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Published: February 22nd 2015
Night 1
We camped in the bush about 80kms west of Coolgardie. Today was the big day. We were leaving with the caravan in tow for our trip across Australia to Victoria, and then going on a home exchange in Tasmania for 3 weeks. On our return we intend following the coast up through Victoria and NSW, with a possible detour into Canberra, eventually reaching Brisbane and then returning to WA, with a possible detour to Coober Pedy, in about mid May to celebrate the birth of two new grandchildren.
There was a possibility that a parcel sent through Australia Post would arrive this morning, but after completing all our packing and loading, doing things in the garden (including mowing the lawn) we could not justify waiting any longer, so at 11.45am we pulled out of Ascot.
Everything went well, both with the Jeep and the caravan, and by the time we passed Northam we felt the adventure had begun. Our intention was to “free camp” as much as possible but we started having a few misgivings when the thermometer in the car showed the outside temperature varying between 35 and 37 degrees. We thought we might stop at Southern Cross but as it was
only 1630 by then, we continued on.
As the temperature seemed to be dropping we ended up stopping at a rest area about 80kms west of Coolgardie. This was quite pleasant as there was a cool breeze blowing. We had only travelled about 470 kms, but could see no need to push ourselves for the first day out.
Mango chicken and mashed potato was the meal for the night, the chicken being a meal we had in the freezer. Very tasty and it went down well with a couple of drinks.
Unfortunately the wind dropped after sunset and the temperature seemed to rise again. We had a bucket bath outside the van, this cooling us off a bit. Hopefully the temperature will drop during the night and let us have a good night’s rest.
Tuesday, 17th February 2015 We both had a reasonable night’s sleep, Rags going to sleep earlier and wakening at about 0430. He stayed in bed and listened to Judy sleeping until 0600 when he could delay getting up no longer to make breakfast. By 0645 we were fed and washed, ready to go.
The day from
then on consisted of mainly driving by Rags and Judy doing her university tutoring.
We drove the 80kms into Coolgardie, dodging trucks and other vehicles upgrading the highway before refueling. As the “Petrol Spy” app Judy has on her phone told us fuel would cost over 30 cents/litre more along the Eyre Highway we also filled 3x 20 litre containers we carry. Now, with a total of 150 litres we had some flexibility on where we were to buy fuel.
The next town was Norseman,150 kms on, where we stopped for a few essential groceries as well as topping up the tank. From here on it was just driving along the highway, the only sights being the red-barked trees growing here interspersed with either low scrub or salt plains.
Balladonia was our first stop, just for a rest after 2 hours of driving , then on to Caiguna for another 2 hours. On this section we drove on The 90 mile (144kms) Straight, the longest straight road in Australia.
Pretty boring really.
After passing through Cocklebiddy (just a roadhouse) we continued on until 25kms past Madura we pulled into a 24 hour rest area for
Rest stop
Every 2 hours or so, we stopped for a break the night. We both felt that 820kms with a 2.5 tonne caravan in tow was a respectable distance to drive in a day!
Judy cooked a delicious dinner of onion, garlic, tomato, capsicum, and mince. Rags complemented this meal by opening a good bottle of shiraz.
As the temperature today was much kinder, only being 23 degrees rather than the 35 we had yesterday at 1700, we used our system and had a warm shower before bed
Wednesday 18th February 2015 We left about an hour later than yesterday, Rags checking out the electrics to the fridge and battery before we left. A few cars had already left the rest area, most heading east.
A few hours later we reached Mundrabilla Roadhouse where we met the people who had been camped near us. They had been on the road since last May and were headed back to home in Queensland, but not very quickly as they intended to stop just up the road at Eucla for the night.
We didn’t stop at Eucla, 69 kms on, instead continuing to the WA/SA Border Village. The only bit of excitement we had
The Great Australian Bight
This is the first lookout along the Eyre Highway overlooking the ocean. along this boring stretch of road was a car zipping past us at a great rate. A few kilometres further on we saw the flash of red and blue, with a patrol car doing a u-turn and pulling them over.
The highway comes close to the ocean after nearly 200kms into South Australia and we stopped for the obligatory photos. The water is still a good distance away and there is a steep drop down through the dunes so we only viewed it from the top.
We stopped at the Nullabor Roadhouse after driving through the real Nullabor Plain, here we put in enough fuel to get us to Penong, where prices are once again more reasonable.
As we still had some vegetables left we didn’t want to go through the Quarantine stop at Ceduna today, instead we detoured into Fowlers Bay, with 20kms of atrocious road to get there. The Bay is quite pleasant consisting of mainly holiday shacks and houses the caravan park and a National Park that seemed to be made up of huge sand dunes. There are information noteboards along the beachfront giving the history of the area. Explorers such as Eyre, Flinders
Sunrise at Fowler Bay
We got up early for a walk. Daylight Saving Time meant we didn't lose any sleep. and several Dutch and French ships all used the area as a base in the early settlement of Australia. Flinders is credited with the actual naming of Australia.
A meal of roast beef with lots of vegetables was enjoyed, we also cooked or otherwise prepared the rest of the vegetables so that Quarantine will be satisfied.
Now being on South Australian Daylight Saving Time the day seemed to be shortened dramatically, this suiting Rags as he felt he had “hit the wall” after a restless night’s sleep and driving the 540kms today.
Thursday 19th February 2015 Daylight saving has it get light an hour “later”, but we managed to be up and about by 0700 in time to watch the sun rise over the ocean. We also walked along the beach, enjoying the peace and admiring the light on the sand dunes.
After breakfast we packed up and were on the “road”. This was the same way as we came in, only this time we knew it was for only about 10kms of very rough road. We picked our way through the corrugations at about 15 kph, eventually reaching the bitumen.
