Day 45 – Doleena Gorge to Sandy Creek – Travelling the Big Island

26 July 2019

Bacon and egg sandwhichs for brekkie this morning cooked over the camp fire. Best. Breakfast. Ever.Packed up, and in to Marble Bar just before 9 am. We went to Chinaman Pools and Marble Bar Pool, both on the Coogan River. Then we went fossicking for some jasper, a rock that the town is sort of named for. The person to declare the area as Marble Bar did so after seeing a deposit of jasper, and mistaking it for marble. It is a pretty rock, although almost worthless from a monetary perspective. There was plenty around, however none nice enough for us to take home for shaping and polishing. Then it was off to the old Comet Gold Mine. Well. For our $3 entry fee we got one of the best talks of the trip so far. The caretaker of the mine was great, and knew all there was to know about the history of the mine. There was a great little museum there as well, filled with all sorts of interesting gems, photos and odd and ends.We all thought Marble Bar was a pretty great little town. It was very neat and tidy and has good facilities for visitors. It got even better when Bill and I found the freshly baked pastries in the general store. Custard danishes made on site every day for $2.50! We bought 4 different pastries, and then went back for 3 more. What a lunch.From there we drove on to Nullagine where we stopped for a quick break – another nice little clean town. A ways out of Nullagine we went past the new Roy Hill mine (Gina Reinhardt) where the road changed to excellent bitumen. An FMG mine was just down the road as well. Nothing else out there, however the mines mean that the roads are in great condition all the way to Newman. About 30 km out of Newman we pulled into a free camp on the banks of the dry Sandy Creek. It has been my favourite free camp of the trip. We were a couple of km off the road and had it all to ourselves. Hardly any flies and bugs and a beautiful cool night. Camps like that is what camping is all about.Also a memorable night as Dad won his first ever game of Triominos!

Doleena Gorge campground with Bill giving his best pose.