MENZIES TO KOOKYNIE, WA
Google doesn’t always know best! Jobs all done in Kalgoorlie, I had gradually worn Brad down to continue north before south west to Esperance as I just must see the statues at Lake Ballard salt lake. Not having passed a petrol station on our way out that was easily accessible, it was no bother as google maps told us there were two stations in the next town of Menzies, just over 100kms away. We could fill up and head off to lake.
The road to Lake Ballard is closed due to flooding and unfortunately google was only half right. There is one fuel station in Menzies which is the new unmanned variety of “use your card pre pay” Eagle fuels. Only the card station was out of order. Now the fuel gauge on the old bus has a unique operating system which cannot be entirely relied upon. So just how much fuel did we have? Google and the locals confidently assuring us there was no more fuel until Leonora, a further 100+kms away.
We contacted Eagle who promptly sent a young fella out to try and reset the machine but to no avail – lightning strike apparently.
With camping at Lake Ballard plans squashed, the uncertainty of making it Leonora over our heads, the lateness of the day, we decided to go on to Niagara Dam campsite and worry about it in the morning.
A lovely peaceful night at Niagara (with exception of 2 million flies), we took our chances (no other option really) of continuing on to Leonora– and guess what, we found fuel just 13km’s up the road at the kooky little town of Kookynie. Google didn’t know about this one.
After eventually having access granted from the resident bodyguard horse and an interesting chat with the landlady, we were much relieved to be fuelled up and off to explore Leonora / Gwalia while waiting for the road to open to Lake Ballard.
