Trip to South Australia, Western Australia, Northern Territory and New South Wales #5

These next few are not going to have pictures - so I can get them out to you quick.....

#5

Wed 26^th.  Today was the Memorial for the celebration of the life of our friend WAYNE. We thought of his wife Marie and family as we were travelling up the road towards Kimba. 

We went past Iron Knob and the huge defence property.  Interesting crops and areas on the way and we camped at Kimba East Rest Area and were joined by three other vans for the night.

Thurs 27^th.  Travelled through Kimba to the ‘Halfway Across Australia’ sign, saw the Big Galah and the painted Silo at Kimba.  We then travelled on Wudinna before stopping at Ceduna.  The Oysterfest was on this weekend.

Fri 28^th we had a rest day.  It was VERY windy, so the washing dried in no time at all and we just rested.  We did go and do the groceries this morning and checked out the venue for the OYSTERFEST but most of the activities etc start tomorrow.

We went to the Ceduna Oyster Barn for a lovely dinner of oyster, FRESH fish and salad.  We even had a lovely drop of wine.

Sat 29^th. We headed westward. Our first rest stop was at Penong – the home of the Windmill.  In one paddock there are 16 windmills – each one is owned by a different family and this is their source of water for the home.  There is also the Windmill museum with the largest [30metre] windmill.  This one is still actually pumping water up for the village.  We stopped at Nundroo for a coffee and then we stopped at the entrance to the ‘Head of the Bight’ but as they had only seen 10 whales yesterday – we continued on our way.  We stopped at Nullarbor roadhouse for fuel and then had lunch in the van.  We had been making good time as we had a tail wind initially and then it was coming from the south-east and picking up speed.  We called into the Bunda Cliffs Lookout – 74km from the WA border and decided this was a good time to stop as it was 4pm.  The wind seemed to be picking up speed as we sat, and it was rocking the van quite well.  By nightfall there were 4 of us parked up for the night and faced into the wind.

Sun 30^th. Today we headed out late and stopped at the Quarantine Checkpoint at Border Village and handed over the honey, and some Lavender and Rosemary cuttings.  The young lady was VERY thorough and went through every nook and cranny in both the car and the van.  We then went around to the SA/WA Border sign and took a couple of photos.  We had put our clocks back by 45mins as directed by the Quarantine staff.   We stopped at Eucla and refuelled and then continued West.  We stopped at Moodini Bluff Rest Area for the night.  We had a great afternoon chatting to some fellow travellers – all heading East.  We had a tail wind again today – so the fuel consumption was good.  By nightfall there were about 20 RV’s parked up and we heard another 4 come in after dark.

We had some light showers overnight.

Mon 1^st Oct.  We headed off about 8.30 and made our way into Madura for Fuel and then up to the Madura Pass lookout for a peek.  We headed to Cocklebiddy and played the Nullarbor Golf Links hole – Eagle Rock.  This is a Par 4 - 347metre hole.  I gave up and Darryl continued the hole.

We then made our way to Caiguna and filled up with Fuel.  We had a tail wind again today, but it was changing to be coming from the south.  Leaving Caiguna, we were advised to put our clocks back another 45 minutes and we would now be on PERTH time.

We had a coffee and whilst here another ACC van pulled it.  It was Peter and Kath from the Sydney City Slickers Branch.  We chatted whilst we were seeing three giro-copters being refuelled.  Just after Caiguna is the sign for the ’90 Mile Straight (146.6km)’.  We then travelled a further 5km and stopped to look at the Caiguna Blowhole.  A giant hole in the rock and it basically has air rushing out of it from over at the coast.  Today it wasn’t active.

We travelled a little further on to Baxter Rest Area and pulled in to use the toilets and empty the van toilet at the Dump Point.  We then saw that Kathy and Peter were already set up for the night.  We then decided that we would also call it a day and set up camp.  Before nightfall I think there were about 40 RV’s parked up for the night. 

