Day 21 – (8/6/15) – Lake Gregory to Well 50, 56 miles.
The sunrises around 5:45 am now that we crossed over into Western Australia. The Ghost Gums and the grass around our campsite were glowing in the morning sun and the birds were all out singing for us.
As we made our way down to the lake, about 1.3 miles from where we camped, we saw large grey flamingo like birds, wild horses, flocks of Cockatoos, black swans and a lot of other birds we can not name. On our walk back to our vehicle, we startled one of the wild horses that was galloping in our direction. I don’t think he knew we were there until we were a few hundred feet from him. He was posturing for a few minutes, but we were able put some distance between us and he appeared to calm down.
Today, we started the Canning Stock Route (CSR) in earnest. It’s officially time to slow down. We departed our camp site and hit the road to Well 51 on the CSR.
We starting calling out our position and heading on the CB radio. We spoke with a few people who found my American accent as well what I was saying quite amusing. All I said was, “Single vehicle heading South on the Canning Stock Route “X” kilometers south of Well 51”. We have heard many Australians making fun of how Americans pronounce the word “Route”. We soon shortened our position and heading to “Single vehicle heading South on the Canning “X” kilometers from a particular location”.
We attached our dune flag at Well 51, not knowing when we would encounter dunes. Today, we just encountered corrugations.
When we arrived at Well 50, we decided to stop for the day. It was early in the day, but we figured we have 3 weeks to complete the Canning, why not?
Well 50 has lovely camping areas that are flat with previously used fire pits. The best thing was that there was no one around. We set up camp, collected firewood, watched a pair of cockatoos in the tree, Ryan found a huge 4” spider (yikes), we went for a walk, and took a “bush shower” enjoying the freedom of being out in the open without anyone around. Well, that is, until there was a vehicle. I was of course all soaped up and naked when they drove by. I was a bit horrified and Ryan thought it was hilarious. I will say, it does feel so good to be clean!
Dinner tonight consisted of chicken, spinach, sundries tomatoes and pasta with parmesan cheese. Not too bad.
We are both sitting by the fire, writing down our thoughts and enjoying the stars. They sure are amazing in this part of the world.
-LeeWhay
Sounds like a beautiful day! Did the car stop to chat you up during your shower?