Our 200kms drive west to Dumbleyung was mostly on a straight road. The 10kms causeway across King Lake is the longest in WA.
We stopped at Newdegate for a brief look around. The painted silos were impressive.
Our lunch stop was in the town of Lake Grace. The bakery has an outdoor seating area but we had to carry the dogs through the shop to get there. The former Bank of New South Wales was established in 1817. A three panel mural depicts individual women who helped establish and develop the community.
At Dumbleyung we are camped behind the Tavern. The two guys who own this pub have embarked on a major renovation, for example, the new roof cost $250,000! They are away travelling and their friend Dan is managing the hotel in their absence. Dan owns a 21 foot Bushtracker. He took a photo of our van and sent it to his wife “Honey, I shrunk the Bushtracker!”. We had dinner at the Tavern in front of the fire.
Dumbleyung Lake is “famous” for being where Donald Campbell broke the water speed record on 31 December 1964. He is the only person to have held the land and water speed records in the same year. A replica of his Bluebird watercraft is on display near the railway station.
The announcement that Campbell had broken the record was made from this staircase in the Tavern. The collection of photographs in the Blue Room includes caravans camped by the lake, and refuelling the Bluebird with people swimming close by. Note the Ampol sign positioned in the middle of the lake!
Committed Travellers 