Mid West Stations Trip
11th - 22nd September 2026
Glossary:
Wobble box – tongue in cheek description for a caravan.
Participants:
Penny (TL) and Spence, Landcruiser 200 and wobble box (trip leaders)
Kelvin, Pajero and wobble box
Ron, Pajero and wobble box
Sean (TEC), Triton and wobble box
This trip came about after Penny discovered that towing is no longer allowed through the Kennedy Ranges, the original trip planned for these dates. No matter, a stations trip became the excellent second plan and this itinerary had the bonus of being able to tow “wobble boxes” instead of camper trailers.
The official start date was Sunday the 13th at Nalbarra Station located north of Paynes Find on Great Northern Highway. A variation on this for a couple of extra days was a Friday departure from Perth with the first overnight stay at the Watheroo Station Tavern. Penny and Spence were the only members of this “tour” who stayed here and the following is Penny’s account of the very colourful evening there:
The Watheroo Station tavern provides free powered sites in the car park, and with a loo and showers available. The deal is that you have a meal in the tavern. There is not much to see in Watheroo, it is a tiny village but the tavern host and his staff were very welcoming. We settled in for a delicious meal just before the Freo / Geelong game. It was quiet at first but then more campers and the local farmers came in and it got a little lively with some fairly colourful language from the passionate Freo fans. ( A young mother went out to her vehicle and found a pair of noise cancelling headphones for her young daughter - as protection against the "noise"). A great evening was had by all there and a great Freo win capped the evening off.
Saturday became the first travel day for Ron and I meeting early at the Bindoon Bakehaus and Café for breakfast before continuing to Nalbarra. I can appreciate the intent that Penny had behind a short first day to Watheroo, as the total trip from (my) home to Nalbarra became a decent 8 hours or so including stops.
By late Saturday afternoon, we were all setup except for Kelvin who made it to Nalbarra on Sunday morning. Using the station as a base, Sunday and Monday were spent exploring in all directions..
There was enough to see around Nalbarra to keep us busy and all the drives treated us to a stunning display of wild flowers.
We climbed Darn Rock and Nakadah Rocks, and just because it was there the guys decided they needed to know how deep the pool at the top of Nakadah was, and what might be lurking in it.
The second day we drove to a pretty lake on the station and then a set of breakaways, following the track until even Sean had to admit that it was not possible to go any further.
Facilities at Nalbarra are tidy and functional, with toilets and showers in separate buildings adjacent to what would have in earlier days been shearers quarters. These rooms have been tidied up and are available for travellers who do not have their own accommodation. Despite how basic the rooms and ablutions are, the actual camp kitchen in the corner of the building turned out to be very well equipped and became the location for a themed dinner one evening.
Spence tried out his new fire pit which was also great for cooking.
Tuesday 15th had Nalbarra in the rear-view mirrors and our convoy headed north to our next stay at Nallan Station. This was the furthest north that we travelled, and Nallan Station stay is about 15km north of Cue.
The history around Cue is quite fascinating and exploring the town itself and in-area locations such as Milly Soak and the graves there gave us a tremendous insight into how tough life had been.
Cue’s location had been chosen for the availability of water, however a rapid influx of prospectors, miners, merchants and their families in 1892, strained the limited water available from the well dug in the creek bed along what is now Austin Street.
With rudimentary sanitation, the settlement expanded and waste from camps uphill of the towns well eventually contaminated the water. From about 1893, this contamination resulted in an outbreak of enteric fever, commonly called typhoid. Eventually the water became so polluted that the well in the town was abandoned and Milly Soak became an alternative water supply around 1895.
The most tragic part of the Milly Soak’s history is a temporary hospital was established in tents near here to care for typhoid patients away from the main settlement. A few graves remain at Milly Soak of people who died from fever.
To the north of the station is Lake Nallan Campground, an alternative to the station as a place to camp, however it is quite close to Great Northern Highway.
Beyond Cue, our travels extended to other locations including the remains of the town at Big Bell, and Walga Rock.
Big Bell is one of the most interesting ghost towns in Western Australia's Murchison goldfields. About 40 km south-west of Cue, it was a purpose-built mining town that sprang up in the 1930s, flourished for less than 20 years, and then largely disappeared when the mine closed. Today, its crumbling hotel and church are reminders of a surprisingly substantial community that once lived in this remote part of the outback.
The Big Bell Hotel, opened in 1937, is the most recognisable survivor of the town.
It was a substantial two-storey brick building in the Art Deco style, with curved corners, brick colonnades, chimneys and a tiled roof. It would have looked strikingly modern against the red dirt and low scrub of the Murchison.
The hotel is also reputed to have had one of Australia's longest bars. That claim is part of Big Bell's popular history, although I would treat the superlative as a local legend rather than a definitively verified national record.
Today, the roof is gone, but much of the brickwork and the outlines of the rooms remain. Standing among the ruins gives you a sense of how substantial this remote town once was.
Although unverified, comment from a Cue local in the Queen of the Murchison Guest House and Café, suggests that there is a similarity (at least in design and footprint) between the Big Bell Hotel and The Como Hotel (on Canning Highway.
Probably the highlight of the stay at Nallan was getting out west of Cue and finding Walga Rock. Walga Rock, known in Wajarri Country as Walganha, is much more than a spectacular granite outcrop west of Cue.