Tue 2^nd. We were out of the camp by 9am and heading west again.  We made it to the end of the ’90 mile Straight’ and arrived at Balladonia and topped up the fuel.  The most expensive fill across the Nullarbor was $2.069 per litre.  We had our coffee and Kathy and Peter arrived and then we also met up with Banjo and Stuart and Maureen from Victoria.  They were heading to Norseman tonight.  Kathy and Peter were heading to Fraser Range Caravan Park and we were heading to the Fraser Range Rest Area.  On arrival we found that the name has been changed to the ‘Southern Hills Rest Area’.  All good.  It was a great little stop and near what appeared to be a great Clay Pan, but another traveller told us it was a lake – but couldn’t remember its name.  I haven’t been able to find it on Google either.

By nightfall there were 4 of us camped here.  We had several people come in to use the amenities and then leave again though.

Wed 3^rd. We were all packed and ready to leave when we noticed that the birds had been into one of the bins and scattered rubbish everywhere.  We got another garbage bag and were picking it up when I accidentally bashed my head on one of the reo lids (we had opened it to make it easier to put the rubbish back and as I bent to get the rubbish at the base of the bin --- WHACK).  A slight bruise above my right eye and swelling above the eyebrow and LOTS of pain.  DAMN!!!!!

We travelled on to Norseman and got fuel and did a drive through town and found the camels.  [luckily, we didn’t find any real ones on our journey].

We then headed up to Kalgoorlie and managed to find a space at the third van park.  Not a bad old park and close to the CBD of Kalgoorlie.  We went for a drive into town and called into the Visitor info centre at the Town Hall and booked in for the walking tour with headsets for tomorrow.

Back to the van, Panadol for my headache and a pleasant evening. Into bed at about 10pm and then I awoke at about 11.30 pm and promptly vomited.  More Panadol and keeping the bucket handy I went back to bed – having to use the bucket again during the early hours.

Thurs 4^th.  Into town by 10.30am and picked up our headsets and guides and off we went.  This is a nice way to explore the towns of Kalgoorlie and Boulder.  We made a few long stops as we checked out the different points of interest throughout the town.  By 5pm we had decided it was time to head back to the van.  My headache was easing a little --- which was good --- but my IBS was now rearing its head…..  AHH well if it isn’t one thing it must be another.  We had no sooner arrived back at the van when we had a really great storm. We also had quite a bit of rain overnight – totalling 23.5mm all up.

Fri 5^th. We headed out at 7.30 so we could do the Boulder tour and be back in Kalgoorlie to hand over the headsets by 10.30am.  Boulder was an interesting little town also and once we returned the headsets we came back to the “SuperPit” lookout and then back down to the ‘Loop-line Rail’ museum.  In its hey-day the Loop-line had over 100 trains a day --- this was more than the main station in Melbourne.  The sky was rumbling as we were making our way back to the van and then we had another major storm with lots of noise.  It was nice going to bed listening to the sound of rain on the roof of the caravan.

Sat 6^th. We left Kalgoorlie today and made our way to Coolgardie.  This was a pleasant stop in a town with very WIDE streets and some truly lovely buildings.  Coolgardie was where the ‘Goldrush’ STARTED but now only has about 200 people living there.  We stopped for a coffee and I found some rugs like my Mum used to make.  These brought back so many memories.  We then continued westward and by 4pm we were pulled up at Central Park at Burracoppin for the night.  It wasn’t long before we were joined by two other campers.  

Sun 7^th.  On our way by 9am and continuing Westward to Merredin.  We called into the Merredin Peak RV park and found some lovely little wildflowers before continuing on our way.  We turned southward and headed down to Kulin through Bruce Rock and Kondinin.  We had several stops to get out and check out bunches of wildflowers though.  We got to Kulin and found the caravan park booked out so headed back up to Kondinin and into there.  This park is a ‘Royalties for Regions Project’.  It has separate Public Toilets to those used by the park tenants.  I will have to google what this project is all about.

After setting up the van we headed out to Wave Rock and had an interesting hour out here before heading back to the van.

