Log One Hundred and One – It’s a Big Rock

25 July 2024

Having left the big hole we are now scrambling over a big rock. It seems everything is Western Australia is big.

This rock is not only big but it’s very old at 2.7 billion years old. That’s about 5 times older than Uluṟu, 50 times older than the Himalayas, and 30 times older than the Rocky Mountains. Fortunately it doesn’t contain gold for if it did it would have been blown up and dug up years ago. It would now be just another big hole.

It turns out some of the oldest rocks in the world are found in WA some over 4 billion years old!

We have been driving through the wheat belt and you guessed it, they grow a lot of wheat here. The country is flat and the farms are big. Again with the big. In fact the farms out here are huge and since we have had so much rain these fields are bright green unlike the Nullarbor Plain.

We have turned up a little early in the season. WA is renowned for the display of wildflowers in the spring especially after a wet winter. We are in the wet bit but not the Spring bit. It’s been raining here for the past week and there is more rain coming.

Today we drove through forests and there were hills. What a change but still lots of mining. We have now travelled through bauxite, gold, lithium and nickel country.

We have nearly reached the coast and the Indian Ocean. That will be a new ocean to paddle our feet in.

Final comment; it’s obvious who has been travelling the outback recently. Mud caked cars and trucks are everywhere; on the highways, in towns and in the campgrounds. These cars and caravans are completely decorated in thick red mud covering wheels, windows and licence plates. It seems there are two seasons out here, one of mud and the other dust.