The first false ridge coming into site. The Summit Trail is now becoming an option but still with quite a few kilometres to go to reach the summit.

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The Heritage Council of WA describes the chapel thus:

‘In 1920 Monsignor John Hawes designed the Chapel for the Irish Dominican Sisters who had come to Yalgoo at his invitation and lived in a timber convent school overlooking the town. Hawes assisted a local builder, H.C. Jenny, with the construction of the chapel. Completed in 1922 the chapel, which had fallen into bad repair, was restored during the 1980s by the Shire of Yalgoo.

The Dominican Convent Chapel has high historic significance for its role in the religious outlook of the local community. The chapel has further significance for its close association with Priest Architect Monsignor John Hawes. The building is a prominent landmark feature of the town and nearby surrounds, commanding an elevated location.’

It is kept behind a chain-link fence now so the options to photograph it were limited when we visited.

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The northern view from the Gladstone Lookout or is it the Wooramel Lookout. It highlights the sparseness of the drive north or south in the area. You can find this lookout about 140 kilometres south of Carnarvon on the North-west Coast Highway. A moment to break the stretch the legs.

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The Wooroloo Brook which apparently flows all year was in good flow when we visited late winter. This image is taken a little way upstream from the Noble Falls.

#Gascoyne Murchison Outback Pathway Exploration July-August 2020.

A common sight in the more remote areas of Western Australia on the outback stations. Windmills a simple but effective means of providing water for cattle. This one was at a marshalling yard.

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Noble Falls. Not the grandest or most spectacular waterfall, but still a tranquil place not far from the city and in the Australian bush.

#Gascoyne Murchison Outback Pathway Exploration July-August 2020.

Goolinee Cattle Pool is today part of the Mt Augustus National Park but in the past this permanent pool or billabong on the normally dry Lyons River was used for watering cattle being drove through the area to markets.

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Exploring the surroundings of the Mt Gould Lockup, or as the State Heritage Council describes it, the Old Mount Gould Police Station Group and I came across the remains of this tree. The first thought that popped into my head was a Meerkat!

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Phil Connors, born in Ireland, aged between 50-60 years died hereabouts (Mt Gould Lockup) on 3 September 1913.

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The Heritage Council describes the Mount Gould Police Station thus:

The Mount Gould Police Station opened in the 1880s as a centre for police protection for Murchison pastoralists. In the late 1890s early 1900s, the police were concerned with checking cattle and sheep killing by the local Aboriginals. The buildings consist of the main station, which originally had a separate kitchen, lock-up, stone-lined well and a grave. Iron bars, to which prisoners were chained, are still set in the walls of the lock-up. On 3 June 1987, the restored Mt Gould police station was dedicated to all the pioneers who settled the district.

No mention of the treatment of the First Nations people who were often made to walk in chains to Carnarvon, some 450 kilometres away. Imagine doing this in the summer heat where the temperatures can exceed 40 °C.

Nor any mention of the Wajarri people, who had their own complaints regarding the disruption of water supplies and native wildlife by the pastoralists.

We camped here overnight. It still lingers in my mind, giving me an ill feeling. There is a feeling, a spirit about this place. I was happy to move on early the next morning.

Gascoyne Murchison Outback Pathway Exploration July-August 2020 - #GMOPE 54.

Caught in the late afternoon light as the sun started to set in the west. The light hides the cold and ill-feeling of the place.

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A lone tree stands out on the plain as we look back to Burringurrah (Mt Augustus). It reflects the effect of the summer heat here.

Gascoyne Murchison Outback Pathway Exploration July-August 2020 - #GMOPE 79.

Goolinee Cattle Pool is today part of the Mt Augustus National Park but in the past, this permanent pool or billabong on the normally dry Lyons River was used for watering cattle being driven through the area to markets.

Gascoyne Murchison Outback Pathway Exploration July-August 2020 - #GMOPE 73.

A Galah on a stromatolite at the Pinnacles Desert Nambung National Park.

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The view east from the slopes of Mt Augustus (Burringurrah) looking over the former Mount Philip Station.

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Whilst this tunnel is known as Jokers Tunnel, it is within the lease, The Star of Biberatha, named after the prominent hill where the tunnel is, Biberatha. The Joker’s lease is 100 metres or so to the southeast.

That said the tunnel is appropriately named, and later returns from this node where 3 kg of gold from 550 tonnes of ore. Not economical even in the late 1800s.

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This is the grave of Walter Musk who died on 18 October 1911 at age 60.

Walter and another man were taking fencing wire in a small sailboat west across the bay to Nielmah (Hamelin spelled backwards) Station.

Their vessel overturned and both men drowned. The body of the other man was never recovered.

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The Commercial Hotel, which today is heritage listed, was built in 1908 by FW Gustav Liebe who also constructed His Majesty's Theatre, Hay St Perth, and The Peninsular Hotel, Maylands, both of which are on the State Register of Heritage Buildings. Changes made to the fabric can be identified and illustrate periods of prosperity in Dowerin.

