Lake Mason – April 2024
Thursday 25th – Monday 29th April
Attendees:
Penny and Spence: Landcruiser 200 series, Alex and Diana: Landcruiser 300 series, Sue and Steve: Isuzu D-Max, Keith: Ranger, Rob: Landcruiser Prado
The Trip
Over ANZAC weekend we drove up to Lake Mason, stopping at Nalbarra Station on the way, and Sandstone and New Norcia on the way back. Unfortunately, just before the trip Steve ended up in a moon boot and was unable to drive. No problem! – Sue drove all the way, driving the new D-Max, towing the caravan and coolly backing it into the camp spots. Steve possibly felt the need to provide some instruction occasionally, but I am pretty sure it wasn’t needed and may have been completely ignored.
Nalbarra Station
After meeting at New Norcia, we drove up to Nalbarra Station. Despite there being lots of room Spence decided to trim a couple of trees with the caravan while parking. It’s a lovely working station with some interesting old buildings, very friendly hosts, peacocks, goats, and red tailed cockatoos. There are some interesting drives on the property which we did not have time to do, and it’s definitely worth a longer visit in future.
They also have a pet donkey on the property that was saved from a cull as a foal and now enjoys a game of football to keep itself occupied.
It was lovely to be able to sit round the first fire of the season. That night we lay listening to the rain and thunder.
Lake Mason
Lake Mason is an ex cattle station and is pending listing as a conservation park. It’s a great spot but the flies were awful!
During the day when the flies were at their worst, we took refuge in the cars and had a couple of interesting drives out across the property. There is a large salt lake but it was dry enough to cross without any problems.
The camping area has a few of the old building still standing, a flushing toilet for the ladies and a well ventilated loo for the gents.
Rob tried a bit of prospecting but if he found gold he never let on to us. That evening Sue and Steve made delicious pizzas and we sat round another fire talking the usual rubbish and drinking Elderflower Liqueur (a drink we discovered at the Sandstone pub on an earlier trip).
Sandstone
We headed out for the Sandstone caravan park the next afternoon, so that people could make it home on the Sunday if they needed, and also planning on dinner at the pub. Our caravan leaked water all the way down the road after a stone broke the taps off, but we had enough beer to avoid dehydration. Unfortunately, both the pub and village store are closed and boarded up, so we settled at the caravan park for the evening, along with some friendly local birds.
New Norcia
Alex and Diana, and Rob headed home on Sunday, while the rest of us stopped overnight at New Norcia. Keith, Sue, and I braved the cemetery at night for some night photography. It was a bit spooky, and Steve and Spence remained back at camp.
The next morning, we had a walk round the historic town before heading home. It has a fascinating history and some lovely old buildings. The Abbey Church has some interesting wall murals and notably a very inclusive one depicting people from all over the world and the ages.
We were a little alarmed to see the bush opposite our camp spot on fire, but were assured it was controlled, and made our way safely home.
A big thank you to everyone who joined us on this trip.
Penny and Spence
