From the Nullarbor to the Indian Ocean

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Marg decided that we had had enough of South Australia, so we pointed the car North West and made a run for the border. With the long and barren drive across the Nullarbor in front of us we decided to stock up on a few items in Ceduna bearing in mind that all fruit and vegetable matter (not cooked) and honey wouldhave to be forfeited at the border control. It was a very judicious shopping experience.







It was a fairly long day’s driving and we elected to stop at a free camp about 90 kms West of Ceduna. It was on the wrong side of the road, but we were able to get a reasonable distance away from the highway so the road trains did not disturb us too much. There was another van already at the site and we chose to park about 80 mts away from them. Shortly another van arrived and parked in between us and the original van. Geoff cut a bit of dead wood for a camp fire and in fairly short order we were joined by both other couples for happy hour – each male brining an armful of fire wood as their ‘ticket’ to join in. As it turned out, one of the couples came from Somers (place of Geoff’s parents’ home) and we spent a lot of time discussing the Somers village. The night was crystal clear and you could see about 3 billion stars (alright I must admit I did loose count at 2.937billion, but there were a lot!)







The next day saw us heading across the Nullarbor proper and we took a turn into the Head of Bight visitor centre. The weather was overcast and drizzly, but we did get out of the car and pay the $5 ea for the privilege of walking to the cliff top. We did get a bonus however as there were two whales cruising past the look-out at the time. That was quite exciting, but unfortunately they were impossible to photograph because they were so far off shore (or perhaps Geoff just managed to snap when they were submerged). We headed on and spent that night about 25 kms east of the border at a roadside stop that was really an aggregate (road metal) dump, but had plenty of space for at least 12 – 15 vans and a spectacular view out over the (Great Australian) Bight. A camp fire was lit by one of the parties already there and, damn it, we had to do happy hour again. The next morning saw us run the gauntlet that is the W.A. border checkpoint… Not saying anything more that might incriminate us.







The next stage of the trip in hugely boring, save perhaps by the fact that at some part we travelled on the longest stretch of straight road in Australia – 90 miles or 146.7 kms without some-much as the slightest deviation left or right. Marg had her first spell at driving along this stage of the journey – that was not boring either. (rude twitchy man.) Having been caught short on the firewood front the previous night, Geoff cut some more dead wood on the road before camping that night – we still have it in the front of the van five nights later! The third night on the Nullabor was rather windy and too cold for a fire outside. Kalgoorlie was our next target, although it was a big leg of 480 kms. It was at this stage that we were both realising that we were the suffering from ‘cara-lag’, that is the technical/medical term given to caravaners travelling across time zones – and is in many respects similar to jet lag. You see when crossing the S.A /W.A border you gain 1 ½ hours so when you want to go to bed because it is dark and you are tired, it is really only 6.30 pm. Similarly in the morning you are rising at 6.30 am and not 8.30 am because it is light.







I might not have mentioned that the new caravan weighs 3 tonne loaded with our supplies and water etc. It also has a disconcerting tendency to sway a bit in cross winds and when the big trucks pass us. To cure the problem, we bought an anti-sway bar and fitted it before starting the trip and it works a treat. However when we arrived at Kalgoorlie, Geoff noticed that the mini tow ball that is the mounting point on the ”A” frame had been pulled half way out of its mounting plate – not good at all. Not to worry, I had packed the inverter welder for just this sort of emergency and did a pretty good repair (well it is still in one piece after some pretty savage winds and roads buffeting the van around). Using the caravan park at Kalgoorlie gave us the chance to do 6 loads of washing – well it is a small machine, but it all got done and dried. I might also mention that it was Marg’s birthday on Saturday and we celebrated at a fairly reasonable Thai/Vietnamese/Chinese restaurant where we cracked a bottle of Bests 2005 Cab Sav – beeauuutifull!







A common catch-cry of the grey nomad is “adventure before dementia”, and sadly I think we are losing the battle. Prior to reaching Kalgoorlie we found that we needed a non-stick frypan and we could not find one in the van. We duly bought one and when we tried to find a home for it, we found the perfect spot – with the other three that we already had tucked away at the back of the cupboard!!







Monday 21^st and we left the Kalgoorlie Discovery caravan park at 9.20 am and went in search of new (extra large) self tapping screws to re-fix the anti-sway bar mount to the A frame. Kalgoorlie is not a big place in the scheme of things but by 11.30 am we had exhausted every bolt and screw supplier in the town to no avail and settled on tapping new threads into the steel and using new bolts – now that is a fun job to do on the side of the road in the blazing sun! We departed the town for places further West at 12.20 pm….







Another free camp that was supposed to be adjacent to a tavern seemed just the ticket for that night, and it seemed like a good idea to contribute to the local economy by having dinner in the tavern. Sadly the tavern is now closed. But we were cheered up in the morning by getting a call from our friends Tony and Jane from our first trip around the block. And so on to New Norcia – a (very) small monastic village to the North of Perth. Despite what you would think about such a place it has the ability to cast a wicked spell on those that stop there and Geoff found that he ‘had’ to buy a 6 pack of their Abbey Ale, a bottle of their Liqueur Muscat and a bottle of their Vintage port – well it is all (nearly) made in heaven. This campsite is located on the Great Northern Highway which runs from Perth to Meekathara (mining country – but that applies to nearly all W.A.) in the far north of the state. Without any exaggeration it is busier than the Hume Highway, and they are running huge road trains!







Just a short hop of 180 kms and our next stop is a camp on the beach at Sandy Cape Conservation Park just north of Jurien Bay. This blog will probably have a lot of photos for you to admire the beauty of Sandy Cape.

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Photos

Cohen Rest Area
Sunset on the Nullarbor

Rest Area 25 km East of W.A.
The surrounds were ordinary, but the view over the bight was extraordinary.

Jurien Bay
Limestone formation on the beach.

Jurien Bay
Sandy Cape view South

Jurien Bay
Sandy Cape view back to camp site

Comments

[Eug]

Geoff ‘had’ to buy a 6 pack of Abbey Ale, a bottle of Liqueur Muscat and a bottle of Vintage port ................... love it !!!