Thursday 1st October
Ben and I left home Thursday morning around at 7.30am, excited and eager to meet the rest of our travelling buddies at the BP Service Station at Pt Wakefield. This would be our very first trip without our children.
The weather was a little miserable with a touch of wind and rain. There were 5 cars travelling to Mt Ive this included Chris and Margie, Alan and Ineke, Andrew and Sarah, Garry, Ben and myself. Chris and Margie were our trusty trip leaders. I must point out that 4 out of the 5 cars travelling on this trip were Toyota Landcruisers and one Nissan. Our first stop was morning tea enjoyed at the service station just outside Pt Pirie. From here we continued our journey being amused with Chris theory of how the wind turbines are used to help self pollinate the wheat fields, due to the lack of natural winds.
Continuing our next stop would be at Pt Augusta where lunch was enjoyed and where Margie purchased a forgotten tool that she would need to slice her daily freshly baked bread. As Margie had packed her trusty bread maker. From Pt August we travelled to Iron Knob and from here we would travel the next 130km on a dirt road. The dirt road was in very good condition and quite enjoyable to travel. While travelling on this dirt road the weather conditions worsened bringing scattered showers.
We arrived at Mt Ive in very windy conditions and raced to set up camp before the rain. Whilst most enjoyed dribbles in the dry, warm recreation room and laughing at the amount of time we were taking to ensure our tent would be safe and secure for the windy rainy night ahead (unlike some who ended up with very wet bedding and soggy tents the next morning) proved to be well worth the effort. And guess who had the last silent laugh. Finally we headed to the recreation room and enjoyed dribbles and dinner and many, many laughs with the rest of our entertaining group.By Sonya
Friday 2nd October
We managed to survive the rather wet night with a leaky tent (someone slept in their car) and woke up to another lovely day. The station owners advised us that we couldn’t do any of the drives until they had checked the tracks to see how wet they were. After our relaxed breakfast we were told that some of the tracks were open to us and we decided to take it easy and do the Mt. Scott lookout track even though Andrew was moaning about being cold, wet and wanting to go home.
The drive up to the top was very rocky but well worth the lovely views from the top. We then headed back to camp for lunch.After lunch some of the ladies decided to try their hand at driving so we took the ring road around Mt Scott. In the afternoon Jackie arrived to join us and Alan took the opportunity to undirty the outside of his car. He didn’t wash it though as this would be frowned upon. Overall it was a great day which ended with drinks in the recreation room. While we were enjoying our drinks, some of the other guests at the park were cooking up some fish and had heaps to spare so they shared their fish with us. This was a great treat for everyone. Thanks everyone for another great trip.
Chris and Margie
Saturday 3rd October
With only a short shower of rain during the night we had no more leaks. Chris and Margie looked well rested after their night of passion in the Shearers Quarters.
The drive for the morning was the Billy Can Track. Some of the girls had a turn at driving - there were some quite steep ups and downs with rocks - but we all met the challenge and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Our fearless leaders Chris and Margie aided by Alan, Ben and Gary moved numerous branches from across the track. Chris gave a stern warning to all that he needed to know when photos were being taken so that he could suck his stomach in. You then have 30 seconds in which to take your photo.
It was then back to camp for lunch and socialising.In the afternoon we drove out to view Kath's Castle - a formation of Rhyolite columns, this was also the very pleasant venue for "dribbles". Then onto The Embankment - a dam wall built in the 1800's. Next was the stunning Lake Gairdner, where we cooked our tea. The lake had about 15 mm of water on the surface of the salt, which beautifully reflected the hills, clouds and sunset. A very different experience to when we saw it dry after summer earlier this year. We then made our way back to camp for goodnight drinks.
Points of Interest were:
- Margie having "words" with Andrew about the difference between woolly pigs and sheep.
- Knickerless (formerly know as Ninja, formerly known as Sonya) with quote of the day "I don't nag, I chat".
- We found out that Ben CAN walk on water.
- Gary, lost without Cathy, left his frying pan back at camp and had to wait to borrow one to cook his tea.
- BEWARE OF CHOCOLATE MINTIES
by Sarah & Andrew
Saturday 5th OctoberMonday morning saw the departure of Gary and Jacquie. The rest of us tackle The Flight Path Track. Another one of Mt. Ives scenic tracks. Today was to be ladies day! As the departure hour neared realization started to set in that the men were going to hand over their pride and joy to women drivers!! So with the sound of screaming engines crunching and clucking of gear boxes and the smell off burning clutches we headed off. The track was moderately challenging the girls negotiated rocky creek crossings steep inclines and steep descents, at times some vehicles only had three wheels on the ground.
The girls did exceptionally well. Nice scenery a long the whole of the track with plenty of different types of vegetation and animal life. When we arrived back at camp Ben and Alan decided to make scones in their camp ovens, what started out to be a learning experience ended in a competition. After a group tasting it was decided there was not much difference and declared equal.
Sonya would not have it and declared Ben's were better (BUT WHO ENDED UP WITH A BELLY ACHE IN THE MORNING.) Towards sunset we headed off to the wombat holes but we didn't see a single wombat. To top off a great day Margie made a home made bread in her ELECTRIC bread making machine for supper. A great day was had by all.
By Alan & Ineke
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