Day 2 - The Morning to Lake Barlee Rd

Morning Thursday, 29th May 2014

We woke up to a light but very cold easterley blowing, a guesstimate it was around 2 degs and a beautiful sunrise; the colors of life are always more vibrant out here; it was 6.30am. Everything was wet, the tent fly, ground sheets, table, trees and ground. No it hadn’t rained overnight, just heavy dew fall. It was only 6 weeks ago we woke to a pleasant 17 deg with a max of 36 deg, today we would be lucky if the max was going to reach 17 deg.

We set about making breaky and preparing to pack up although before we could pack the tent we had to wait for it or rather the fly sheet to dry out, not to mention our fingers to thaw 🙂

Car packed up it was time to head off to Mt Elvire which is north of the homestead and nestled between the two halves of Lake Barlee ( the second largest salt lake in WA ).

The drive along the track from our camp spot back onto the Bullfinch – Evanston road is about 30 kms and it took us about 2 1/2 hrs to travel it. The road isn’t bad it’s just a single lane road, twisty, overgrown in parts with some washaways.

Not long after we set off we are met head on by a herd of cattle on the move. A couple of young bulls wanted to prove to some cute cows that they weren’t afraid of the big white beast. They stood their ground and one semi-charged us which had us reversing up. Time to pull out the big guns – the horn; a couple of blasts and we were on our way.

A bit further along we came across a small (non hostile ) flock of pink and greys gorging themselves on the new vegetation sprouting up.

Once on the Bullfinch – Evanston road it was a short trip to Mt Elvire Homestead and then a little further to Mt Elvire. There are salt lakes everwhere.

The campground at the homestead was like a ghost town compared to our last trip. The Lake Barlee road to Mt Elvire was a bit rutted, we guess this was due to washoff from recent rains, but nothing that couldn’t be handled. We got there and the view was lovely.

Its taken us most of the Morning to get to the T-Junction with Lake Barlee Road. We gone 33kms in 5 hours far, but Lake Barlee Road is supposed to be in good condition so the run to Mount Elvire Station should be fast.

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