January 12, 2024
Laverton is Site 13 on the Golden Quest Discovery Trail and for many travellers is the beginning or end of their trek across the Great Central Road to Uluru or the Gunbarrel highway. The town has a very new and well-constructed Visitor Centre showcasing the many early Explorers who transited the area, “The Great Beyond Explorers Hall of Fame”. It features many audio visual screens and being the only visitors had time to watch almost every one uninterrupted.
The return to Leonora takes in only three lookouts, two featured locations and the third a local hill top closer to Leonora; these are not accessible with the caravan in tow as they are all steep and narrow gravel access roads. The first is the Windarra Mine; this is the original Poseidon Nickel Mine which was the cause of the stockmarket rush on shares. The stock market bubble in which the price of Australian mining shares soared in late 1969, then crashed in early 1970. It was triggered by the discovery by Poseidon Nickel of the early indications of a promising nickel deposit in September 1969. Today it is not currently operational but does have some admin staff onsite.
Site 15, Murrin Murrin is the last “official” stop on the way to Leonora; this is another mine lookout:
At around 15km before Leonora is a track to the north simply signed “Lookout”; a narrow gravel road and at times rough takes you only about 1.5km to the top of a small hill with great views all around.
