Leaving Pemberton we backtracked through Manjimup to Bridgetown before then turning off towards Boyup Brook, Kojanup and our next over-night at Katanning. We have certainly left the tall timbers behind and are now heading back into the wheat country. Harvest is underway and the weather has taken a nasty turn for them. There were heavy rain falls overnight through part of the wheat-belt and those still harvesting will not be too happy. We also are not too happy as the left wheel on Destiny is again getting hot. What could it possibly be now? The biggest problem is that it runs fine for a 100km or so and then after having a coffee break (us that is) it wants to again get too hot to touch and start ‘squealing’. Lawrie visited another ‘brake’ mechanic in Katanning and he did some more fiddling and again all seemed fine. Next day we headed off to Lake Grace (151km), stopped for gas and the wheel was fine, travelled on towards Lake King and after 80km here was the squealing and heat again. So frustrating. We stopped off the road and ‘had a cuppa’, Lawrie then jacked it up to check everything again and a local farmer stopped to offer help. Seemed the local ‘super’ mechanic at Lake King (another 30km and our destination for the day) is Tonk’s uncle so he rings and advises that we are on our way so that he would wait to see us. Tonks advised us that he was farming 16,000 acres, has a mixture of wheat and wool and that there had been 100mm (4 inches) of rain the other night and he had been in the middle of harvest. Seems now that the grain will only be suitable for stock feed (much lower value) instead of good quality grain at a much higher price however as he said, that’s the way it goes on the land. We enjoyed the chat and learnt a lot about what is going on locally, how it is difficult to get workers as everyone heads for the mines with high wages on offer, and that once the children reach high school age they need to leave home to attend boarding school. Chats like this help to put ‘living on the land’ into perspective. Vic was waiting for us when we arrived and after checking though his thoughts of what might cause the problem they agreed it as a ‘mystery.’ They settled for repacking the bearings on the left wheel and ‘see how that goes mate’.
the 'pink' of a salt lake
It was already dark once we left the workshop and checked into the local van park. Fortunately dinner had been cooked the previous day so I only had to ‘reheat’ which was a blessing. Driving into Lake King we had crossed a 10km causeway across salt lakes studded with natural scrub and still some wildflowers peeping out. The area is a productive farming community that was once part of a land settlement scheme in the 1920’s involving 3,400 farms. Unfortunately the Great Depression came along in the 1930’s which meant the promised railway line did not eventuate thus families found farming out here and fighting the salinity of the land too hard and there are now only a few of those original farming families still in the area. Wheat silos can be found in the village along with a tavern and a service station, a couple of machinery connected businesses and a few houses.
water on the way to Lake King
Following the storm of Monday night we had seen water lying in paddocks, beside the road and dams that were over-flowing and flooded roads as we had approached Lake King. It was surprising how fast the water was running in sections and caution certainly was the name of the game. Leaving Lake King next morning (Thurs) it wasn’t long before we again were driving through water across the road as we headed towards Hyden and the famous Wave Rock. Nearly half wheel depth in places and still flowing quite fast.
looking out my window as we drove through
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