Kokerbin Rock (York) 20 – 21 November 2006

The hotel was deserted and we had the run of the place in the morning. The little town has 3 houses that are lived in and a few well preserved buildings. We were off early and explored the surrounds.
Off to the nearby town of York that was absolutely cute. It is a bit like Berry in our home area. We spent most of the day there by the river in town. Could hardly believe another very significant goal in the main street, all preserved and owned by the National Trust. It is part of a bigger compound of the two court houses, police station, stables, and trooper accommodation. Again, it was horrifying how tiny these places are and that they were in use until the 1980’s. The ball and neck chain for the Aboriginals is shameful. We are so glad those were not our times.
They showed a video of locals chatting about police stories. A very friendly Aboriginal spoke about an event in town when he drove his mate’s home and passed the local copper. Problem was he had been drinking and did not have a licence. The policeman visited his mum and told her to tell him to come in and see him ASAP. He didn’t go for a few weeks until he saw the policeman in the main street and was directed to come in. He did go and the policeman said “saw you driving a few weeks ago and thought I should give you your licence. Here it is!”
We lived in York, England, in 1982 and it was sentimental to be here. York was the second town settled in WA and reminded the early settlers of the pastoral land of Yorkshire. We can see it too but it would have to be a very good summer!
Drove out into the country through continuous wheat farms to stay at Kokerbin Rock that was recommended by a few locals. Arrived about 5pm and settled in for the evening watching the colours of the sunset reflect on the wheat covered hills.
Up early in the morning to walk around and over the rock before the heat struck. It stayed really pleasant with a nice breeze. We drew a mud map from the sign outside the toilets and set off. However, we very quickly realised that the track was non existent, though, not until Peter very persistently tried many other ways to get to the base! We were defeated at each turn by the thick shrubbery. It was a bit of an adventure and we finally found a way up to the top where the cairn was. Another perfect 360 dg view! The rock is really smooth granite with flaking sheets very similar to Uluru. We found a rock we renamed the Leunig character! What a shape! This time we saw vast expanses of the yellow wheat fields all at different stages of harvest. We are in the middle of WA’s wheat belt. Trekked around as best we could by using the high vantage points to try and find the feature of this huge rock. It is a mini Uluru! It turns out to be the third largest monolith rock in Australia. All a bit neglected as a tourist feature. Peter was itching to market it properly! The local farmer came over to visit in the afternoon and had a grand old chat! Said the harvest here was good – up 65%! We know up north it was not as good, though he did remind us that there is a dwarf variety of wheat around. The locusts are around and we drive into them a lot of late but they still seem reasonably controlled. In this camp spot in the bush there are quite a few taps which surprised us. There are no restrictions on them either. The farmer said it’s just normal tap water that is drinkable and its piped all over the farms from the same supply going to Kalgoorlie! Two other cars since we have been here. It’s very quiet and peaceful.