After visiting London Bridge in Sandstone, our camping team had to make a decision of where to go next. Stopping the car for a few minutes at the junction we tossed pros and cons of heading straight across on the dirt road to our next camping spot or spending a bit more time exploring the area (potentially arriving in the dark to our next destination). We reached an agreement and decided to drive to Mt Magnet, where we could also pump diesel and stock up on fresh produce, which was so low at that moment, that we had to ration the fruits, dividing one apple and one pear between 7 people for breakfast.
Mount Magnet was named after local magnetic rock, which in turn was named by Explorer Robert Austin in 1854 who predicted this to be the one of the finest goldfields in the world. His predictions came true nearly 40 years later. Located 573km NE of Perth and with the current population of around 500 people, Mount Magnet is the longest goldmining centre in Western Australia and the digging still goes on.
With sealed roads to all four points of the compass, Mount Magnet is considered the Magnetic Centre of Australia’s Golden Outback. It also has a strong and rich Aboriginal presence revealed both in the ancient rocks, as well as in the modern paintings. After purchasing the necessities, we headed straight to Mount Magnet Visitor Centre, managed by lovely South African couple. Kids were fascinated by the amazing “Treasures of the Earth” rock collection, while we had a quick look at the beautiful aboriginal paintings, got some useful information there and stocked up on brochures for our next adventures.
I was planning to visit Wirnda Barna Arts Centre to look at more Aboriginal paintings, but it was closed at the time, so we continued on to see ancient rock formations. The first (and the only one we had time to visit) was the Granites. Located 9 km north of Mount Magnet, the Granites is a spectacular 15 metre escarpment sculptured by erosion and special sites. This place holds great significance to the local Badimaya people.
At around 4pm, we set off along Great Northern Hwy, travelling south for our last overnight stop for this trip. Read our next post to find out where we stayed!