Mon 8^th.  We headed out this morning to Kulin to do the Tin Horse Highway and check out all the sculptures along the way.  There are over 150 of them and I think we got most of them.  Some are quite cheeky.  When we returned to Kulin it was to find that there is also a large RV camping area for 72hours which we could have used yesterday.  Ahh well we will stay at Kondinin.

We had a coffee at the hotel and then headed out to the West Tin Horse Trail to the largest of them all.  We then returned to Kulin and stopped in at Macrocarpa Trail and wildflower walk.  This is 1km long and took us about an hour because we kept finding lots of little flowers.  The macrocarpa hadn’t flowered yet but there are some nice big pods forming in the trees.  We then returned to the van by 2pm. Had lunch and did the washing before sitting down to type up this update.

Ceduna SA to Tumby Bay SA

Saturday 8^th September. Today we went for a walk around the town of Ceduna and then headed out to Thevenard to the Fish Factories. 

pretty blue flower

Thevanard lighthouse

 

We got some lovely fresh fish, oysters, scallops and squid.  Darryl is going to make a seafood Pad Thai tonight.  YUM.  We have had a lovely time with our friends Faye and Arthur but in the next few days they will leave us and head for Melbourne.  They told their son they would be home by the 18^th J..
We returned to the van and had a lazy afternoon – well we did but Arthur washed his car and van using a bucket as there are strict water restrictions in this part of SA.  Amazing what can be done with 10 litres of water.  Darryl was not tempted to follow suit…..

sunset at Ceduna jetty

Sunday 9^th September.  Today we headed down the track to Streaky Bay – a whole 120km away J :D.  We left Ceduna at 8.45am and arrived at our destination at 10.15am….  Such a long drive.
We got into the van park which is right on the waterfront, and then decided to go for a walk around the town. 

Up we walked and out to the jetty and then back along the foreshore and to the vans for lunch. 

Streaky Bay jetty

 

a friendly local

looking from jetty to caravan park

 IT is lovely and sunny today and I have had to change into shorts.. Yep – shorts.  The only business open in town was an IGA, a service station and a café.  When we had had lunch Faye and Arthur decided that it was time that our van got a bath :P.  We were all given a bucket and cloth and some water (after getting the ok from Management to wash the van) and allocated an area of the van to clean.  Within the hour the van was sparkling in all the areas that could be reached :D – just as well I had removed all my warm clothes otherwise I would have roasted with the exertion J
The park is lovely and has a shop and a restaurant of its own – they are having roast dinner tonight but by the time we decided that we would like to partake of the meal – it was too late to book in – BUGGER.  We had a lovely Happy hour with new friends, Sharon and Paul (Arthur and Faye of course) and suddenly it was 7pm.  We all adjourned to our respective caravans as the sun had gone down and so had the temperature…..
Monday 10^th September.  Today Arthur helped Darryl replace one of the window catches as it was not working properly.  I walked up to the shops and got some needed essentials and I was then met by the others and we drove out to Murphy’s Haystacks – a rocky phenomenon in a local farmer’s field. 

A native Hibiscus that we saw growing along the roadside

 

part of the 'Haystacks'

This one reminds me of an elephant

This one reminds me of the face of a dog

 

We spent about an hour here, walking amongst the rocks before deciding to head back to the vans.  It had again turned really warm and we were taking off our warm jackets and opting for short sleeves.  When we got back to the vans we had lunch and then I sat in the sun whilst Darryl was out in the water – fishing.  He had lots of bites but didn’t catch anything. L.  We then adjourned to the beach for Happy Hour and had to continually move our chairs closer to the water to keep in the sun J

Tuesday 11^th September.  HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to Raylene and Barry – 35 years of wedded bliss today.  Congratulations to you both and hope that you have a great day together.

flowers at the park

my cousin Alan has this one growing in his front yard in Perth

Today we said goodbye to Faye and Arthur.  They are heading to Poochera and then onto Port Augusta.  It was a sad moment when we said our farewells. 
Darryl and I then finished packing the van and set off on our journey – albeit alone.  As we were packing the van I cut my left thumb – on what??? don’t know!  Looks like I have sliced the top layers of dermis off.
We travelled down to Port Kenny and then turned west-ward to the settlement of Venus Bay. 

