10 June 2011 - 16 June 2011

10 June 2011

Packed up this morning - everything in the tent was wet - we knew it had been leaking but didn't realise the extent - looks like we need to get some seam sealer as it seems to be the seams that are leaking (hey - that rhymes!). Ross and I headed into Kalgoorlie to fill up gas bottle and do a few other things while the Oldies headed back to Coolgardie to take photos of the old buildings there as we didn't get a chance on the way through the first time. We met up in Norseman, had a quick lunch and headed out across the Nullarbor - our first night - woohoo!

We stayed at Ten Mile Rocks campsite which was quite a nice campsite. We had a big fire and cut up a bunch of wood - apparently there won't be much wood for a while so we loaded up the car with as much firewood as we could carry.

11 June 2011
The Salmon Gums seem to be the main trees around here - they are just spectacular and completely different to the gums we are used to seeing.  Their bark ranges in colour from salmon (of course) to orange and brown and even a weird shade of pale olive green but the best ones I think are the ones with the copper coloured bark.  We went for a wander around the campsite this morning - it was really misty and with the water from the fog reflecting in the early morning sunlight they looked like they were glowing.  We took photos but they looked fake because they were so amazing. 

We wandered in to have a look at Fraser Range Station because it was on the map of interesting things to see on the Nullarbor, there is also a caravan park there. We had a look around as there are the ruins of an old station there but there wasn't an awful lot to see so we didn't hang around long. 

We moved on to Balladonia and looked at the museum there which was interesting.  We couldn't have showers as they don't have any water and they have closed down the showers.  The town of Balladonia isn't actually a town - it's a roadhouse and I think there was a caravan park there too but nothing else - strange. 

We stayed at Domblegabby Rest Area overnight which was a nice enough spot.  We have run out of trees so lucky we brought the firewood with us  - we had another nice fire. 

12 June 2011

There was no rain overnight but it was a very wet night and everything was wet again so we had to pack up wet and we headed to  Caiguna.  They had had a big dump of rain overnight so there were puddles everywhere - very welcome for them as they don't get much rain out this way.  Caiguna was the same - just a motel and a roadhouse and a caravan park - this is where mum and dad broke down in the bus a couple of years ago - what a place to break down!  About 5 kms before town is Caiguna Blowhole which is a hole in a rock in the ground - wow. 

We moved on to Cocklebiddy (just love that name) where they had enough water there so that we could have showers which we all gladly did as there is nowhere along this trip where you can get water as far as we know so you can't afford the luxury of using the water you take with you for a shower.  We had lunch at Cocklebiddy and then headed off again.  We have been driving through a bit of rain as we go along - not a lot but you can see where there has been a fair bit of recent rainfall around the area.  Everything so far has been nice and green and lush and really interesting.  The next thing on the Nullarbor Map to look at is the Eyre Bird Observatory but we decided agains it as it is a fair way off the beaten track and due to the rain we were worried about the state of the road as it is a 4wd only road anyway. 

We stopped at Madura Pass Lookout which was great and then stayed the night at Moondini Bluff - another great campsite. We are trying to eat up all of our fres fruit and veg because of the checkpoint at Caiguna so we had potatoes and onions in foil in the coals - yummo!  There is a checkpoint at Eucla but that is for people coming into WA. 

We saw a funny sight on the way to the campsite this arvo, a little van passed us and when we looked across a the passengers, they were two Alpacas!!  What a funny site to see! 

13 June 2011

There was a lot of dew again last night and everything was wet again inside and out this morning so another wet packup.  We had pancakes for brekky this morning - what a treat! 

We headed off to Eucla and had a look at the Old Telegraph Station ruins down on the sand dunes.  We were surprised that Eucla also wasn't a town and again was only a roadhouse. 

WE wanted to get as far as we could tonight as we are running out of supplies as we had to make sure all fres stuff was eaten before the checkpoint.  It's been getting dark by about 5:30ish so we have been trying to stop by about 3 to give us time to set up camp and get a fire going and have some time to relax, etc.  The sun dosn't get up until about 7ish too so it makes for a short day! 

