Today was the last day of our trip. Thankfully the weather had changed; it was cloudy and cooler, so much so that Clinton was wearing a coat.

We left camp at 8.45 am and headed west on Great Eastern Highway towards Gilgai, looking for a tall antennae that was to guide us to Quadrolagin Rock and Well.

We stopped at the site of the three crosses marking the place of death of the three truck drivers who were incinerated in the huge bush fire on 30 December 2007. For as far as the eye could see, the land was absolutely devastated, with all shrubs and trees having been completely burnt out.

We found the antenna and spent about 1½ hours walking, driving, interpreting and reinterpreting our notes, seeking out the well. No luck. Peter suggested that cadastral maps may be beneficial in our quest. Dejectedly we left the area and headed for Weowanie Rock and Tank.

Old railway formation a Quadrolagin

At Yellowdine we headed north to Duladgin Rock where we stopped at a timbered well on the rock’s eastern side. Hunt did build a well here but it wasn’t this one. We believe Hunt’s well may have been buried,. This well was rectangular and timbered and had been built by the Mines Department c1900. The well was in good condition and water could be seen at a depth. It was, however, unsafe to get too near the well as the cover was in poor condition and the heaped dirt around the top of the well looked like it could subside.

Click here for more photographs of Duladgin Well

Near Duladgin Well a sign marked the turn off to Weowanie Rock and a grave. First stop was the lonely grave of a Scotsman, Thomas Davidson, who died here on 28 May 1895.

 
Weowanie Rock was our next stop. On the western side we located an area where a number of soaks had been dug and the dam built on the rock itself. We attempted to find the tank by driving north then east and south around the rock. We found the track didn’t approach the southern end of the rock, where we believed Hunts Tank to be.
 

Click here for more photographs of Weowanie

Time had slipped away and less we headed off soon we would be late getting back to Perth. With reluctance, our convoy headed back to Yellowdine and then Southern Cross where we called into the information centre. What a stroke of luck - the lady running the centre that day, Mrs Della Bosca, provided us with a contact whom she thought may have some local knowledge to assist us in our quest to find these difficult to locate Hunt wells. Phil followed up on this information after the trip and ascertained that Quadrolagin Rock is now called Koorarawalyee and the well we sought is near the turkey nest dam.

The return journey was uneventful with the convoy arriving at Phil’s house at 7.00 pm. So ended an excellent trip. We may not have succeeded in finding some of the more elusive Hunt wells but we did narrow the area for further exploration.

It was an excellent trip, though the high temperatures made it exceptionally draining. The friendship, information and camaraderie shared will make it long remembered.

Today’s maximum temperature at Southern Cross was 33.7°C.

Total distance travelled – 573 kilometres.

Overall total distance travelled 1685 kilometres.


REFERENCES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS