Day 120 – 16th September – Onslow

Today’s task was to go exploring.  We headed back out of town 20km and out to the Ashburton River to find the ruins of the Old Onslow town site.  There is a common theme with all these early towns… they began in the late 1800’s, lasted a short time during a pearling/gold/mining boom, then inevitably died a slow death due to a lack of access to fresh water… 

Here’s the old Police Station

I like this photo… the old meets the new… The pillars in the foreground are from the old tram tracks from the town to the jetty built in the late 1800s and the construction in the background is the new Wheatstone Gas Plant. 

On the way back into town we stopped at several places along the Ashburton River.  What a magic spot!  You can camp all the way along the river in spots that are away from other campers and perched right on top of the river bank.  The only thing that stopped us from packing up camp in town and moving out here were the lack of toilet facilities.  There are not too many things we have missed out on this trip, but spending a night on the Ashburton River will be one thing we are disappointed we didn’t do…

This is the causeway crossing the river.  We saw the largest flock of brolgas we have ever seen just standing around in the water.  Unfortunately they were a bit too far away to get a good photo, but here are a few a bit closer. 

A bit further along the river was a spot called 5 Mile Pool… just stunning! We could have camped right where I am standing to take these photos…