A little of its colourful history:

‘The opening of the Commercial Hotel on New Year's Day 1909 was celebrated in lavish style. About 100 people attended and some 75 residents partook of the midday meal at the invitation of the licensee. (The Northam Advertiser 9 January 1909)

The solid construction of the building was put to the test just six weeks after the opening when a tornado hit Dowerin. The original agricultural hall was destroyed and many buildings in the town were severely damaged, but the hurricane winds and torrential rain had little effect on the hotel. A large, galvanised iron tank just obtained by Rose was lifted off its stand, blown hundreds of metres and left in a battered and useless condition. A second empty water tank at the hotel would have suffered the same fate had it not been held down by several men until the rain partially filled it and anchored it down. But the building itself remained untouched. (The Northam Advertiser 24 February 1909)

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An Australian eucalyptus tree growing strong near the grave of Phil Collins who died hereabouts at the Mount Gould Lockup in September 1913.

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Looking back at Burringurrah (Mt Augustus) from Emu Point lookout as we brush the red dust from our shoes till next time.

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The top or head of the Noble Falls. Nothing to spectacular but still water flowing in the south-west of Western Australia is always nice to see.

#Gascoyne Murchison Outback Pathway Exploration July-August 2020.

What was once, somewhere between Yalgoo and Mt Magnet alongside the Geraldton-Leinster Road.

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Goolinee Cattle Pool is today part of the Mt Augustus National Park but in the past this permanent pool or billabong on the normally dry Lyons River was used for watering cattle being driven through the area to markets.

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The first false ridge coming into sight. The Summit Trail is now becoming an option but still with quite a few kilometres to go to reach the summit.

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Remnants of the infrastructure at the Mount Gould Lockup. I assume at one time they used horses here or had cattle running on the property.

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The view east from within the Pound at Mt Augustus (Burringurrah) looking over the former Mount Philip Station.

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Jokers Tunnel is not much a tunnel. Sadly, I do not know why it is called Jokers Tunnel or its history.

Gascoyne Murchison Outback Pathway Exploration July-August 2020 - #GMOPE 35.

The storms rolled through the day before cutting off our intended visit to the Kalbarri National Park, so our visit the next day had to be quick as we had to head south.

This meant we were limited to the Kalbarri Skywalk. Hopefully, we will get back soon to do at least an overnight walk into the gorges.

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Cameron, who is not the greatest fan of rock scrambling progressing slowly but steadily up the Gully Trail to the Summit Trail at Burringurrah, Western Australia.

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This gold mine head marks the entry to Meekatharra and the start of the Meeka Heritage Walk Trail. A two-kilometre wander around the town exploring its heritage.

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St Oswald’s Anglican Church is today it seems the Meekatharra presbyterian church, the only church remaining on what was known as Church Hill.

The State Heritage Register describes St Oswald’s thus:

St Oswald's Anglican Church (fmr) was built to a design by architect Harry M. Marwood of Geraldton and dedicated on 24 August 1909 by Bishop Riley. Crooks and Brooker, who had a hardware store in Meekatharra, were the builders. The building was also used by the Freemasons until they acquired their own Lodge building in 1915. St Oswald’s Anglican Church became the centre of the Meekatharra Mission district covering Nannine, Peak Hill, Tuckanarra and Garden Gully. In the 1930s, services were being held on Thursday and Sunday in rotation with Wiluna, which had been added to the Rector's round. From 1936 to 1948, St Oswald’s was part of the Wiluna parish, reverting to Cue parish from 1948 to 1957…

In the 21st century, services are held each Saturday for an Anglican congregation that fluctuates between 12-13 and 6-7 people. Of the three churches established in Meekatharra, St Oswald's is the only one remaining. The Catholic and Methodist churches were on the same street, and the area was known as Church Hill.

Gascoyne Murchison Outback Pathway Exploration July-August 2020 - #GMOPE 46.

The "sugar scoop" antenna became operational on 29 October 1966 when Intelsat-2A, the first of the three satellites launched, gave OTC and the Australian Broadcasting Commission a brief chance to test satellite television communications as the satellite drifted to ignominious failure over the Indian Ocean. On 24 November 1966, test patterns for the first live telecasts from Australia to England were successful. The next day, a live BBC television broadcast from a studio in London featured interviews linking UK families with their British migrant relatives standing in Robinson Street, Carnarvon.

The "sugar scoop" became famous again on 21 July 1969, the day of the Apollo 11 Moon landing, relaying Neil Armstrong's first steps on the Moon from NASA's Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station, Canberra, to Perth's TV audience via Moree earth station - the first live telecast into Western Australia.

