Saturday- 9th August 2014 – Tjukayirla to Leonora

Camping ground was not too bad….red dirt , clean amenities block with 2 Toilets & 2 Showers for both Ladies and Mens.  Plenty of hot water to wash off the red dust.  The Camp kitchen was a bit primitive with BBQ, sink and electrical facilities of toaster, TV, jug and dining tables.  The supply of a toaster, was an improvement on Yulara, where they wanted a $50.00 deposit for use of a toaster.  Barbara & David’s turn to cook and provided a nice meal of steak & vegetables.
The sky was illuminated with a near full moon…….plus the stars at twinkle time in the early hours of the morning are impressive.
What a start for the morning ……need to be up at 6.00am  in order to get way by 7.30am as we had a big drive in front of us.  Everything but my phone alarm had turned back to WA time.  Very dark when we got up and started packing the car and then breakfast only to realise that it was actually 4.30 am instead of 6.00am.













Time to kill, so shower etc and then off by 7.30am

Again the roads were in excellent condition, with near 160 klms covered in first 2 hours despite a few stops for photos, including a large circular patch of Sturts Desert pea.

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Again very interesting countryside with red and white sands/gravel in different places.  We made excellent time pulling into Laverton around 12.15pm, where David replaced his damaged trailer plug.  Time to pump up the tyres as we are now back on tar.

Profusion of wildflowers on the roadside between Laverton and Leonora, which resulted in the necessary photo shoot stop.

We passed a number of large Nickel/Cobalt mines on the way, with signs indicating road closure during blasting times.

Wildlife Encounters .....minimal again a few dingoes and wedgetail eagles, with one emu seen by Barbara & David only but no roos or camels despite signage for the latter.

Arrived at Leonora around 2.00pm and folllowing camp setup off to restock evening meal supplies for all.  Temperatures now in high 20s.   Fuel fill up at $1.65 compared to $2.30 - $2.48 on the Outback Trail

Good camp kitchen with plenty of Gold prospectors to tell of their
successes etc