Heavenly Beverley : A Feast Of Fossicking @ Yalgoo

On the surface, Yalgoo just could be one of those blips on the map to be driven past. At a rate of knots. During our time there, the main street wasn't been exactly jumping with activity. In fact, cannon firing could be practised with impunity. There was one hill of substance from which we perused the surroundings. There was an interesting trail of historical landmarks with useful interpretive panels, as the original buildings were either entirely absent, behind wire or not particularly attractive. The exceptions were St Hyacinth's Chapel and the Museum. Both can be visited with local Tourism Guide to the Stars Helen, who also efficiently runs the beautiful Yalgoo Caravan Park.

A mecca for travellers passing through or a fabulous central location for exploring the surroundings for a day or two or for those into serious fossicking, Yalgoo is manna from heaven. Following Trevor and Ray's heroic efforts to obtain us some diesel, we felt slightly obliged to stay another night. Given Ray's disclosure of the tip's location, the decision to stay two more nights happened without any hesitation.

Along with the Cue and Marble Bar old tips, Yalgoo's tip is fossickers' paradise. I tried to capture the magic of the surroundings, but for the uninitiated or the uninterested, the landscape resembles a not-terribly-exciting mix of red dirt, scattered scrub and a seemingly endless horizon of rusty metal.

Until walking amongst the relics of a bygone era. Sturdy boots and jeans, leather gloves, sensible hat sprayed with insect repellent to keep the pesky flies at bay and a pair of keen eyes scanning at the slowest of paces can reward the enthusiast with treasure.

Michael and I usually do not fossick together. We tend to be focused on different goals. Shape and usability are as important to him as are the stories he creates in his mind. I have become very choosy and an item really needs to speak to me before I tuck it into a bag or my pocket. We also often lose hours in these adventures into the past.

The canopy of Lily's ute became so jam-packed that we were forced to engage in some serious rearrangement. The piece-de-resistance of my experience was a slightly odd-shaped wagon wheel that I could not resist. This entailed a great deal of swearing and grunting as we endeavoured to manouvre it over the tractor grill (see Marble Bar) and heave it diagonally into position so we could close the back of the ute. We were eventually exhausted but triumphant.

Yalgoo was also a place where other slightly left of centre travellers congregated. The prospectors, the bottle collectors, the semi-precious stone hunters, the fossickers like us, the outback dreamers. We met Catherine who only uses wood for her spoons, spurtles, shawl pins and decorative pieces. Bev and Bill, travelling in a converted school bus creating exquisite jewellery from stones, crystals, metal and wood. There are stories to share, drinks to be enjoyed and the Gascoyne sunsets to savour.

Then there was the unexpected. Walking to chat with Bev and Bill on our last evening, I could have sworn that I heard a chorus of bleating. Stopping to listen, I then viewed the culprits. A white goat with her black baby had somehow breached the barrier fencing and ended up inside the caravan park. Or perhaps they happened upon a handy pole-vault and sailed over the top to check if the grass was really greener on the other side.

Anyway, I think Helen and Ray were somewhat disbelieving of my assertion that there were a couple of goats inside the caravan park. Ray's quiet Sunday evening was a tad disturbed. Anyway, once he ascertained the truth, he and a bunch of impromptu goatherds persuaded the slightly indignant goats to leave the premises. Stella would have loved to have helped...

We left Yalgoo yesterday morning, rather reluctantly. However, we were on our eastwards quest towards the Agnew Loop. The weather was warming, the sun was glorious and all roads were open. But first of all, a night at the Alice Atkinson Caravan Park was on our agenda...