On waking this morning we were surprised to see a light fog and to find all the camping gear we left outside during the night wet from the mist. We thought this was a dry part of the world. I noted last night that we were camped in a eucalypt forest where many of the trees had multiple trunks sprouting from the same base and I thought that this type of eucalypt was called mallee. Later in the day I got a chance to google it and discovered that such trees are called mallee and they grow from an underground lignotuber.

Early on our days drive we stopped at Nundroo Roadhouse, the last true roadhouse on our trip east. From this point on the roadhouses are also small or large towns. The windmill is a typical sight in much of rural Australia. The Wombat Hole is self explanatory.

We took a small detour to a place called Fowler Bay to get another glimpse of the coast and were delighted to find a small town, lots of fabulous sand dunes, a jetty and a bunch of locals fishing from the jetty. We were very lucky to be walking the jetty just as one of the fishermen caught a squid. I was pleased to find that these creatures are still used as bait for other types of fishing but multi-culturalism has had its impact and now they are eaten as well.

At the town of Penong (possibly derived from an aboroiginal word for 'place of rest' or 'rocky water hole') we found this outdoor windmill museum. The big one towards the rear of the photo was a Comet brand and the wheel is 35 feet in diameter. It is one of only 10 of this huge size ever made in Australia.

Also in Penong we saw the big yellow road train that carries mineral sands. It has three fullsized trailers, 5 sets of triple axles (60 wheels), 1 double axle (8 wheels) and 2 steering axles (4 wheels) for a total of 72 wheels.

Later in the day we saw one of these with 4 trailers and we think 1 additional set of triple axles and a triple axle replacing the double axle for a total of 88 wheels. We later confirmed with the manager of a local campground that 4 trailer rigs had just started operating.