Nullarbor to Ceduna

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Friday 19-3-10 The trip to Norseman from Kalgoorlie was uneventful & we got fuel ($1.46) at Norseman & had lunch, before we started our long trip heading to the Nullarbor. We had been on the road for 3 hours already so we decided to stay at 10 Mile rock (no 26 in the Camps book) 79km east of Norseman. We set up camp way down the back with Tony , Cheryl & Jake. It was peaceful & we were away from the noise of the highway. The girls & Jake had a great time off their leads & were very good. We had a great Avo & had a BBQ for tea & enjoyed each others company. It was really hot 35 deg, but a breeze came up & it was not too bad. At least we could sleep. Saturday 20-3-10 Dennis & Cheryl are early rises & they were up chatting outside the window , so I got up & we got packed up & on our way again. Today was really hot, we have been lucky any wind we had was mostly a tail wind. We stopped at Balladonia for fuel & paid $1.76 per litre & gas was $1.24 so we run on petrol as it worked out cheaper. We drove across the 146 km straight, the longest in Australia, it was very boring, we arrived at Caiguna & had lunch & then on the road again. We were travelling along & it was very hot, the car made this awful noise like something was dragging under the car. We stopped & it was still doing it. Den worked out that because we had full Auto Gas tanks that they had expanded in the heat & the main pressure relief valve was blowing off. We decided to push on & find a spot for the night & cool the tank off. We could not run the car on gas as it was so hot the gas was vaporising & it would conk out. So we travelled 40 km with the valve going off intermittently with me jumping out of my skin every time it did it. By the time we got to No 13 Moonera Tank camp site 43 km east of Cocklebiddy Annie & I needed a Vallium & Dennis was laughing at us.. We got set up with another great spot , well off the road & luckily I put the girls in the van until we set up with water . Next thing I heard Cheryl saying “Jake what have you done“. He had rolled in Poo & it was not dogs. Why people don’t travel with a spade amazes us. Poor Cheryl had to bath him & wash his collar & in the end we were all laughing, cause Jake thought he was so clever. After that we buried the offending material & kept them on the leads for a while. Annie & Jessie got off a couple of hours later & were pretty good they did not wander too far. We had BBQ meat , backed vegies & damper for tea. (We are really slumming it).It must have been 38 deg today, we had the generator on & the air con , which cooled the van down to go to bed but we could not run it all night. With not too much wind, we went to bed very hot. Den & I woke at 1 am & had trouble getting back to sleep as there was no breeze. Sunday 21st We arose early hoping to get to the SA border, the car started on gas & all was well with the car so we ran on gas today. We stopped at Mudura, Mundarilla where we got fuel for $1.61 & auto gas $1.08, we hit a head wind & our fuel consumption went out the window. We stopped at Eucla had a look & went onto the border. We had our photos taken & had lunch at the roadhouse ( a pie was $5.40 & a sausage roll was $4.80). We decided to push on & stopped at 670 camp site Bunda Cliffs Scenic Lookout 75 km east of the border. We walked down to the Great Australian Bite & the site of the cliffs & the water & the Cliffs were just amazing. We took some photos & decided to stay in the very over crowded parking lot along with everyone else. But it was good, Cheryl made her famous tomato Italian meatball sauce & pasta & I made a salad & we had another gourmet meal. I cooked up a mince stew for tomorrow night & tried to get rid of any left over veg’s as we have checkpoint at Ceduna. All our body clocks are out as we had to put the clocks forward 2 ½ hours so we had tea at 7.30pm & we were still not tired. I had a shower (hooray washes are not as good). It has been so dry we have not been able to get any water along the way. It is a lot cooler now as we are close to the water, we have jackets on. So far we have travelled 790km from Norseman. It’s a long way with many long straights, no trees now but a view of the ocean is worth it. We will push on tomorrow, & probably have 1 more night on the road & get to Ceduna on Tuesday, there is 411km to go. Since leaving Wollongong we have done 31,055km a lot of sightseeing. Monday 22-3-10 Happy 93rd birthday Dad. Have a good day. I awoke to a Rye neck this morning (joy oh joy). When we awoke it was 8am & the sun had just got up. Bloody daylight savings!!!!! After a really cold night (under the doona for a change) it was still cold, we headed off to the Nullarbor road house about 100 clicks, it started to warm up. 40 km out Tony & Cheryl had to put fuel in the car from the jerry can as we had a really strong headwind, after filling up at the roadhouse ($1.71) that hurts. Poor T & C spent $150 (300 km to Ceduna), we pushed onto Nundroo another 140 km , where we filled again ($1.39) better, & gas was ($1.15) & $5.80 for a loaf of bread which was frozen, rip off’s !!!! The head wind was bad & the scenery changed to hilly & it was a bit of a struggle. It was hot, 34 deg so we decided to spend our 4th night on the Nullarbor at camp 658 - Nundroo East rest area. It was OK but we could not get off the road very far & the trucks were noisy. By this time it was 2.30 & we cooked up left over tomatoes on toast & we all had a rest as the change times had screwed us all up & my neck needed a rest, so I got out the ten’s machine & the deep heat, & it felt a bit better. Den caught up on some computer work & at 5.30 I was woken up by Cheryl yelling “Come on it’s play time” . We settled in for a drink & the wind had come up cool, so I put the rice on & heated the mince & we had another good meal. We all turned in at 8pm & I washed up & had a shower & we went to bed. Tuesday 23-3-10 Good luck Corey ( he has an op on his hip today) I did not have a good night & was up at 5.30am with the Ten’s machine , it was really dark & I thought I would watch the sun rise, but that did not happen till 7am, oh well I got some nice pics. We packed up & we were on the road to Ceduna by 8.45am. Only 141 km to go. The head wind is strong so the fuel will not be good. We just saw a sheep, amazing, we saw all these signs as we crossed the Nullarbor warning of Camels, Roo’s, Wombats, Cattle & all we saw was a few dead Roo’s & a few live eagles & two helicopters, plus 2 Scorpions (one nearly made a home in Tony‘s shoe) & plenty of ants, Fly‘s, March Fly‘s & more Fly‘s. It has been great to have company across the Nullarbor as it would have been a long & lonely trip. We thought the Nullarbor would be nearly all desert, but where it was flat there were a lot of Salt Bushes, then you would see the sea & then hit mountains & hills. Such a diverse country. We enjoyed going over the top of Australia better, there is more to see & more towns. I don’t think we will be doing it in a hurry again. But it has been a great experience. App 1200 km a lot of money in fuel & 4 great nights free camping. We pulled into Ceduna & had to go trough the checkpoint & get rid of all our fruit & vegs, but we had used most of them. We booked into the Ceduna Foreshores Caravan Park ,a Top Tourist Park ,$25 a night for 2 nights. We were lucky there was only 3 spots left. We got a site that had a tree in the middle of it & we could not put our awning up, but never mind, we spent the day cleaning & washing. We had drinks with Tony, Cheryl & Jake & watched TV. The temp got to 31 deg today but it has cooled off to about 18 deg. Sorry 2 pages of pics.

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Comments

[margariete and warwick]

the nullarbor
Hiya guys well sorry you didnt enjoy the nullarbor as much as we did , cus we loved it , funny isnt it how you loved places we were not keen on and we loved places you werent keen on.... different times of years with the weather also.. at least the dogs loved it haha