Conloi Bore

We slept in till 10am on our first bunker morning - because our bedroom was much darker and more quiet than we were used to!  By the time we woke it was too late for an early morning walk to see the other bunkers, so we contemplated the day over breakfast.

A brochure detailed several self-drive maps and we opted for the wildflower tour because we turned onto the trail right from our driveway.

We didn't expect to see wildflowers but the country was very interesting, with many vegetation and landscape changes as we drove along.

There were a number of bentonite mines in the area and our brochure referred to one mine's product being processed into kitty litter by a plant in Miles (though no-one we asked knew of it's existence, so prap our information was outdated).

Bentonite is a white clay product derived from volcanic ash.  It has many uses beyond kitty litter and my first thought of clay facial masks!

The conloi bore was around the same area and we stopped to investigate. I found some neat graffiti on the side of the oil holding tank.

I decided to climb the ladder.  I'd packed proper shoes but left my new orthotics at home so wore speciality thongs most days - and they weren't ideal for ladder-climbing.  Thongs aside I'm not good with heights, so only made it part-way up.  Nick then climbed to the top and took some footage of the tank's innards.  (There is some information about the bore on the sign in the first collage).  

Further along the track was a plateau with clumps of spinifex and many grass trees.  It also had phone reception, so we appreciated an internet fix after our wander.  The full wildflower tour was 106 kilometres.  We had our late lunch back at the bunker.