 This area has been recommended to us – so we thought we would check it out.  It is a lovely seaside village and the walk along the cliffs was nice.  It was only 10am so we decided to keep going – and stopped about 20km out of Elliston to take photos of the view and to have morning tea.  A lady near us last night had recommended Walker’s Rocks Campground as a lovely spot so thought we would check that out too.  It is a campground run by the Elliston Council and is behind the dunes. 

A short walk over the dunes takes you either to the rocks or a lovely beach. 

 

 

 

We chose our spot and paid our $10 parking fee and set up for the night.  Whilst having lunch we were joined by two other vans – so looks like we will have company tonight.  I got my computer out to update our journal – and sliced the right thumb!!!!  What the!!!!  So I am now here typing with two band-aided thumbs L
Darryl is now out on the beach trying his luck with fishing.  He wants to use up the rest of the cockles that he got yesterday – hopefully he will bring in dinner J
You may be interested to know that on our trip we have travelled 20,409 kms – in 26 weeks today!
Wednesday 12^th September.  This morning we woke with the feeling that the van had taken on a decided lean to the door side of the van. We didn’t put the legs down last night so we know they haven’t collapsed.  When we went outside it was to find a VERY flat tyre.  We got dressed and got that changed before we had breakfast and headed further south.  We called into the Grand Cliff drive at Elliston to check out the cliffs

 and the statues that have been placed along it. It was VERY windy and you were a bit frightened to go to the edge for fear that you would be blown off L

We then continued on to Port Lincoln.  We called into the first tyre repair centre and got the tyre fixed.  It turns out that it wasn’t the tyre at all – the rim has developed a horizontal crack in it and there are no visible signs of damage to the rim.  The guy told us that the rim should be covered by warranty as it is only 2 years old – have sent an email to Billabong to find out if this is true.
We are now at Tumby Bay Caravan Park right on the foreshore and will be here for a least three nights.

our campspot - not the tidiest caravan park we have been in - but definitely not the worst

Buster taking advantage of Dad's chair - soaking up the sunshine

Darryl's arty-farty shot under the jetty

The mural on the gazebo in town

After doing a LOT of washing and hanging it out we went for a walk up along the beach to the town and then back to the van.  On return the clothes were not dry [after hanging out for four hours] so had to resort to putting them through the dryer.
Thursday 13^th September.  Up late this morning and then headed into Port Lincoln to do some banking and to shop at Woolies.  We met up with Paul and Sharon (whom we had met with Faye and Arthur) and then had a quick drive around before heading back to the van and Buster.  Darryl was hoping to see the Super-trawler, that is causing so much angst in Parliament at the moment, but the area was cordoned off. L.  The weather remains really breezy and cool but Darryl is going to try his luck at fishing tomorrow.
Friday 14^th September.   HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to Aunty Marie and Uncle David today - hope you have a great day together.
Went into Tumby Bay this morning to try and get a haircut and have to go back at 1pm.  Darryl was disappointed as he wanted to take the car this afternoon – ohh well he will just have to fish off the jetty in town.  Got in and sorted out some of the storage in the van and threw out a lot of travel brochures and some of Darryl’s camping magazines (with his consent :P) and then tried to update the blog.  Even though we have got 5 bars of reception – it is so slow it isn’t funny – and YES we have used all our download allowance – I checked. :C  My how quickly it gets used up……..
Darryl went fishing today off the jetty.  Very windy and cold but he persevered until he had used all his bait – as a good fisherman does :P – even if he had no fish in his bucket.  He got back to the van just as I was thinking about making him a nice hot drink and taking it up to him.  Oh well – he sat in the warmth of the van and drank it instead.
Saturday 15^th September.  HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to Karen and Trevor – 22 years this year – whoo hoo!  Congratulations to you both and hope you had a great day.
Today we stayed around the van for the most part.  We had a lovely sunny morning with a little breeze and then about midday it all changed L.  The clouds came in and the wind picked up and the temperature dropped…..  I have been trying to upload more photos to the blog but the internet is REALLY slow :C so will have to wait until the 22^nd to do anymore…..
We have done more washing in preparation for moving on tomorrow.  We will head up past Whyalla to ?Point Lowley and slowly make our way to Wellington in NSW – we are due there on the 28^th so have 13 days to get there.

