reconnaissance for a potential club trip next year.

 

On the first day we drove 300km to a free campsite at Mollerin Rock.  Unfortunately the weather wasn’t kind and we experienced cold and windy conditions with some drizzle.   That night I attempted to cook roast lamb in the camp oven.  I’m not much of a cook and wasn’t expecting a success.  Fortunately (for me) Daniel has inherited his mother’s culinary skills and was able to take over much of the task.

 

I had moderate success boiling the water.

We had a spectacular sunset.

But it was a late dinner as the lamb roast was very large and took ages too cook.   In the end we resorted to preliminary cooking the veggies in a separate pot and only adding them to the oven t the very end.

The rooftop tent got buffeted around by the wind during the night which disrupted our sleep,