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Francis W Pearson built the Warribanno lead smelter complex for the Geraldine Mining Company. It primarily operated between 1853 and 1859. The Warribanno Smelter Complex Ruin is the oldest identified European mining site in Western Australia, and the smelter is the oldest surviving smelter in Western Australia and one of the earliest in Australia.

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The storms rolled through the day before cutting off our intended visit to the Kalbarri National Park, so our visit the next day had to be quick as we had to head south.

This meant we were limited to the Kalbarri Skywalk. Hopefully, we will get back soon to do at least an overnight walk into the gorges.

Gascoyne Murchison Outback Pathway Exploration July-August 2020 - #GMOPE 103.

Aboriginal rock art found on the class five Gully Trail which is an alternative route for the first few kilometres of the summit climb of Burringurrah (aka Mt Augustus) in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia.

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A common sight in many Western Australian country towns is old farm machinery. In Dowerin one of these pieces is this horse drawn farm cart from yesteryear.

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Early settlers in the Hamelin Pool areas had few sources of timber or rock for building, but coquina provided a solution.

Excavated with a crosscut saw, blocks from this quarry were used to construct many buildings including several station homesteads and the church in Denham.

Today, shell blocks from this quarry are taken only to maintain historical buildings in Shark Bay.

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Australian gum trees surviving in the ephemeral creek that flows alongside the Mount Gould Lockup.

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An example of the early corrugated iron architecture dotted still around Meekatharra today. I would hate to think about life in these houses in the summer heat, with wood fire stoves going.

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The rather colourful Meekatharra Hotel on the main street of Meekatharra. You can currently get a motel room for $99 a night if you are so inclined. One curiosity is that the hotel is not apparently heritage listed. There is one listed in town but not this one.

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Camping (we where car camping hence the pillow) at Warriedar Homestead. Particularly handy if the weather turns bad and nice to have night off from putting up the tents.

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Why this ephemeral river is named Thirty Three remains unclear, however, it is believed it gained its name because it is 33 miles from the Bangemall Goldfields to the north of where I took this photo.

The river which flows from the Mummil Pool (covers seven hectares when full) to the Morrissey Creek is 56.7 km in length and with a fall of 91.3 m

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Exploring the surrounds of the Mt Gould Lockup, or as the State Heritage Council describes it, the Old Mount Gould Police Station Group. The lockup is located alongside a touch of bitumen. Maybe to keep the dust down or more likely to handle the local flooding that occurs here on occasion. There is a creek alongside the site.

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Warriedar Homestead is located on one of six former stations that now form the Karara Rangeland Park. The homestead has been restored (no power or water) and can be used for camping, which is what we did.

Gascoyne Murchison Outback Pathway Exploration July-August 2020 - #GMOPE 31.

Rocky Pool is a semi-permanent pool of water on the Gascoyne River not that far from Carnarvon which is good for a swim. It does apparently dry out in the middle of summer but otherwise has water for the reminder of the year.

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Getting near to the top or rather first exit point from the Gully Trail to the Summit Trail. The Summit Trail, which is about 12 km return, continues to, you guessed it the summit of Burringurrah.

Both trails are 12 km return, but we exited to the Summit Trail for a bit more climbing with views.

The Wajarri people prefer everyone to be off the rock before sunset in accordance with their beliefs, so are fairly early start is preferable for both trails.

Mount Augustus is an ‘inselberg’, meaning ‘island mountain’, which rises 715m out of the surrounding alluvial plain. Arid shrubland dominated by wattles, cassias and eremophilas covers the inselberg and the surrounding plain.

The Mount Augustus Sandstone, at about 1.6 billion years old, is about three times older than the sandstone of Uluru. Importantly, this is different to the age of the actual landform – the island mountain (inselberg) called Mount Augustus.

Because Mount Augustus is composed of multiple rock types it is inaccurate to call it a monolith – meaning one rock type – or claim that it is the ‘world’s biggest rock’. Likewise, a monocline, meaning a one-sided slope connecting two horizontal or gently inclined strata (layers) is also inaccurate.

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Looking through the windows of the Warriedar Homestead.

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Another Take on the Stromatolites in Hamelin Pool

Life at Hamelin Pool is one of the reasons Shark Bay is listed as a world heritage area. The microbial mats and stromatolites at Hamelin Pool are among the most diverse in the world and show us what marine ecosystems would have looked like three billion years ago.

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Watching the last the of light as the night settles on Warriedar Homestead and the Karara Rangelands. All the birds had now gone to sleep.

Gascoyne Murchison Outback Pathway Exploration July-August 2020 - #GMOPE 32.

Life at Hamelin Pool is one of the reasons Shark Bay is listed as a world heritage area. The microbial mats and stromatolites at Hamelin Pool are among the most diverse in the world and show us what marine ecosystems would have looked like three billion years ago.

Gascoyne Murchison Outback Pathway Exploration July-August 2020 - #GMOPE 91.