It's an ancient geological formation, a place of deep Aboriginal cultural significance, and home to one of Western Australia's most extensive galleries of Aboriginal rock paintings. There's also a long-running mystery surrounding a painting that appears to depict a sailing ship.
Walganha is part of the traditional Country of the Wajarri people. Its rock shelter provided a protected surface for generations of painting, and the place has been associated with traditional gatherings and cultural activity. The paintings are not simply decorative images; they form part of a cultural landscape whose history long predates European settlement.
The sailing ship is probably Walga Rock's most famous individual feature.
Among the Aboriginal paintings is an image that resembles a sailing ship, with what appear to be masts and rigging. Its presence far inland has prompted decades of speculation about how the image came to be painted, yet its origin has not been conclusively established.
Back to Nallan Station, the campgrounds are quite extensive around a central group of buildings that include a large undercover area, smartly converted shearers quarters into short stay rooms, and functional ablutions. Like Nalbarra, there is a decent camp kitchen within the shearers quarters building. If there was a single suggestion about future stays here, find a spot behind these buildings. Where we were was nicely spread out, however the road between the campgrounds and the homestead is a gazetted road and is well used.
After three amazing days exploring around Nallan Station, Friday the 18th had us heading south and west towards Mellenbye Station. This day also saw the group reduce from 4 to two with Ron heading back to Perth, and Kelvin continuing beyond Mellenbye, although Ron did travel with us as far as Yalgoo.
Our journey to Mellenbye extended over two days as an overnight stay in Yalgoo afforded the opportunity to explore a few key sites around this small town, enjoy a good long hot shower (in the excellent ablutions in this small caravan park), and most importantly, enjoy a pub meal and watch the Dockers/Swans semi-final.
Sights visited around Yalgoo on Friday afternoon included the Yalgoo Court House Museum, St Hyacinth’s Chapel, and the Yalgoo Lookout.
Also visited a short drive to the SE of Yalgoo is Jokers Tunnel. Carved through solid rock, and right through a hill, Penny did inquire about the presence of bats. Initially indicating that none were to be seen Penny ventured into the tunnel but on declaration that there were indeed small bats in the tunnel, Penny made short work of getting back into daylight!
Win the evening we enjoyed a meal at “the Best Pub in Yalgoo” and it was sweet to finally hear silence from the sole (and not too sporting) Swans supporter, when the Dockers took charge in the fourth and won the match.
Sidebar to this is club member Shane Curline was at the SCG for this match and we enjoyed a brief video chat with Shane prior to the game where he showed us his view. He had a good seat!
Saturday 19th, on the Mellenbye.
Mellenbye taken straight from its website is described as:
A working cattle station located between Morawa and Yalgoo, about 4.5 hours north of Perth. On offer, a relaxed outback escape where guests can unwind under incredible night skies, enjoy campfires, and experience true station life.
There is a range of accommodation available including cabins, rooms, shearers’ quarters, and camping sites for caravans, tents, and RVs. Also on offer are self-contained camping for guests who prefer their own facilities. Camping is unpowered, with shared access to amenities such as showers, toilets, and a campers’ kitchen. The historic shearing shed is open for guests to explore and is used for social nights, games, and events, with power available for charging devices.
The property features striking breakaway country, open station landscapes, the “Horse on the Rock,” and a seasonal lake where wildlife, including swans, may be seen. From August to mid-October, the station comes alive with wildflowers including everlastings, orchids, and the famous wreath flower.
Given that our “wobble boxes” are fully self-contained we were offered the option of camping away from the main campground, and this led us to finding probably the best location for a campsite for the whole trip overlooking Burra Lake.
After setting up our picture-perfect campsite, some of the remaining Saturday afternoon was spent exploring the buildings around the main campsite. The converted shearing shed alone is worth exploring and has been extensively fitted out internally to cater for a wide variety of events. Saturday also gave us an opportunity to find a reference point that made sense of the notes provided for exploring further afield.
Sunday became the day to follow the provided notes and this had us heading out from the station, starting at a cattle grid just south of the scattered cabins, and then along the Mellenbye Kadji Road. Although initially a little sceptical, the notes proved accurate and we managed to find points of interest that included: Donkey Hill, Breakaway, Grave, and Horse on a rock. Of all the breakaways found on this trip, these were the most spectacular. Part of these breakaways included some brilliantly white sections that were in stark contrast to the landscape around the cliffs.
Our furthest point from the station was Horse on a rock. This is a striking full size, life like metal sculpture perched high on the top of a rocky outcrop (possibly Wollanoo Hill). Easily (my) shoulder height at the withers.
Monday became the start of the trip towards home, broken into two days with an overnight stay at Cervantes. Unlike the pleasant simplicity of the Yalgoo Caravan Park, the RAC Cervantes Holiday Park is the more typical family holiday park that we tend to avoid, too crowded and too many people, however the water was hot and a long shower welcome. After a bit of a leg stretch up to the Lobster Shack and back, we closed out the day with a meal at the Cervantes Bar and Bistro.
Tuesday, the remainder of the trip homeward, our convoy of two wobble boxes together until Penny and Spence peeled off at their exit on the freeway. For me, an easy run back home too.
A huge thank you to Penny for organising this trip, it was an excellent 10 days away. Thoroughly enjoyed all of it.
Trip report by Sean
