Were our next ports of call and the trip of 197km proved uneventful?
Mount Magnet is an important road junction providing access to the coast and Geraldton as well as an alternative sealed route to Perth via Sandstone and Leonora and Kalgoorlie for those with plenty of time.
One amusing comment from an elderly gentleman I spoke to at the Meekathara motor camp was that he was heading to Kununurra for a wedding. I said that it was a long way if the wedding was at the weekend and his reply was that he had plenty of time - the wedding was not until September. He had come across from the coast exploring ghost towns on the way.

Our outback experience was starting to come to an end and Paynes Find - 337km further on seemed to be a good place to stay a night on our way down to Perth where we were hoping to be in a few days time.
We had no idea what we would find at the Paynes Find Roadhouse but it turned out to be one of our most interesting stopovers. Our camp site proved quite adequate and we had seen signs on the side of the road saying "Truckies Roast". The roadhouse has a long history and is also an old fashioned pub. That fact and the idea of a truckies' roast and a cool beer or two was hard to resist.
The pub owner was a pleasant chap who suggested we might like to visit the mine and a lady called Elaine Taylor and telephoned her to say we would be at her place in about an hour's time.

In the meantime another couple in a caravan turned up and we all walked up the dusty road to see Elaine - a most interesting and enterprising lady and the only lady goldmine owner in the country.
Her story is a long one but suffice it to say that she works the productive mine with the help of some male workers and had owned it for quite some years since she took it over from her father. I wish I could tell her story here but alas there is no time. Another aspect of Payne's Find is it is part of the wild flower trail that brings thousands of people from all over the world to see the flowers when they are in bloom.
The flowers lie dormant in the ground in the intense heat (it can get up to 48 degrees) until the rains arrive then burst out into a wonderful display of colour.