 

 

 

Albany WA to Ceduna SA

The time is just flying by and I find I am getting very behind on my blog – sorry everyone.
Our last entry was from the 25^th August. WOW that is almost 2 weeks L
Sunday 26^th August.  Today we drove into Albany to check out the sights and the shops but no major shops were open L  They are only just introducing 7 day a week trade into some places in WA and Albany is NOT one of them L.  We had a good time wandering along the foreshore to the ANZAC Peace Park

 

and out to the “Brig Amity” a full sized replica of the ship that bought the first settlers to Albany from Sydney in 18-something J [Sorry I forget]. 

 

 

I then had a wander through the Museum with Faye whilst Darryl and Arthur were outside.

We then walked back into the town and had lunch at a café before heading to IGA to get some supplies before we head out tomorrow.  On the way back to the van we called into a Super Cheap Auto store that we found was open, and Darryl got oil and a filter to change the oil in the car.  Back to the van and a night inside as the rain started once we got back to the van.

Monday 27^th August.  Today we left Albany and headed Easterly and arrived at a free camp on Fitzgerald River near Jacup Station.  Darryl and Arthur changed the oil and inserted the new filter whilst Faye and I went flower hunting and we found a ‘White Spider Orchid’ in the grasses beneath a tree. 

 a White Spider Orchid

 

I believe this to be a swamp-donkey orchid

 a pink hakea

 

 a cowslip orchid

Whilst we were doing this another van pulled in and enquired if we were going to stay the night – yes was the reply so they said they would stay too.  We found that we had met Peter and Connie at Big Valley Campsite near Margaret River and whilst they were in Albany they had purchased a new van.  This one is a bit bigger than their old one and they seem quite happy with it. 

 enjoying our campfire in the free camp

 We had a great night sitting around the camp fire until about 10pm.  The rain stayed away and so did the mosquitos.  We were joined that night by a bus, a van and a large motorhome.

Tuesday 28^th August.  Today we drove into Esperance after a little debacle with the wheel chocks this morning L and will be staying at the Pink Lake Tourist Park. 

We are about 3km from Town and about the same from the pink lake – that is not pink at the moment.  This is a reasonably sized park and is lovely and clean and cared for.  We will stay here for 5 nights.  Faye and Arthur will be here for 4 nights before heading out to Kalgoorlie.  We settled in and had a quiet afternoon as we caught up on some household chores and marvel at the fact that the hot water service is heating water on 240V for the first time in 4 months!!!!!  We then sat back and listened to the rain fall constantly all night.

Wednesday 29^th August.  Today we headed into town to check it out.  There is quite a nice shopping precinct with all of the major banks and businesses. We found the Caravan supply stores to replace the chocks Darryl broke yesterday and to get a replacement electric switch for the hot water service as it was NOT heating the water this morning.  We then went to Bunnings and got some supplies for Arthur to fix a connection for the fridge in the car when we are on 240v.  It is good having an electrician travelling with you who offers to repair small things J.  Into town and the waterfront and stopped at the ‘Dome’ coffee shop for MT and they even gave Buster a bowl of water too.  Back to the van and all the little repairs done whilst I washed some curtains and cleaned the back window screen after Darryl cleaned the window.

Thursday 30^th August.  This morning Faye awoke feeling unwell and so has gone to the hospital to be checked out.  Darryl and I are going into the bank to change some coins for the washing and drying machines and then go to the Chemist to get his script filled.  We went to town and met up with Faye and Arthur whilst they were getting a script filled for Faye.  We then went for a drive up to the lookout and saw all the islands in the Esperance harbour – 21 in total.  The water here seems so clear and blue – various shades but lovely.  Whilst going for a walk along the cliff tops we found some more lovely wild flowers.  Back into the cars and travelled about 10 km along the coast checking out the various bays as we went and witness a fisherman haul in a lovely big salmon. Back to the car and hoping that the rain will stay away J.

