Daytrip out and about in Jarrahdale

Today was another planned tripped visiting Serpentine Dam, Jarahdale POW Camp and a part of Wungong Dam, I have planned a few more for the future now that the hotter weather is over it is time to get out and about again, I did a few small detecting trips over the summer in the bush and the beach, finding the usual stuff but nothing real exciting. Today was a reasonably short trip I reallly just wanted to get out and take a few photos something I haven't done for a while, I have been playing with camera at home and recently went to an old lake which I believe has been around for well over 200 years according to old maps I have seen, the older landscape was different, and some of the trees very old ( See Lake Coogee Post published 3 December 2023), I have a bad knee at the moment so it is a little bit hard to walk too far. My First stop was at Serpentine dam we have had a few dry months and I was curious to what the waterlevel was, after taking a few photos I moved on to the lower picnic area, when the original trip was planned the first stop was going to be the Serpentine Pipehead dam which was closed, after a little research it seems that they are not in a hurry to open it agin anytime soon I used like going there it was a really nice spot just to go and wander around for a while, here are a few pics from that Dam and Picninc area.

My next stop was the Jarrahdale POW camp I go here reglularly as there is usually lots of birds and things to photograph but it has been very quiet ther the last few trips and it is getting more and more overgrown, the dissappointing thing is there have been people camping there recently and lighting fires there was a guy there today sitting near a small fire he had made. I didn't hang around for long I had a quick walk around took a few pics and moved on. Majority of all the ruins are still how they were last time I was there. 

My next stop was Wungong Dam it has 2 access points on either side of the dam I have not been here or many years and have been meaning to stop and have a look around, the road across the dam is closed for vehicles but you can still walk along there, I stopped at one of the picnic areas which has BBq's and toilets and a couple walk trails from it, i had a little wander around took some photos by this time it was getting late in the afternoon and gates are closed at 5pm. These picture are from a lower Picnic area of the dam I think. I visited the main park of the dam on a later trip.

I will plan another trip again there another day and spend a bit more time wandering around.

All Images are Copyright Mark A. Gray

Short trip to Lake Coogee

 Today was a short trip I went and did some metal Detecting at the Beach, and stopped in at Lake Coogee, it was a first visit for me here today just wanted to stop and have a quick look it was getting warm so I never stayed for long. I have been looking at some old maps and noticed that Lake Coogee has not really changed since the early 1800's rumours of an early planned settlement that never happened, I believe its on private property, a Settlement was established late 1800's for War Veterens or for the men who had retrurned from the war,  some of the ruins of the old buildings are around along Cockburn road and the Army Barracks At Woodmans Point, not 100% sure if the story or how it was established or when it was active, The old Landscape at Lake Coogee amazed me I need to go back and take some better Photos the following photos were just a few snaps from around the lake, I am amazed how crystal clear the lake is although I think it may be a salt lake. There is a Walk path that goes around the Lake and there is a Gym / Picnic area on the other side from the Lookout 

 

 

All Images are Copyright Mark A. Gray

Daytrip out towards the Outskirts of the Wheatbelt

 Today I had decided that I would go for a drive out in the country a bit I had looked at some places I wanted to get photos of and made one trip out of it overall the trip was around 280km which took me most of the day as I had a few stops to do. My first st was a place I wanted to go detecting, so I made that my first stop I stayed for just over an hour didn't find anything great so I packed up the detector had something to eat and headed of to my next destination.

My Site finds nothing exciting

As I was heading to the next destination Found a big boulder that had split in the paddock on the side of the road there was a small granite outcrop so I stopped for some photos.

After a short drive along the highway I came across and old home it was fenced off and on private property so I couldn't get a closer look.

 

My Next stop was an old church St John of God in the Wilderness, there is also a grave yard and the ruins of an old farmehouse where pioneers use to live.

  

  

After taking a few photos and a wander around the cemetery where some of the pioneers from the area are buried, I headed of to the Giants which is a large granite outcrop on the side of the road I think they are also used for rockclimbing. Before arriving at the giants I had noticed a display paddock with old Machinery and an old car so I stopped again for some more photos.

I had stoppd for 5 mins to take a few photos and headed off to the giants

I stayed there for a while had a drink something to eat took a few shots and headed of to Boulder Rock I have been meaning to go there for ages but everytime I did there was lots of people around and 4WD vehicles climbing boulder rock, which they are not supposed to I believe just another example of people not obeying the laws which eventually affects everyone espescially when places like that get closed down or ruined for that reason. Anyway here is a few snaps of boulder rock when it was quiet and not a person around.

    

There was arest area I came across during my trip which was quite nice no amenities or anything but plenty of shade and room to stop and stay overnight

 It was getting late in the afternoon by the time I got to Boulder rock still a 40 minute drive home

All images are Copyright Mark A.Gray

Quick Stop at Jarrahdale POW Camp

    Today was my day off, so I wanted to revisit the old homesite where I went last week to do a bit more detecting around there and check out another potential site for detecting , my first stop was and the mid to late 1800s site I swung the detector around for a couple of hours not getting much at all got some more building material a rather large U clamp or something which I brought home to clean up cause it was just so big never seen one like that before,  a couple more bottle tops and what looks to be a rusted key but it could just be building material again plus a couple what could be modern drawer handles on the surface made of glass but accidently broke one, I will post the finds another day haven't photographed them yet, there was also like a keyring when I first pulled it out it looked like and old ring then I cleaned it up a little and realized it wasn't.  

(photo will be inserted here)

   I left the site to check out another one I found on Google Earth but it looks like it not a homesite just where people have been camping and riding motorbikes etc, So I decided to take the long way home and Check the POW camp again I always check in there every couple of years to see how much the landscape has changed, it is starting to get overgrown now the pathways are still there but the trees are getting bigger and there are more of them, I had a quick look around grabbed the camera and went for a walk, here are the shots from the POW camp, I was also keeping and eye out for Wildflowers along the way.

Good to see the old Chimney is still standing

A View of the Munda Biddy Trail from the POW camp

I had thought of going for a detect around here but don't think you are allowed as it is a heritage site, the ground looks real hard to so might be difficult to dig, I did see some old dig holes while walking around looks like someone has been detecting there and not filling their holes in.

     On the way home I stopped at Jarrahdale oval and the old Wood Milling sheds to have a look and a few snaps.

The old Wood milling Shed in Jarrahdale

All images are copyrigh Mark A. Gray