CSR- smelly boy, muddy cruiser and solo camp spots !

CSR –Well 6 to Wiluna.

With the Breakaways of Lorna Glen behind us, we were now motoring down Granite Peak rd with the mighty CSR on our minds. The anticipation was killing me, and there was smiles all round as we were about to hit a the track that we had read and dreamed about for so long. Even though it was only from Well 6 back to the big W, we didn’t care!

The Granite Peak sign appeared, we hooked a left and before we knew it we were at the stations homestead. After a quick mag to the station owners, Lee reluctantly handed over his twenty bucks, (his ice cream money), I only had a fifties, and we were truckin toward the CSR.

About 30 minutes into the drive Lee yelled out, I quote “WHAT THE HECK”, it was the biggest bull we’d ever seen. He was watching over his harem as they drank at a feeding station! I kid you not, he was bigger than a patrol and probably had more grunt! LOL.

And so it was upon us, the sign to Well 5 and the CSR. A little further on, we arrived at Well 5, greeted by a family from Sydney waiting for a crew that had left from Wiluna. Their plan was to camp at Well 6 with a party of 5 vehicles and instantly our conversation turned to photos of the well, hope ya mates turn up and we’ll see ya there! So we piled back in the cruiser and hit the CSR for well 6.

We spotted the tree tops and pulled into the oasis that is Pierre Springs. There was a couple of vehicles set up, but plenty of room for us to pick a primo spot with a fire pit right near the well.
Lee burst out of the car a proceeded to climb every tree he could scramble up whilst Ren and I cracked a tinny and immersed ourselves in the surroundings. This really was a top spot, and I realized why so many told me it was their fave camping spot on the CSR.
With everything unpacked, it was time to get dinner on the fire and sit back, enjoy the sunset, birds rambling in the gums and soak it all in! We ate, and ate well ! The one thing I have loved about our trip so far is there is always a coldiy in the Engel and a hearty meal at the end of the day! Bed time was upon us and we all retired together with the noticeable fact it wasn’t as cold as Lorna Glen, it was a balmy 3 degress !

I awoke in the morning to Lee begging for a morning snuggle, and as I gathered all of my strength to brave the chill and release him from his enclosure that is his camper cubby, it is always worth it, as snuggle time in the morn is what this family is all about. After a bit of tom foolery in the tent and a few farts from Lee and myself, mum was out of the tent. LOL. And getting hot drinks and breaky ready!

We had breakfast, pulled on our boots and decided to climb the rock to the east of the campsite. We made it to the top, had an encounter with a rock wallaby, and sat up top and enjoyed the view of our surrounds, imagining how hard it would have been for Canning to bust a track through such inhospitable country, and how relieved he would have been to hit Pierre Springs.
We read a book, and watched a camel meander down the track and into the campsite for a drink, and make his way north. By now, food rage had hit the clan, and we were ready to hightail it back down to the campsite for lunch!
After lunch, we hit the well and draw some water to fill our black tub, kindly supplied by Dono at the EO gathering, and left it in the sun to warm for our evening bath! The rest of the day was spent relaxing under the shade of the tress and having a mag with passers by, calling in for a long awaited showers supplied by the well, or the quick photo shoot and hit the road groups!
We had an afternoon spa, complements of the well, and sat back expecting someone to turn up to camp! Ren got bored and cut her first pice of would that was worth mentioning, and we had a cerimonal toasting of it on the fire!
We couldn’t believe our luck, we got the place to ourselves that night!
A chicken curry in the camp oven, Ren’s you beaut damper and a piece of chocolate for desert saw us hit our swags with a grin on our face and a warm buzz in our tummies. Until, the realization that I was sleeping on the ground, and the warm buzz soon fizzled out! But with Ren as my trusty igloo co driver, we were soon in a position that would see us through the night and awaken to another glorious sunrise on the CSR.

Curry chicken toasties and a hot cuppa from the billy gave us the zing to break camp and make our way south down the CSR. We cruised past the turn off to Well 5 and headed for Well 4 and Windich Springs. The constant changing scenery amazed us and so did the constant changing track conditions! Although we were lucky enough to only get a sprinkle here and there, rain must off hit this part of the track and it made for some serious fun in the mud! Ratty (Lee’s fav soft toy), was strapped to the bulbar as Lee told us he new the way and was very quickly transformed from white, to dripping brown oooooz!

We arrived at the Cunyu station gate, let a mob through that was heading north, and closed the gate behind us headed for Well 4b. After a look around and a couple of photos, it was back in the cruiser and on to Well 4a when I had to hit the breaks and rip my selt belt off, fall awkwardly out of the pilots seat and stumble off the side off the track. Lee had done a fart, and it was a rip snorter! All windows were down during the committed crime, but it had no effect, his mums mandatory 3 pieces of fruit had, pardon the pun, backfired on us! After he had finished wetting himself with laughter, we continued on our way down to Windich Springs and Well 4a.