Friday 31^st August.  We booked Buster into a ‘day-care’ so that we could go out to Cape Le Grand Nature Park for the day.  He is staying with Biddy and her dog ‘Freda’ and seems happy.

We drove the 59km out to the Cape Le Grand Park and went past the ‘Stonehenge’ that has been built on a property 8km from Esperance.  You have to pay to go in and see it but this is not available during August L.  The construction doesn’t look right to us but will have to check it out on line when we have reception.  You cannot pull up on the side of the road and take photos as they have built a fence along the road and the council have put up ‘no stopping, no parking’ signs.  Spoilsports :P.  We entered the park and drove to Lucky Bay.  Here it is reported that the kangaroos come and lie down on the sand and sunbake – not today though L.  VERY white beaches here and the water is crystal clear.  We stopped many times on the road into the bay to take flower photos.  It really is amazing how many you find when you stop and get out of the car.  We lunched at Lucky Bay after visiting another bay first.  We then went to Thistle Cove and whistling rock and then onto Hellfire Bay before going to Cape Le Grand Bay.  We then decided that we had better head back as Buster had been in care for 6 ½ hours.  When we got back to the van it was to be told that Buster was a very clever dog – after we had left and Biddy was called inside, Buster climbed her lattice fence like a ladder and was sitting on the top of it, just about to escape, when Biddy came back outside.  He then watched every car that came into the park to see if it was us L - but other than that he was a good dog but would not eat anything or drink anything.
Faye and Arthur have decided to extend their stay in Esperance so that she can go back to the hospital tomorrow and have her ear and throat checked again before they head to Norseman.

Saturday 1^st September.  Faye and Arthur heading off to the Hospital and Darryl and I went and washed the car and gave it a reasonable vacuum at the car wash.   The ‘super-sucker’ wasn’t so super L but at least the car looks cleaner than it did J.

We then met up with Faye and Arthur and went to old tanker Wharf and saw ‘Sammy the seal’ and a small one frolicking in the water.  We then went to the supermarket and got our supplies for the next five days (we will be starting to crossing the Nullarbor and free camping) and making sure that everything is full and in working order.  We then went to the Pier Hotel for lunch to celebrate Father’s Day and also the fact that Faye and Arthur have their 45^th Wedding anniversary tomorrow.

Sunday 2^nd September.  Darryl got a lovely call from Beckie and the children for Father’s day at 8am – prior to us leaving the caravan park in Esperance.  This was lovely.  We then made our way out and up to Norseman – heading north into a headwind – bugger!  A 200km trip took us 4 hours with the wind and our stops to take photos of the flowers!  We found some ‘Swamp Donkey Orchids’ in the grasses and also some ‘yellow trumpets’.  We arrived in Norseman at 1pm and finally found a service station and filled up before stopping in a rest area for lunch.  Unfortunately we both forgot the phone and we missed a call from Ben for Father’s Day.  Sorry love.  Will ring when we have reception!  We continued on for another 79km to our rest area for the night.  A great big area in amongst the trees and we had no sooner set up then the rain began to fall L bugger!  It rained on and off until about 7pm and then the skies cleared and we managed to sit and enjoy our lovely campfire.

Monday 3^rd September.  We headed out at about 9.30am heading towards Caiguna.  The wind was really starting to pick up this morning and we heard on the radio that Perth was expecting some terrible storms and winds up to 120km an hour.  Hope everyone over there has managed to baton down the hatches and keep safe.  We met up with Christine and Gordon whom we had met at Sullivan’s Campground and several times since.  They are going through to Nullarbor roadhouse, so will be in front of us from now on.

