Newsletter for the Rotary Club of Greater Geraldton - Issue No.: 780 Issue Date: 15 Apr, 2024

Our Outback trek started along the Chapman Valley and on to the Mullewa- Carnarvon Road. Road conditions were fairly good all the way up to Murchison and the Wildflowers were spectacular; with almost 100km continuous display of wildflowers as we approached Murchison Settlement.  We continued travelling on the Wool Wagon Pathway to Gascoyne Junction and extensive road works on our last 100km made navigating the road somewhat difficult. Darkness was falling and as we were the last 4wd on the convoy …dust..rough terrain and driving at dusk and into the sun required some concentration.  Wandering cattle (driver warning!) in the middle of the pathway also did not help!!    Our group of travellers stopped overnight in Gascoyne Junction so we are unable to comment on the Glenburgh turn off and the Dalgety Downs road to Landor.

Next day we continued our journey by travelling the pathway of the Kingsford Smith Mail run. We halted our journey to tour the magnificent Kennedy Range National Park. This is a truly awesome place to visit with many places to walk and explore such as Honeycomb Gorge. Then we continued our pathway along the Mail run to reach our next destination of Mt. Augustus, a massive monocline and said to be the biggest in the world.  Much to see at Mt. Augustus including Cattle pool, which was full of water from recent rains and this gave a perfect setting for the beautiful feature of many stunning gum trees.

Next day we continued on our way, this time to Meekatharra, which was to be our last overnight stop before we travelled the Great Northern Highway back to Geraldton. The Mt. Augustus to Meekatharra road was surprisingly good with a lot of recent roadwork and quite a bit of new bitumen road.   The cattle also like to wander on the road on this stretch of pathway!!!

Our trek from Mt. August to Meeka also included a stopover at the Landor racetrack.  As frequent visitors already know this racetrack is located in a truly remote part of the Outback. Cashed up racegoers might like to embark on alternative ways of travel to this Outback race meeting as there is an airstrip close to the racecourse and you could come in on a Helicopter!!

Some members might not know how this race came about and how it got started.  Here is the story!!

The Landor Races are the Eastern Gascoyne Race Club’s traditional bush race meeting. The meeting is held annually at the racecourse near Landor Station.

The meeting has a colourful history and truly Outback flavour. In 1921, at a combined mustering, which was the custom in those days, a number of Irish stockmen from stations in the area were having a day off. These good men were resting and doing their washing when they started to argue “who had the fastest horse”!!    Following discussions with interested parties from the surrounding stations the EGRC was formed and the LANDOR tradition was born.

Attached images: The Grandstand withstood Seroja. 

Bill is indicating a problem for racegoers.  Only 1 toilet has been delivered and the other units with toilet building materials have been lost in transit.  This will present an Outback interpretation of a "real"  outside toilet!!