Miramsmeanderings: Wongan Hills to Karlgarin near Hyden

We left Wongan Hills on a miserable morning. By far the worst weather we have experienced this trip. Traveled through the Granite belt towns, more wheat as far as the eye could see, all looking very lush. Sadly the small towns we passed through looked rather sad with many empty shops and nobody on the streets apart from the odd vehicle outside the local IGA. It appears that with the amalgamation of farms into huge properties the population has diminished greatly. All these towns are dying. The roads are deserted in this part of the world. It was a cold day and we didn't feel like camping out at any of the spectacular granite outcrops along the way. Next time maybe? We ended up at historic Mangowine Homestead. Bob, the caretaker, made us very welcome and showed us over the house built in 1890 even though it was closed. We spent the night there and had a nice walk around the property late in the afternoon finding lots more orchids. Continued on to Tressies Caravan Park in Karlgarin the next day. We first stayed here 10 years ago when the park was just opening and it is still as welcoming and delightful as it was then. Laurel and Merv are still here and Merv now has an exceptional collection of artifacts in a museum. He gave us a tour of the museum and played us records on very early gramophones. We spent a couple of hours inspecting his eclectic collection. The next day we did several walks out at The Humps . A good climb up over and around the huge granite rock. We had a very pleasant social time here and went to the local pub with one of the other couples, Andrew and Margaret from Northcliffe, staying at the caravan park. Deja vue from 10 years ago.

Mangowine Homestead. Built of rubble stone in late 1800s . First as a wayside inn,