We have put our watches FORWARD by 45 minutes here as we are now in the ‘Central West time zone’ and are now only 1 hour and 15 minutes behind the rest of the family J :D
As we went along the wind became stronger and we called into two rest stops to check them out, but they were very open and unprotected, so when we were at Caiguna we decided to park at the next stop for the night.  Unfortunately it was again a very open area and we tried to park the vans to minimise the wind and dust but it just came up under the vans anyway L, even with us parking in behind some of the vegetation.  It was amazing how hot it was today – regardless of the wind – it got up to 34 degrees and we all changed into shorts and t-shirts for the afternoon and the shoes came off in preference to thongs…. By nightfall we had been joined by a whizbang and a caravan.  The wind finally dropped at about 7pm for us to enjoy a drink or two together before retreating to the vans.

Tuesday 4^th September.  Up at 6.30 this morning as Faye is not well with fevers and vomiting during the night. There are medical facilities at Eucla (uncertain as to the extent of them though) but Arthur has decided to drive back to Caiguna and if necessary park the van there and drive back to Esperance (600km) to the hospital to get her checked out.  They left the camp spot at 6.45am.  Hopefully they will catch up with us again across the track.  The winds are starting to blow again this morning, coming from the north or nor, nor, west.  That is not good for us as they will be pushing us in the side as we travel.  We left the camp at 8am and as we drove easterly (more north-easterly) we were being buffeted by the winds.  At 12md we decided to find a camp and park for the rest of the day and night.  We are now camped 10km West from Mundrabilla and the winds are gale force with really heavy blast in between the gusts.  We have got plenty of protection but the van is rocking and the dust ingress is terrible.  No point trying to dust things down as they will be just as bad in five minutes time L.  We have been joined by a camper, a small motorhome and three caravans in the past hour as the winds have really picked up.  The clouds are starting to roll in from the west – so hopefully we won’t get too wet tonight. Only time will tell.  By nightfall there were about 20 vehicles taking refuge from the wind and some rain and trying to wait out the night.

Wednesday 5^th September.  We were up and on our way by 9am and we were the last ones to leave the campground.  We had been debating whether to stay in our camp for another day and hope that Faye and Arthur catch up to us – or keep going until we are in phone range.  We decided to keep going.  We reached Eucla at about 10am, and we have full reception on the phone, and filled the fuel tank and then had a walk around the site.  We had a coffee and then decided to go down to the ‘Old Telegraph Station’ for a look see.  We were able to dive the van the 4km down the hill to about 50 metres from the old building.  This building is being slowly engulfed by the shifting sands and would have been an impressive building in its time. There were some more ruins about 25 metres away – closer to the beachfront but it was difficult to ascertain what they may have been.  There were no interpretive signs there to inform you as to the roles of the buildings etc. L.  We then decided to walk out to the ocean – this was about 1km away as the crow flies, but in actuality was about a 2km walk.  As we started this walk we got a call to say that Faye and Arthur were only 40km out of Eucla – so we will wait for them to arrive.  I continued the walk and Darryl went back to get his camera and lock the car.  I got all the way out to the beach and virtually walked straight onto it. :D.  I thought there might have been a bit of a drop off to get to it – but there wasn’t.  I found an old pier there that had quite a few Cormorants sitting on it and they seemed to be enjoying the windy conditions.  The day had started out cool (because of the wind) but walking across the sand and rocks it certainly started to warm up.  On my return to Darryl I got another call to say that Faye and Arthur had arrived in Eucla and were heading down to the old building now.  It was good to see them once we got back to the car and to learn that Faye was much better.

We decided that we would stay the evening in Eucla so that they could have a rest and catch up (they had travelled 1,100km over the past two days for medical assistance), so headed back to the service station to book into the caravan park.  $20 per night with power – but no water available to attach to the van, we were able to get buckets of water and pour into the van though.  Amenities were big and clean and a cost of $1 for 5 minutes in the shower.  The laundry facilities were also nice and clean but there were no clothes lines to hang the washing on – so our little rotary clothes lines came out.  There was A clothes dryer available but just about everyone wanted to do their washing and one dryer would not cope J.  By 7pm there were 29 vehicles in the park – so a good night at Happy hour.  We met another couple from the Australian Caravan Club (ACC) tonight.  Ray and Merle hail from the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria and are travelling across to WA – so we gave them info on different places along the way.

