We are now at Mount Magnet where we have phone service and also back on grid. We probably picked the coldest three nights this winter to go off grid with ice on our windscreen as we left this morning.
I will post a couple of posts in a row so I hope you don't mind......
We enjoyed our night, in the middle of nowhere, at Pinda Town Common. The rain kept up a steady patter throughout the night and we woke to a cold morning. I think around six degrees. We didn’t leave the van until 9am and then we headed around 10km out of Pinda to the area where the Wreath Wildflowers grow. The flowers are very rare and grow in only a select few places across Western Australia and we were lucky enough to stumble upon this area.
Unfortunately we were about three to four days too early as they were only just starting to open their beautiful flowers. However the shape of the plant in a near perfect circle is what makes them so very interesting, hence the name Wreath Flower. They grow on the side of recently graded gravel roads and they seem to like to be disturbed.
Our drive back to the van took us past the historical hotel at Pinda. Up until Covid it was open to the public as a tea house that apparently sold a very good Devonshire tea. What a shame these type of businesses have had to shut their door.
Once we were back at the van we did a little research into the Wreath Flowers and found that the closest wreath flowers, after Pinda, are at Mellenbye Station that have wreath flowers currently in full bloom. Mellenbye Station is not far out of our way so after a phone call we are booked in to stay here for two nights.
We turn off Highway 123 at a small town called Yalgoo and follow the bitumen road for 75km. We turn into Mellenbye Station and then have seven kilometres of good graded road into the campsite. The campsite is very pleasing. There are just two other vans here and we presume it is quiet because of the rain that has covered this area in the last couple of days. We have booked into a tour to see the Wreath Flowers tomorrow and there are also a couple of interesting drives around the 300,000 acre property. Interestingly, although this property is huge, they only run around 500 head of cattle.
We had a wander around the property this afternoon and most particularly wanted to see inside the old woolshed. We saw that when it was a fully operating shed it had eight shearing stands. It is incredible to see the conversion from shearing shed to what is now a fully operational function room/s. From the chandelairs to the fairy lights to the comfortable lounge chairs to the dining area. There is a decent sized dance floor right alongside a fully functioning bar. I couldn’t see where the kitchen area was situated but there were a stack of bain-maries along one wall. It’s amazing what you can achieve if you put your mind to it.
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