From Kalgoorlie we were starting to slowly travel back to the coast. We passed through some small towns with funny names, Bullfinch, Mukinbudin, Wialki and Beringbooding Hill, once again the area surprised us with its ability to be so versatile in the early        19 hundreds.

We stayed at Beringbooding water tank, an engineering feat in 1935. Farmers needed water and the only catchment they had was solid rock so they contained the water by constructing small walls around the edges of the rock catchment. Diverting the water by gravity into the 2.5 million gallon tank that was also constructed at the same time, just amazing to think that farmers in the area are still using the water collection system today. We had a couple of days in the area to explore, Bonnie Rock and Elachbutting Hill, some great landscapes, hours of wildflower searching and some unusual rock formations.

Through Bencubbin, Koorda and into Wyalkatchem, easy to spell but hard to say. We were working our way to New Norcia, Australia’s only monastic town.

The very old town is run entirely by Benedictine monks. Established in 1846 the town was setup to integrate, educate, house and create employment for the Aboriginal community that lived in the area.

“Doing the town tour introduced us into the life of the monk’s. The architecture of the impressive buildings, the history of shaping people’s lives and a diverse range of local products and produce that sustain the monk’s existence.

Bread from the bakery, all ingredients sourced from the farm, olive oil pressed from olive picked from the original trees planted in 1847 and honey that comes from the large bee colony housed in the old Apiary building and of course tourism plays a big part in their income source.

We strolled up the hill to the grand hotel and felt like Scarlet O’Hara in “Gone with the Wind” as we entered the huge foyer with a grand staircase. We had a delicious meal and of course the men had to try a couple of glasses of premier Abbey Ale, once again made from the old Benedictine community recipe.

Moving right along and heading west once again, we made it to Nambung a farm stay at the back of Cervantes on the coast. We were staying for a few days as it was the weekend and Bathurst racing was on and there were things to see in the area. Stockyard Caves, Lesueur NP where the wildflowers were in abundance, Jurien Bay and Cervantes.

Then onto the Pinnacles, an ancient land that has stood the test of time for thousands of years.