The sign at the Meekatharra shire boundary suddenly heralded a long, graded velvety smooth stretch before we went on the roller-coaster Pingandy road with great views of plains, hills, spinifex and bush.
Just 15kms outside Mount Augustus Park boundaries (no camping allowed inside the boundary), we got lucky with a delightful bushcamp overlooking the shrinking waterholes of the Lyons River.
The gasping fish were being picked off by herons, peewees, and a family of pied butcherbirds. We wondered why mobs of 50 or 100 crested pigeons and finches drank so nervously at the water's edge until a bird of prey flashed past with its wings whooshing like a jet fighter.
Night-time gave Gen a chance to capture the bus in the moonlight under the Milky Way. At sunrise, the adult and juvenile butcherbirds sang fluting duets to send us on our way.
We drove back past the sunlit side of Mount Augustus to the caravan park where the staff were setting up tables outside for the'Biggest Barbie in Australia'.
What a lovely Aussie event. Some 60 guests, locals, travellers, babies, oldies and young uns had a fun time. We chatted, drank, joked, listened to a great guitarist, and ate our way through an amazingly delicious menu. Prawns, rib-eye salsa verde, smoked brisket, herbed yogurt meat balls, chocolate cake, caramelized banana, lovingly cooked by a top chef with mouthwatering herbs and sauces, savoured under the light of a half-moon, gentle breezes, and the chatter of warm hearts.
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Ashburton Downs Road, Meekatharra, Mt Augustus, Mount Augustus, Biggest BBQ, Western Australia
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