Norseman

We were very  lucky this morning. There was a shower of rain at about 4am so when we woke at 7am and found it was not raining we set to and packed up the camp. Once most of it was stowed away we made jaffles for breakfast over the coals of the fire using the left over Chilli con Carne. Rich but delicious. We had only driven about 10kms on our way when we drove through a very heavy rainstorm that would have made packing up very difficult and miserable. There were self congratulations all around.
We drove through Madora Roadhouse because we don't like it but stopped at the top of the Pass for Maria to take a photo.  Fortunately the rain seemed to have passed so she could see the view. The sky was threatening for most of the morning with lots of rainbows much to Maria's delight. We stopped at Cocklebiddy because we thought a coffee  break was called for but drove the extra 70 kms to Caiguna to have lunch because the food there is home cooked and usually good. As usual there was a crock pot of soup on the table and this was what Bob and I chose. Roland had the most enormous hamburger.
Fortified we set off to tackle the 90 Mile Straight (146.4km) and then on to Ballidonia. When we arrived at Balladonia I asked Maria how she was coping with the long drive without diversions. She told me they had passed the time by her reading her diary aloud to Roland. I checked for mobile phone reception here and found that I could talk to Elise. Bought her up to date with out ETA tomorrow and asked her to book Martin's Nissan in for a service.
We made the last stretch into Norseman by a quarter to five and I rushed in to IGA to buy supplies in case they closed at five. Then Bob came in to tell me that it had been decided to stay in the pub for the night. This is a beautiful old building that has been maintained but not restored. The rooms are basic but comfortable enough and of course there are no ensuite bathrooms. Roland and Maria have a corner room with french doors opening onto the beautiful wide verandah. They were delighted with the novelty and we all stood outside to admire the view but it was too cold to stay out there for long. We enjoyed dinner in the bar where there were two fires burning and a surprisingly large crowd for a Monday night. Even though the town is suffering with the down turn in mining there were still quite a few workers coming in to eat.
Today we are driving home via Hyde as this is a shorter route and we have confirmed that the unsealed road across to Hyden is in good condition. Then it is sealed road all the way in to Brookton and home. So the journey ends.