Thursday 6^th September.  We were awake at 6.30 and found that about 6 of the vehicles near us had already left the van park – What The! – why do they have to leave so early????  If they are heading west they will gain 45 minutes about 200km up the road and if they are heading east they will have the sun in their eyes for the next hour…

So we left Eucla at about 8am and headed more Easterly.  13km across we had to go through the Quarantine station – amazingly we only had to drive through and apparently the real quarantine stop heading into SA is at Ceduna – nearly 400km away.  This is good for us as it will give us a chance to eat the rest of our fruit and the salad vegies before we get there.  We will also be able give Buster a good brush down and shake out his bedding etc. to make sure that there are no grass seeds and burs hiding in them and him. J.  We were amazed that there was no sign saying ‘welcome to SA’ and nothing signifying the fact that you were in a different state L  Apparently there is a sign on the side of the Quarantine building saying that we were now in SA (according to the truckie that was going into WA) but not one of us saw it.  We were hoping to stop and take a photo at the border L
We stopped at the next viewing stop and took some photos of the Bight and were nearly blown off the cliff top by the wind.  There were also some small squalls of rain coming in – so we went back to the van and kept going.  We stopped at another small viewing stop but had the same weather again, so we made the decision to keep going to the ‘Head of the Bight’ centre where hopefully the weather would be better and we might actually get to see some whales.
We stopped at the Nullarbor Roadhouse and had lunch in the van whilst it was being buffeted about by the strong winds.  A further 15 up the road we turned south and went to the centre.  Whales YES – we paid our entry fee and headed out on the walkway.  There is a wooden ramp along the coast with lots of viewing spots and the whales and their calves put on a good show for us.  We must have seen about 30 whales and calves in the time that we were there and hopefully got some good shots too. We then left the centre at about 3pm and continued a further 20km to the roadside stop for the night.  The wind is still blowing a gale and there are reports that we are in for some rain tonight.  There is lots of sand and dirt being blown around and it is difficult trying to find somewhere safe and warm.  We have now decided that it will be better to retire to our respective caravans until the morning as the temperature is about 12 degrees but with the southerly wind-chill factor – is about 6 degrees.  We have been joined by three other vans, a small coaster and a station wagon.  Being in amongst the trees is helping with the wind – in the fact that the van is not being buffeted about J - so we should all get a good night sleep tonight…
Buster is already snoring at my feet – so have tried to capture it on video.  Will see how I go.

Friday 7^th September. We headed toward Ceduna today after a night with some rain.  This morning was lovely and clear and only a very light wind blowing.  We headed to Nundroo for petrol (the cheapest in a long while at $1.589 per litre and then continued on our way.  We went through the town of Penong and there were windmills EVERYWHERE.  There was one cluster of about 12 windmills – all spinning madly in the wind (yes indeed, the wind had picked up again and it was really giving us a boot in the bottom as we travelled along).  We arrived in Ceduna just after 12 and the guy took our leftover salad veggies – he even took the onions Darryl had pickled in Vinegar as they were not allowed L.  There was no query about honey, and he wasn’t fussed about Buster and his bedding or mat in the car.

We drove into town and checked into the van park and then had lunch before heading up to the hospital to have Darryl’s INR done.  We then went to Foodland to get some fresh fruit and vegies and surprisingly they were NOT overpriced.  Back to the van and put everything in its place and by then it was time for happy hour.  We were joined by Sharon and Paul (who we first met at Sullivans Campground out of Katherine and then again in Esperance) and we all enjoyed a few drinks and chatter whilst sitting on the leeward side of the van.  Whilst taking Buster for a walk later I met John and Adrienne whom we first met at Robe River then Onslow and Denham.  This travelling fraternity really is quite small.
We have heard that the LIFEuphoria lads are currently separated.  Nick and Jimmy are cycling down the south west of Western Australia whilst Marcus and Tommy are in Perth.  Tommy was in hospital for four days with a [still] undiagnosed illness and is due in Adelaide next week for an exhibition of his artwork, and Marcus will cycle from Perth to Hyden and Kalgoorlie, where he will meet up with Nick and Jimmy again.