Monday, July 2, 2012

Yalgoo, Mt Magnet

Yalgoo was a small town. Its claim to fame is the church. Design and built by a priest.

The weather was kinder on the way to Yalgoo, but while I was in town, the smell came on the wind; petrichor. The scent of rain. It started raining a few minutes later. Temps have been about the 10C mark. Without the wind, its pleasant. With the wind it's shivering time. I was told in Mullewa that I was on the road at the right time. Several of the mines have shutdown for upgrading. So the number of trucks on the road is way down. One guy said that they averaged 1500 a day. This seemed a lot, but then today in Mt Magnet, a local was saying he counted 70 in an hour. At 130 tons each, its a lot of stuff moving about. Anyway, there are less trucks right now. So, the road crew is doing what road crews do: patching the roads. We passed each other lots. Road work is happening from Geralton to Mt Magnet.

Mt Magnet, didn't stop in town long. Feeling restless and liking being out camping. In town feels busy. I stopped at the shop, and spent a lot of time talking with people. The daily paper delivery to the shop was running late, so everyone was hanging around waiting. Lots of mining workers about in town and on the roads. Most look young. They don't wave when we meet on the road. I wave, and they stare back with bovine indifference. The locals, and most truckies wave. Sometimes I get a blast on the horn. Some trucks horns are way underpowered for the size of the truck. While the last few days has been warmer, the forecast for the next few includes lows of 0C and frosts. Going to be nippy. Today, after lunch, it was a sweltering 20C. The weather, what can you do..