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We went for a walk around Katanning before tea last night. Some of the old buildings were interesting. The hotel/Dome Cafe is converted from an old flour mill.

We had another peaceful night, our second in the town, with one caravan besides us. The really nice thing about free camping is that you don’t have to worry about checkout times. Nevertheless, we were ready to leave by about 10.30 a.m. after a restful morning. We dumped the toilet cassette and filled our fresh water tank before moving on to buy diesel. We had our receipt from shopping yesterday to get a discount. Overall, we spent quite a lot of money in the town, which helps us to feel that we are somewhat entitled to the free camping. We are also very grateful for safe places to stay for free provided by Katanning, both in town and out at the lake.

As well as our normal morning routine we had to work out where we were going next. I want to visit the Stirling Ranges National Park and the Porongorups on our way to Albany, so we explored options for overnights in and around the area. Borden offers free overnight camping and is very close to the Stirling Ranges. Unfortunately, there are no views to the Ranges in town as it is set in a valley. It is about 90kms from Katanning and we arrived here in time to settle in and have our lunch here.

We may stay at the Porongurups Caravan Park tomorrow night as it is a convenient distance from here, given that we may be making a few stops on the way. From there, we will probably go to Albany to explore some of the cheap/free camping options in the area.

Despite an afternoon nap I’m feeling a bit tired at the moment. It’s still very windy and to go out for walks we have to prepare ourselves for the wind exposure. Nice once we are out, but we have to overcome some initial reluctance.

Don’t forget that if you click on the images in the gallery at the top of this blog it will open them up to a larger size and you can click through them using the arrows on the side.

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Yesterday, after our big breakfast, we weren’t sure if we would ever be hungry again. We drove out to Lake Ewlyamartup in the early afternoon. Somehow, we missed the lake and drove about another five kilometres before turning around. When we found it we were bemused that we missed it. Admitedly, it was cloudy and we are used to seeing dry salt lakes in this area, but really it was so clearly visible from the road that we couldn’t see how we missed it.

We were in for a really windy time. The wind came across the lake, constantly strong and sometimes speeding up even more. The foam at the edge of the lake was scooting onto the shore. For much of the rest of the day we huddled in the van, Stephen reading a biography of Sybil Thorndike and me doing this and that. We had our breakfast food for lunch (cereal and fruit).

At around 6.00 p.m. we ventured out into the wind for a walk on the lakeshore. We went as far as a bird hide and found that when we were on the other side of the lake the wind was much reduced. There was one set of campers there, but they needed to have a 4WD for negotiate the track.

Back where we were camping there were three vans parked in formation to provide a wind break and another couple of campers who also used vehicles to form a wind break. We, wanting to have our largest window for viewing the lake, had our sliding door on the windward side and it was so difficult to open that we used the front passenger door for getting in and out.

I cooked our evening meal in my new double sided pan from Korea. Fish pieces and a sliced potato with salad provided a delicious and simple meal. The pan is similar to the ridge monkey but larger and much more a high end cooking device. Very easy to clean and it seals well for cooking.

We were in two minds about staying the night at the lake because it was so windy, but decided that it would make this blog more interesting. We had a very weak phone signal and being deprived of the internet was another factor against. But, we liked the idea of being away from the town. We were on the edge of a small grove of sheoaks and felt a little sheltered. We actually had a very good night and enjoyed glimpses of the moon through the clouds before sleeping. We rocked gently by the wind and had a few drops of rain, just enough to make the dust stick to the van.

We had a leisurely morning before driving back into Katanning. Shopping was our first stop and we experienced our first problem with the WA Covid app at Woolworths. I think it was because they had it on yellow paper. Still, we got everything we needed and a few things we didn’t.

By mid afternoon it was a bit warm in the van and we have retreated to the Dome cafe for afternoon tea and the comfort of air conditioning. Not that it is hot outside, but it is intermittently sunny and it heats things up inside.

Do we have a plan for the next few days? Not really. We are going to overnight here, then fill up with water and fuel in the morning before heading southwards.