We went through Border Village (another roadhouse) and then we were on the coastline with a few signs for photo opportunities which we stopped at to take photos of the cliffs over the ocean.  There are a few campsites along the coast which we could have stayed at but they are all very exposed and have no toilets so we kept going and eventually got off the coast and found a nice campsite on the left hand side of the road (?81 K Peg Rest Area?).  No toilets there either but we dug a hole for "number 2's" and had the Porta Pottie for "number 2's".  We know you can use the Porta Pottie for number 2's but none of us like the idea so we do the little seat over the hole thing instead. 

There were no trees today - definitely the "Nullarbor". 
The timezone has changed twice over the past two days which is a bit hard to get used to. 

14 June 2011

WE went into the "town" of Nullarbor this morning (another roadhouse).  When we pulled up there was a plane parked in the parking lot - not something you see every day!!  It does joyflights over the Head of the Bight to look at whales - I think it was $140 pp which I thought was a pretty good price, but we are going to do it the old fashioned way and go and look from the boardwalk. 

We got to the Head of the Bight and went in and as soon as we got near the water we could see whales!!  It was a lot of fun although they didn't do anything exciting like breach though we did see a flipper.  A lot of them had babies with them.  You couldn't see them all that well, you mostly saw their backs but it was still great fun.  As we were walking around and looking at whales we kept bumping into one particular couple and exchanged pleasantries a few times and then on the way out Lester bumped into them again and then the realised that they knew each other and were cousins - small world! We had lunch at the Head of the Bight and then headed off again to Penong.  On the way we saw a ?black fox cross the road in front of us.  I can't find anything to say there are black foxes in Australia but that's definitely what it looked like to us. 

WE stayed Kidnippy Rest area which ended up being a lovely spot - no toilets again but we had the loos set up so no problem.  We are back into the treed area so we had a big fire - the best yet!  I made a bacon and cheese damper - yummo!  It is almost a full moon so it was a very bright, clear night with no clouds, no wind - just beautiful. 

15 June 2011

It was 2 degrees when we got up this morning and there was frost on the cars - BRRRR!!!  We packed up and headed into Ceduna.  We need supplies, we need a shower and we need to do laundry so we will stay in town in a caravan park tonight. 

WE drove through Nundroo and filled up with the cheapest fuel we had seen since leaving Norseman.  Got quite expensive at times - I think $2.09/L was the dearest! 

We have left the Nullarbor behind now - we all really enjoyed it though it wasn't what any of us were expecting.  For me, I expected there to be no trees and basically desert the entire way from Norseman to Ceduna but there really was only one or two days where we didn't see any trees and although there was not much water about, everything was beautiful and green with lots of bushes when there weren't any trees.  I also expected the "towns" marked on the maps to be towns, even tiny little ones but they wer mostly only roadhouses with the odd caravan park and motel thrown in - it was quite strange I thought. 

When we got to Ceduna we booked into the A1 caravan park on the recommendation of a lady we had come across on our travels.  It was about the cheapest and nastiest caravan park any of us had ever seen!!  It was full of drunk Aboriginals and it was small and rundown but it had everything we needed - washing machines, showers, toilets, so we couldn't complain.  The Oldies were getting sick of putting up and pulling down the tent every day so decided to stay in an onsite van - wow - that was an interesting van!!  It was about 50 years old, had no running water in it but it had a bed and it was dry and it only cost $20 so - again - can't complain!  The guy in the next caravan to them was a permanent resident and was the friendliest guy you could meet - he even let us use his dryer to get our washing dry - he had only known us for five minutes!  Oveall the residents were fine and it wasn't as bad as we thought it was when we first layed eyes on it.  We got some shopping done and had fish and chips for tea!

16 June 2011

We had a bit of a look around Ceduna which was a much nicer looking town than I thought it would be and then we headed off to Streaky Bay.  The weather has not been windy at all up until now but by the time we hit Streaky Bay it was blowing a gale! Mum told me to call into the IGA there to see an Ian Beck (relative?) but he wasn't on so we headed off to Sceale Bay Bush Camp to camp the night.  We found a nice spot out of the wind - it's top little campsite with flushing toilets and even a bush shower!!  (pump hot water out of our bucket into a holding bucket above your head with a tap on it).  The guy who owns it comes around every night to collect fees ($6 pp) and told us about a drive along the local cliffs we had to go on tomorrow - looking foward to it :)