We arrived a short time later to a camp spot near Pharis Bore, it was 4ish and quite blowy but my prediction that the wind would ease by nightfall paid off, and by sunset, we were set up, a fire was raging, dinner was in the camp oven and the wind had dropped faster than a brides nighty! We watched the sun set, with no beer tonight, as we had run dry, but I soon discovered by morning, that I could survive without beer for a night!

Not wanting to take any chances, it was decided to head into town, rip into Club Paradise, grab a box of tinnies, before we headed back out to North Pool as I could not eat the yabbies we were going to catch without a cold beer. There was also the chance that 2 nights in a row without a coldy could have detrimental effects on my central holiday nervous system!
The drive down through to the Wiluna RD North was good fun ! With a heap of mud and brown water getting thrown up on the windscreen. Lee loved it, I don’t think ratty on the front bar would have been enjoying it too much though. We stopped for a photo at well 3, heaps of bird life around the well, and made it to the granites for an early lunch.

After a quick stop at well 2, we were now on good road, and cruising back into town to purchase the grog, and head back out to North Pool. Just as we got within a k of town, a ute went busting past at a rate of knots, followed by the coppers and then the ambulance… the coppers didn’t even acknowledge us, his eyes were fixed on the road like a man possessed. Something serious must have been up, and we wondered what poor sole had come to grief.

It was 1pm on Satdy arvo, the ceremonial local was flat on his back outside the hotel, and as we pulled round the back to the beer garden the revelers were in full swing, all of them donned out in their dockers attire. I swear the last time I was lucky enough to frequent the establishment they were all in Eagles gear ! Then again, with a wooden spoon on the cards, I’d give up on em also ! With the beer in the Engel, we headed back up Wiluna North Rd headed for North Pool, hoping that it wouldn’t be too crowded being the weekend.

The corrugations out to the campsite were the worst we had encountered on the whole trip, and about half way out, the coppers were upon us in the opposite direction. “Little accident, nothing to worry about, enjoy ya stay.” And with that they sped off down the track. The next bend brought the ambulance with lights flashing, ambling over the corrugations at a snails pace with a lone driver who never even acknowledged us. Hopefully all was good in the back! Next came the ute with a grin and a wave he was off in a cloud of dust behind us! After another couple a hundred meters it all became evident, a flash new Yamy trail bike was in a mangled mess on the side of the track. Helmet and back back left strewn along side. Hopefully the rider hadn’t done themselves to much damage!

We arrived at North Pool with the fantastic feeling of getting yet another primo spot to ourselves! The place was empty, and fire still had hot coals on it! We piled out of the cruiser, Lee was straight over to the nearest rock pile for a climb, Ren was straight into set up mode and I was tearing into a fresh block of beer. I still have my first image of the spot etched in my CPU, the mirror image of the gum trees on the pool. Magic!

I drained my first beer like a man possessed, took some snaps of the view and got the fire cranking. Another camp oven feast was on the cards, and I was starving after smelling chicken n chips at the Paradise pub! Lee was busy doing some excavating with his dump truck and the shovel and we watched the sunset together, with the feeling of another successful day in the WA outback!

Dinner by the fire was another absolute success, we told each other our favorite part of the day, a meal time ritual for us ever since the maggot could hold a conversation. Lee and I baited up the yabbie net, decided on a spot to chuck it in the drink, said a prayer, and Lee was once again stuffed in his little fart den, and in lala land before I could zip him up! Ren and I were then left to reminisce about the past few days adventures and hatch a plan for our next adventure further north in the coming days!
Before I knew it, we were spooning in the igloo once again with our thermals working over time. I swear an ice cube fell out of me nose that night! Then it started. The haunting cows of North Pool. We couldn’t figure out whether they were all giving birth in unison or having group sex, it was totally bizarre. Maybe I shouldn’t have had that last beer, but it seemed like they were close enough to all be sitting round the fire not 10 meters away from us. As soon as it started, they stopped, and the next thing I knew it was morning again!

We awoke in the morning to what I can only describe as the best sunrises I have ever witnessed. The pic tells it all! Lee was up and in a frenzy to check the yabby net. I was more interested in a hot cuppa so he and Ren trundled up to the spot and as soon as I heard the wooohooo, I new we’d got the mother load. About 30 good sized yabbies, still clambering around like bikini clad mud wrestlers for the remainder of the sausage in the net. It was garlic yabs back at the Laager for us tonight!

We had breaky and broke camp late morning after a walk around the pool. And it was back to Wiluna for some supplies from Gunbarrel Groceries, and then back out to greet the smiling faces of Mal and Jill back at the Laarger. Hot showers and our camper bed in thoughts…….

next blog, helping out at the Laager.......