Magical Places .. Lakes... Osprey... Eagles.. Roos and a giant unwanted pet!

We have had quite a few exciting days not exciting as in wild or reckless adventures but we have found some very nice places to camp.  We came across Lake Indoon as a recommendation from The Visitor Centre.  I cannot praise visitor centres and libraries enough - they are the backbone of every small town we have visited.  The chap at the visitor centre said Lake Indoon is quite pleasant and he was not fibbing..  it was extremley pleasant... only one other camper... masses of space, trees, bushes a lot of evidence of kangas, (although we didn't actually see any), a few scattered Emus and an Osprey hovering directly above us at one point almost close enough to touch.

It was a peaceful place the odd rattle of the wind turbine adding a slightly spooky atmoshpere once the sun went down. 

We sat out quite late drinking wine, echidna spotting but the echidnas continue to be elusive... still a very magical place. (All this for approx £5.36 per night!!!)

After lake indoon we headed up through Mingenew to look at the Miners camp.  This had become a bit of an obsession with Dr Fred and he was determined to check it out so there was a wee bit of gravel road (steep and a river to ford)  but it was a good gravel and when we got to  the camp we were the only people there!  It was a large area, very red earth with a beautiful stoney (empty) riverbed running through the valley right next to the campsite... lots to explore.. 

It was originally a working mine but it was never sustainable for coal so it was abandoned quite early on and now it's a haven for Wildflowers at the right time of year - but this time it was just a great place to spot kangaroos.  We set up camp and Dr Fred decided to 'spring clean' the 'wardrobe' shelf... shock! horror! trauma! ... a huge spider sat directly above my bed... it was enormous... not quite as big as my hand but massive so much so that when Dr Fred put a glass over it two legs got chopped off 😒... 

this discovery led to complete clear out of van corners to make sure there were no more unintentional pets.... 

We walked out around the edge of the camp around dusk hoping to spot some wildlife.  But we didnt see any - I was just taking a photograph of Dr Fred when he started gesticulating wildly shouting its behind you... 

I thought he was joking but looked anyway and there were a line of red kangaroos leaping across the camp.. glorious!  The big and real drawback to this camp was the flies.... seriously miillions of them we had to resort to fly net hats... 

The following morning we got up really early and went up to the viewing point over the riverbed.  We watched an Eagle soar  across the almost empty river bed below us -  it was just stunningly beautiful, the early morning light making everything so colourful and there were even more kangaroos hopping about behind us....

We chanced on another Eagle as we left camp it flew up from the side of the road...

and more kangas as we sped down the highway in search of breakfast...