The Outback continues...

The Kumarina Roadhouse, Meekatharra, Cue, Mt Magnet and a brief stop at Nannine. Nannine no more. M was tired, Kili was bored and I was glued to the window, face shiny and adoring. This was scenery I could never tire of. Would never tire of, given half a chance. I thought about the character in Winton (in the Turning?) who lives on a road where the only 'sign' is a decrepit fridge with a broken door. I want to live at the end of a road like that. I think. Sometimes.

And worship nothing but the relentless sun and the red dust and the unforgiving vastness of the sky.

Nannine was a bit of a shock. A former gold-mining hub, with a railway running through it and a thriving little community is now nothing. . . but a collection of artefacts. This tub, a burnt and lonely doll's leg, a broken porcelain horse...Thankfully Marble Bar hasn't (yet) gone the same way.

In Mt Magnet we demolished burgers and said goodbye to even the Telstra signal. Payne's Find was a mere 150km away.

The Payne's Find Roadhouse has (apparently) changed. This was my first time and I appreciated the derelict rundownness of it all. Six cans of VB, a bottle of scotch in a bag of ice and we were on our way to the farmhouse, 60km hence, down the unsealed Payne's Find Sandstone Road.

My understanding was that we would find Charles and give him the whisky, say thanks for letting us stay, and head off to find the others. As it happened, we stayed on the big rock with him and helped him and his buddies with the drinking. Helped wholeheartedly.

Then back at camp finally with B and P and the others, Mat remembered that he'd forgotten the other tent for K. So sleeping arrangements were cosy to say the least. And the smell on the third day...

We spent all of Sunday driving around the station... and from the whole day, I still didn't get to see all of it. The tracks were often overgrown and had to be machete-d clear, there were some tracks we didn't even attempt. There were dead kangaroos around dams, caught on fences they couldn't quite clear - left to dry out in considerable pain. The heat was searing, the landscape dry - I was so excited the whole day I think by the end of it even K got tired of asking "Are you STILL excited?"

There wasn't any hunting by us, yet food was still plentiful, and in terms of the camp, my learning to poo-with-a-view was a definite highlight.

The only other thing I would add, is don't eat bean soup for breakfast if you're going to share car space with two others on a hot day driving home. Potent business.

From last Friday

I am running again. Yesterday morning I spoke sternly to myself and got myself down to Brighton before my body could object. And then I was off... 5kms, two stitches and a not-too-shabby time, considering this has not been a good week for training, due to my obese elbows.
As i was running back towards my waiting Norma, I let my mind drift back to GGS Cross Country meets. Jule's beautiful eccentric mum, with her long fur coats and tireless smiling encouragement: "Come on pet, not long to go now".
My smile was huge as I stretched in the car park and drove home, windows foggy from my overheating heart.

I attended my first site visit yesterday, in the gorgeous south west - Harvey and Yarloop way with a new colleague, PT. I did get the feeling I should have had a rifle slung over my shoulder when PT and I went for lunch at the same place M and I stop for breakfast after our various bambi adventures.

M was home before me, despite my best efforts to leave work on time. I asked him to go and pick up a cucumber and some cream, and on my way home I noticed him walking back from the shop so I picked him up. And he had bought me mangoes and avocadoes "because you don't eat enough fruit, Macska". I melted.

So that was Friday - then in the afternoon I met B and P in Freo and we got on the very VERY bumpy ride out to Rotto. Pete and I were okay, but Betty did not look good when we disembarked in the gathering dark.
We found our Jackson villa, and waited impatiently for our luggage and food to arrive. We weren't patient enough: B and I dahsed back to the settlement for Red Rooster, and of course, by the time we got back, all our stuff was there. Wrapped in blankets, the three of us sat outside to admire the moonshine over the water and to talk, and remember our great good luck in living in such a beautiful place. It certainly was beautiful and we were all in bed by 9pm.

On Saturday morning I trotted to the settlement to see where the race would start, but it was all awash with garbage men and too much random activity so I headed off in the opposite direction instead, toward the Basin and then around the lakes. It was a half hour run so I'm guessing about 5kms. The only scary part came when a rampant and very much unexpected peacock leapt out of a garden from behind the fence.
Much luxurious stretching followed, and then I made coffee and bought fresh bread and made breakfast.
M and K arrived soon after and instead of going fishing, as we really should have done, we went to the bottle shop instead. Back at the house we laid out a huge feast with cheese and salads and crackers and sausage. It was a wonderful atmosphere.
Later in the afternoon there was some fishing, where I managed to incur a good deep gash on my foot, perfect, in preparation for the run.

And all of a sudden it was time for dinner, with wedges and pasta salad and fish and other salads. Oh Betty's tabbuleh...divine!! We fell into bed reasonably early, but upon waking, the thought did cross my mind that perhaps wine before the race wasn't a fantastic idea. We sadly packed up our little kingdom and sauntered down to the settlement, where the marathon was well underway and excitement was at fever pitch. Especially in me.

M fussed and bought me drinks and was far more encouraging than I would have expected. The run itself was fantastic! I really struggled up that sneaky bastard of a hill, but even so, I managed to pick up speed towards the end, and there's a good chance that what I did over the finish line could be construed as a sprint. The were families running, mums with prams, tiny kids...it was all just gorgeous.
Then sweaty and tomato coloured, I ran with the guys to the train station and we did the gun and tunnels tour which blew me away. Our guide Eve was lovely, and I am shocked again and again, what an incredible corner of the world this is!

Despite not wanting to come home, I seemed to have boundless energy and did loads of washing, tidying putting away, putting bins out ...