"Baldy"
Baldy shucked our oysters, giving us an extra couple to taste to ensure they were good. They were! We had no problems going through Quarantine in Ceduna and the inspector gave us a contact on where to buy oysters. This we did after refueling at the Coles’ Shell garage where we got a 10cents/l discount after buying $20 of groceries etc in the shop. Makes sense when you buy 137 litres of fuel!
We bought our oysters at Baldy’s as advised as well as 2 packets of fish fillets. Great value when you get a freshly shucked oyster each to taste, discounted fish, as well as an interesting history of a fisherman’s life.
The rest of the day was just more driving, mainly through wheatbelt country, the highlight being at lunchtime when we stopped at Kimba, the halfway point across Australia where the obligatory photo was taken.
Everything went smoothly today, there was no wind and the road was undulating. The Jeep was very economical at a little over 90kph, averaging less than 15 litres/100kms for most of the way. We did have a little chuckle when a WA registered car blasted past us, crossing solid white lines, and we caught up with him an hour later being booked by the local police. The
A lunch stop
We stopped for lunch at Kimba near this sign. Still a long way to go! police around here, especially near the road works are really on the ball!
The temperature was only 20 degrees when we left this morning but rose during the day, reaching 38 degrees for the rest of the afternoon. This convinced us that we would not be free camping tonight; instead we booked into a caravan park in Port Augusta at 1800. Here we had power for the air conditioner, which we enjoyed whilst having our entrée of fresh oysters and a cold sauvignon blanc. Life is tough!
Friday 20th February 18, 2015 Neither of us slept very well, Rags still being awake at 0200. Too many things going through his mind!
That said we didn’t get out of bed until after 0800 and move out until 0900. As the weather forecast for Adelaide was 38 degree we agreed it was too hot to go to the Adelaide Caravan & Camping Show.
We almost changed our mind when the temperature dipped a few degrees but the cooler change didn't last long! By 1300 the temperature had risen again and it was about 38 as we neared Adelaide so we just kept on
Lunch
We drove through Hahndorf and stopped at a roadside shop for this delicious lunch. going as the car was the coolest place to be and we could see nowhere to park our car and van on the way through Adelaide.
We drove on, up through the Adelaide Hills and only had one scary moment when the temperature light came on! The transmission temperature was over 90 degrees so we took an exit to find a place to stop for lunch and fuel (the fuel light also came on while we did this) but could only find fuel and was told by the man at the servo that there was no place in this country town to stop with a car and caravan, so back on the freeway and off at Hahndorf where we found a Fruit and Veg place with parking for long vehicles. We rewarded them by purchasing figs, blackberries, pears and dried apricots! We then sat in their carpark and ate some of these with lunch and a coffee, then we were happy to get back into the cool of the car.
When we reached Keith, one of the places we have stopped at before, the heat was still there but we decided about 540kms was far enough for the
Pink Lake
This is where we stopped for lunch. The temperature was over 35 degrees so we didn't spend too much time on the salt. day. We settled in on a grassed spot and as there was power had the aircon running from then on. We are getting soft.
Judy got the Thermomix out and we had a delicious Cottage Pie, made from the leftover beef roast and vegetables from the other night. Finished with homemade mango icecream. “Camping” doesn’t have to be tough.
Saturday 21st February 2015 A late start this morning, we didn’t wake up until 0830. Not worried as we now have time to kill as we aren’t expected in Melbourne until the 23
rd or 24
th.
The drive today was quite uneventful, we passing through small wheatbelt towns, with most of the town centres off the main highway.
We did stop at Nihil, partly because we passed through the middle of it and partly because we liked the name! It is a very neat looking town with wide streets and a lawned and treed median strip. The buildings all look quite old but are in good repair, even if most unoccupied.
We called into a CWA shop and bought more figs, Judy not letting Rags buy any of the home-made biscuits on
Refueling
We have 3x 20 litre jerry cans with us to get us to towns with the best fuel prices. sale. She reckons she’s looking after his health.
Lunch was some distance out of town at the Pink Lake rest stop. After eating we did brave the 38 degree temperature and walked down to the lake to take some photos and walk on the salt.
We continued on, the temperature outside fluctuating between 34 and 38 degrees. About 8 kms before Ballarat we booked into a Big 4 caravan park. Luckily by Ballarat the temperature had cooled somewhat. Here we found the lady very obliging, showing us several spots and even checking later to ensure we managed to get into the fairly tricky spot we chose.
We chose a tightish spot in their camping area- caravan bays were pretty full owing to the fact that they had a huge swap meet this weekend. This is billed as Australia's largest swap meet and runs from Thursday to Saturday - Unfortunately we were too late and it was now over. Getting in to the camping spot was ridiculously easy as it turned out and with Judy using the portable 2way radio we missed all obstacles and did it in one go, disappointing a few campers looking on.
After
Border Village
This 'roo' sits by the highway at the SA/WA border setting up camp we did some shopping at a new Woolworths just up the road. Here we replenished a few vegetables and fruit, as we'd eaten our others before crossing into Victoria. We were then told there were no restrictions into Victoria, only going out. Live and learn.
After a tasty dinner of Australian Herring (Tommy Ruffs) we had bought in Ceduna and a salad we both sat in the van and got onto our laptops. The temperature was still very uncomfortable even after a few light showers and the aircon would probably be turned on before we went to bed. We have become soft!
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Mum
non-member comment
Across Auatralia
Thanks for the interesting story of your Travels across the continent. I can relate to so much of it. The fresh Oysters must have been delicious !! The heat is of course always with us this time of the year. I'm happy to tell you that we have had a bit of a break from the relentless heat this summer with a couple of days in the highish twenties. Take care. Love Mum