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Across the Nullabor
It’s Friday May the 3
rd 2013, and we are leaving Ceduna at 9.30 am, there’s a light breeze blowing and we hope that it won’t turn into a headwind. We are lucky, we had good weather the whole trip.
Surprisingly the land is green; it’s still wheat country out here, there must have been some rain, as the green pastures fade away into the far horizons on both sides of the road. That’s a lot of wheat.
The road stretches out into the distance, only 1500 kilometres approximately to Norseman.
South Australia is the only state where we find that not only the caravan drivers wave to us as we pass, the cars do too.
By three o’clock we are looking for a spot to pull off the road. We all jump out and gather the wood for the campfire, a practice that lasts for six days over the journey on The Nullabor.
Three young people, travelling in a Combi, join us at the fire, and tell us their stories, one of them, a girl came on the trip after seeing an ad on Gumtree!They haven't seen a kangaroo yet, and we try and find one in the night, but there
are no living creatures to be found at all.
Our travelling companions are truly hunters and gathers, a rabbit adds to the food store at our next stop, and it is nicely cut up and goes in the pot for a beautiful rabbit stew. Next morning I eat my brekky in front of the ashes of last night’s fire before we set off, the sun is rising over the horizon and it's going to be a warm day.
We arrive at the viewing locations next to The Great Australian Bight, it's a magnificent sight as the ocean crashes up onto the cliffs. The sea is a beautiful blue/green and the cliffs stretch away into the distance. The veiwing platforms ensure noone goes beyond the wire as the rdges are crumbling away in places. It's an awesome sight, and there's a smoky haze off into the distance.
A few kilometers up the road, not far from Border town we pull over and proceed to eat all the fruit we’ve got on board. I can't eat another thing until tea time, I have had so much fruit. The vegetables have all been cooked up and turned into hash browns, no ones prepared to give the
authorities anything.They do a thorough search of the van, opening the fridge and all the cupboards in the kitchen, but there's nothing to be found. I give up the onions and the honey and the man goes off pleased that he's got something I'm sure.
As soon as we cross the border, our time goes back an hour and a half, which makes today a very long day. Through Eucla we go down a big hill! Which is quite a change, and the plain stretches away again; we now have a range on our right and it's 790ks to Norseman.
Late in the day we pull into a road stop, the road has been graded and turned up lots of rocks with fossilized shells in them. Our fossickers are out of their cars in a flash, they've got the geo picks and hammers, and are like bees to a honeypot. They dig holes with shovels and have a wonderful time splitting the rocks open. Their enthusiasm is catching and even I am anticipating what is going to turn up. They found some very nice shells, all of two hundred and fifty million years old, give or take a few years.
Another nice night
in front of the campfire and the accordion goes well
Next morning we are passing Madura Bluff on our right, the valley sprouts small trees, and as I now hold one of the fossilized shells in my hand, it’s easy to imagine when this plain was covered in sea water and the Bluff was the edge of the sea. At the Madura Pass we meet up with some other Tasmanians, they come from Exeter and we know their son in law. It's a small world.
Lunch at Cocklebiddy, and we drive past Caiguna looking for the road to the caves. The turnoff is nowhere to be found, so we go on until we come to the sign that says, Australia’s Longest Straight, 90 miles. One hundred and sixty five kilometers of scrubby wasteland, smallish trees. At Domblegabby rest stop we all need a walk around, it’s very hot inside and outside of the car.
We pull in to another bush camp, our rabbit man gets out his axe and clears a path in a couple of spots, he’s eighty three tomorrow, but you wouldn’t know it to see him with the axe. We assemble our covered wagons in a circle once again.We have
a birthday tonight for one of our ladies, so once our wood has been gathered, it’s time to get out the party fare, and the music. The flies are shocking, but we soldier on, the fire soon keeps them at bay. I get out the fly spray and spray it around my head to kill a few, and the bull ants seem to want to get into our van as well.
The sunset puts on an amazing performance, its a one in a million spectacle, and we watch until it fades away into night.
Away by 7.40 next morning, there was rain in the night, but it’s made no difference to the ground. Flat gray cloud covers the sky, so it’s pretty dull overhead, but the photos come out well with some lovely cloud formationsThose lovely spindly trees with the slim red trunks dot the sides of the roads here and there. We are still on the 90 mile straight, not sure how many to go but it’s unreal to be still going in a straight line for so long.
We’ve just turned a corner! And come upon two cyclists, they have a long trip ahead of them. At least these two have
a support vehicle, we passed one on his own way back. It would be a lonely existence on your own There's also another airstrip, the RFDS land their planes on the road in emergencies.
It’s raining on The Nullabor, and it’s turning the red dust on our van, to mud, but it soon washes off again by the time we arrive in Norseman.
We have crossed The Nullabor.
We go straight to the supermarket and get a loaf of bread. Coming across, at the roadhouses two litres of milk cost $7.20, and bread was just as dear. We head out of town and camp in the bush. Our fossickers dig up some opalite, it's very nice too, and we add more rock to the van.
No fire tonight, but just as we start our happy hour, there is a tremendous clap of thunder and then lightning. The rain comes down in torrents and we are all huddled under the awning till it eases. The lightning lights up the sky as if it is daytime, and the thunder roars over our heads. Next morning I walk over the road and fi my shoes are caked in clay about two inches thick!
I’ve got a lovely hubby,
he scrapes it all out and washes my shoes in a bucket. He uses the dishwashing brush! Never mind he’s worth a thousand pound.
We tour the town of Coolgardie, the old buildings are great, and we pay $2s each to see a bottle collection that was just stunning, right down to a set of dentures made out of gold. It’s a must see if you go to Coolgardie. The building is impressive, two stories. When it was built in the 1800s, the townspeople didn't like it, they thought it was and eyesore.
Looks pretty good to me.
We camp a few kilometers out of town, and a game of golf is in order. Right down to a playoff.Nice little plants here where we are tonight. Too late we realize they are full of vicious tiny prickles that seem to find their way into my socks, the mat and even the bottom of my thongs!! Yes, hubby pulls out all the thorns as well, he’s worth his weight in gold.
As we drive in to Kalgoorlie to a van park for the first time in seven nights, I try to summarize the journey.
From those little prickles to The Great Australian Bight, to the clay
on my sneakers to the fossilized shells, to me searching for my phone in the fallen leaves down near the outdoor dunny,Yes, I found it up near the car wheel, that wonderful, beautiful sunset, and the great company of our wagon train companions, the trip across The Nullabor, was amazing.
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adrian
non-member comment
violin bottle
so did they tell you what was in the bottle when it was full?