January 14th, 2024. Katanning to Brookton

After about 2 hours in the Dome at Katanning we ventured out to a much cooler world. The breeze that had been a little cool had become quite cool and we were able to open the windows and feel quite comfortable. We had tuna melts with salad for our evening meal, so not much cooking to be done, apart from frying slices of bread and then melting the cheese on top of the tuna, onion and mayonaise mix. Overnight was cool enough to snuggle under the doona.

We did a little shopping in the IGA, but found it didn’t have the meat I was wanting. The Woolworths would have been better, but it had a later opening time. But we stayed a bit longer to have hot drinks at the Dome.

On the way here to Brookton we stopped at Wagin, where I was able to get some meat, and at Narrogin where we found a very nice deli and had some lunch. There was no seating inside and we returned to the rather nice little park next to the Sherwood and sat on a park bench. Although it was warm the breeze kept us comfortable.

There was a large dog wandering around the park and we were worried that it would come up and beg for food, but it turned out to have beautiful manners and left us alone. Later a woman came over and said it was a stray. She said she would take it home and advise the ranger in the morning. She had given it a little bit of food and it followed her over the road to her car and got in. Such a fierce looking dog, Apple Photos has identifed it as a Dogue De Bordeauz, a French Mastiff. It’s hard to imagine that someone would abandon such a beautiful animal, so there must be a story around it being lost.

Brookton, when we arrived at about 2.00 p.m., was about 41C (106F), extremely hot. Our airconditioning has done an amazing job of keeping us cool. The insulation inside our ‘house’ is good as far as the walls go, but the windows let in so much heat. We have doubled the insulation by using our extra car window screens and then pulling up the blinds on the windows facing the sun. We tried for a bit of shade, but that has moved beyond us now at 5.30 p.m.

Brookton is a very plain but nice little caravan park run by the Shire. I was able to book our place online, that was after we had plugged in and were using the airconditioning. One of the nicest things is the ensuite bathrooms. There is a dump point and some extra showers and toilets for women. I don’t know what the men are supposed to do.