Day 2 McDermid Rock to Norseman

Thursday, 2nd April 2015

We got up about 6.00am to find heavy dew had fallen early in the morning. The car awning was wet through and so was the tent fly. Packing up will take a bit longer this morning while we wait for them to dry out a bit.

Today?s itinerary is to head off down the old Hyden ? Norseman Road to clear some trees (Something we now do each time where out this way and maybe one day the road will be totally cleared) on our way to Norseman to top up the tank and head to Peak Charles to camp for the night.

We?re on the road by 8.30am and not long after (about 9.00am) we come across our first tree to clear. We started off by sawing and chopping branches off to make it a bit lighter and then got the winch out to do the rest. It was quite large and heavy and we had to change winching angles a couple of times as it moved across the road ? but we got the job done.

Our next ?victim? was waiting for us a little further down the road. This time it was two trunks side by side, we went straight for the winch; these two were easier. All done we?re back on the road and I take over the driving. We?re traveling slowish and I spot a Crested Bicycle Dragon out the window so we stop to grab a photo.

Puddles start appearing all over the road, some have go arounds others don?t and some of those were biggish. I got through the first couple with good advice from hubby albeit a bit of slipping and sliding 😎

The third biggie was a toughie; I was almost at the end when the car slid and veered toward the bush. I backed off the power and steered away but lost momentum and got bogged about 1 cars length from the end. Oh well at least I didn?t hit the bush. We winched out ? too easy.

Continuing on we get bogged again while I was deciding what to do about a tree over the road, lost traction and it was all over. Chopped the tree and moved it, hook up the winch again and we?re on our way.

One big puddle had a go around so we took it but the go around was going nowhere.
About half way along this go around I was negotiating the track when hubby said ?tree? I had a look and said ?What tree?? but clipped it with a thump which knocking the backing of the passenger side mirror. We stop and pop it back on ? all?s good. Still going nowhere on this go around we back track and hubby takes over to go through the big puddle ? Huh!! Too easy, should?ve just gone through in the first place and spared the mirror 🙂

Bogged record D-1 C-2

We continue along toward Norseman but progress has been slow due to track conditions. Although there aren?t any more big puddles the conditions are still a bit dicey here and there.

Some of the cracks in the road we saw on our last trip out this way are now a bit wider and deeper, one was at least a metre deep and the edges more fragile than before thanks to the recent rains.

We continue on stopping about 30kms from Norseman to re-inflate the tyres before hitting the bitumen. While here we spot a small spider and get a photo, we think the spider is a Spotted Ground Spider.

We drive in to Norseman and arrive just after 5.00pm and decide to check in at the Norseman-Eyre Motel for the night rather than drive out to Peak Charles. The Restaurant here is named after Laurie Sinclair (Sinclair’s) whose horse ?Norseman? is credited with finding the first nugget of gold and so the town of Norseman was founded in 1894. Sinclair?s is a lovely restaurant and we enjoyed our meal.

Time Taken: 8.08.00
Total Distance: 123.82 KM
Max Speed: 102.89
Avg Speed: 15.22

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