Cycling Salmon Gums to Norseman, WA (approx. 96kms)
November 3rd 2006 09:05
It's uphill from Salmon Gums to Norseman though your eyes will deceive you. All day long my eyes told me the road ahead was flat while my legs and the gears I had to use told me it wasn't!
Sandy soil feeds the beautiful bushland on either side. The trees are hard and smooth in metallic hues as if the wealth beneath the soil is on display. Sometimes they are sparse enough for you to glimpse one of the many salt lakes along this route - pink and blue and shimmering.
The area is reputed to be infested with camels but we only saw hoofprints and the famous corrugated iron camel sculptures featured at the main Norseman roundabout.
The signs advertising Norseman's many attractions begin several kilometres out of town. Don't get too excited; Norseman's centre was bypassed a few years ago and is slowly being starved to death by the modern roadhouses on the edge of the John Eyre Highway.
After a steepish climb, you pass through a wooden 'victory' arch announcing your arrival in Norseman. Take a right at the camels for the main drag. It has a dead and depressing air about it with many boarded up businesses. There is a supermarket and a teashop frequented by locals with blank stares and unfriendly manners.
Further up the main street, near the Information Centre, is the statue of Hardy Norseman, the horse that reputedly founded Norseman. Legend tells that; tethered all night to a tree, a Prospector's horse pawed relentlessly at the ground, unearthing a large, gold-bearing Quartz rock and starting Norseman's goldrush.
Instead of turning right at the roundabout, stick to the Esperance Hwy for the Caravan Park (left hand side). It doesn't look much at first but there is a grassy spot beneath peppercorn trees up the back for campers ($15AUS/2p/n).
The BP Roadhouse on the John Eyre Hwy on the way out of town is as pleasant a place as any to get a coffee while catching up on the soaps in airconditioned comfort.
Sandy soil feeds the beautiful bushland on either side. The trees are hard and smooth in metallic hues as if the wealth beneath the soil is on display. Sometimes they are sparse enough for you to glimpse one of the many salt lakes along this route - pink and blue and shimmering.
Lake Gibson on the route to Norseman, WA
The area is reputed to be infested with camels but we only saw hoofprints and the famous corrugated iron camel sculptures featured at the main Norseman roundabout.
The signs advertising Norseman's many attractions begin several kilometres out of town. Don't get too excited; Norseman's centre was bypassed a few years ago and is slowly being starved to death by the modern roadhouses on the edge of the John Eyre Highway.
After a steepish climb, you pass through a wooden 'victory' arch announcing your arrival in Norseman. Take a right at the camels for the main drag. It has a dead and depressing air about it with many boarded up businesses. There is a supermarket and a teashop frequented by locals with blank stares and unfriendly manners.
Further up the main street, near the Information Centre, is the statue of Hardy Norseman, the horse that reputedly founded Norseman. Legend tells that; tethered all night to a tree, a Prospector's horse pawed relentlessly at the ground, unearthing a large, gold-bearing Quartz rock and starting Norseman's goldrush.
Instead of turning right at the roundabout, stick to the Esperance Hwy for the Caravan Park (left hand side). It doesn't look much at first but there is a grassy spot beneath peppercorn trees up the back for campers ($15AUS/2p/n).
The BP Roadhouse on the John Eyre Hwy on the way out of town is as pleasant a place as any to get a coffee while catching up on the soaps in airconditioned comfort.
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Comment by Tourist Tony