Meekatharra WA

It’s around 100km to Meekatharra, established in the late 1800’s as a pastoral and prospecting town. We pulled in at the information board set in a green oasis. Here we find a portable water tap and decide to top up the tanks. We then find the dump point and also fill up with fuel @ $1.93 it’s the last place to get some under $2.

We drive up to the lookout for breakfast giving us a view of the township and surrounds.

3km further brought us to Peace Gorge, offering plenty of picnic and camping spots, in amongst The Granites. We were tempted to stay but alas we thought it was best to keep going a bit further. 

75kms on saw us pulling off the highway and another 14km arriving at Bilyuin Pool free camp. 

There were a few campers here already as well as a herd of cows. We were lucky to find a lovely spot under some trees and water views and so we decided to stay another day.

The bird life here is rife with a couple of species we haven’t seen before. An emu even walked by our camp. One cow had made itself a nuisance with one camper by chewing through his electrical cord! 

It’s not completely peaceful either as we hear the mining trucks pass along the nearby road. They also come in across the other side of the watercourse to fill up from the bore. We chatted to the truck driver who explained the water is used on the mining roads. He collects 60,000 litres each time taking about 30-45mins and does 5 trips per shift. There are 2 trucks working at a time with another during the day… that’s a lot of water!

We do a few chores. Cooked a roast. Used Buster’s oven for the first time, baking some biscuits. 

And enjoyed evenings around the fire…