We of the Nullarbor - tough dogs!

From Perth, we took most of the day driving east towards Kalgoorlie.  This was the road we’d come in on, and in honesty, found it a little on the dull side.  This time we found alternative entertainment.  The kids had their iPod going strong, (“Toot, Toot, Chugga Chugga ... etc” ), and even managed to have a very small sleep.  We cracked into some serious Podcast listening.  Interviews and chats were flying all over the place.  Some particularly interesting discussions with Colin Hay (ex Men At Work), and Iva Davies (Icehouse).  Tell you, the things you learn.....

We drove through to Coolgardie, a town 40kms out of Kalgoorlie, and location of a ‘short cut’ across to the start of the Nullarbor.  We decided to save ourselves about 70kms the next day, and stay here rather than Kalgoorlie.  We turned into the only caravan park in town.... Hmmmmmmmmmm

The gruff old dude asked for our $30 (man, are you serious??? Including $3 for each of the kids... sheesh).  It all felt a bit dodge, but was a home for the night and Amy was impressed by the clean bathrooms.  That was enough to lock us in.  The park was absolutely chockers full of workers. We think they were doing a railway upgrade nearby, although no doubt some could have been miners.  We got a little corner, setup, and got a quick dinner on.  Let’s go to bed, we’re stuffed!!!

Staying in a park full of ‘workers’ is always interesting.  The early ‘scouts’ start dribbling out at about 5.00am.  The keen and eager guys, usually including trucks, roar out at about 5.30, and then the ho-hummers meander off by 6am.  The park goes quiet from then, until our kids get up.

Back on the road, we took the ‘shortcut’ and drove down to Norseman, the start of the Nullarbor.  Turning onto the Eyre Highway, it’s weird seeing those cars and trucks passing you straight away.  You basically know that they have all come across the Nullarbor, (not too many places as a destination in between).  You’re just starting this verrrry long trek of 1200kms, and they are rolling off the end.

The word Nullarbor comes from Latin, nullus = ‘no’ and arbor = ‘tree’.  Funnily enough, it is anything but treeless.  Certainly semi-arid, but predominately covered in shrubs, trees and grasses.  It is also apparently the world’s largest single piece of limestone.  Huh, how about that??? J

The first European to cross the Nullarbor was Edward John Eyre, who amusingly described the plain as “a hideous anomaly, a blot on the face of Nature, the sort of place one gets into in bad dreams”.  I guess when you’re walking across it, not knowing what was beyond the horizon, it would definitely feel like that. 

For us, in our comfy, air-conditioned 4WD, music at hand, plenty of fuel, water and food, a GPS to tell us how far we have to go, and a comfortable bed following us all the way along, it was interesting and enjoyable.  Makes you feel pretty soft though!! J

We cranked along, checking out the scenery, and enjoying the desert surrounds.  There was not too much traffic, and the big road trains didn’t cause us any grief.  We made for Baladonia, where we stopped for a much enjoyed coffee for us, and icypole for the kids.  Doing it hard here!

Slim 'dusty' cruising Baladonia Road

 

We decided to pull up stumps, it being early afternoon.  We had travelled on a road south of here before, and loved it, so decided to hunt for a campsite down there.  After a little searching, we found a sensational little camp in the bush, no-one around of course.  Being in bush like this, as the sun starts to drop, the shadows get long, and the vibrant desert colours are highlighted, this is pretty much our ideal scenario.  You don’t get sick of it ever!!!  We had an early dinner, and took the girls for a ride up the track.  Needless to say, they had a ball.

Our home for the night just off Baladonia Road

A ride after dinner

Playdo...always a favourite

 

The following day, we were back on the road again, heading east (right).  Just out of Baladonia started Australia’s longest stretch of straight road in the world, 146kms of it (90 miles).  This is where cruise control comes into its own!  Apparently the Nullarbor also contains the longest stretch of straight railway track in the world, something like 478kms.

We pulled up mid afternoon again, although by this stage the timezones were giving us a bit of curry.  We either pulled up at 2.30 (WA time), 4.00 (normal SA time), 5.00 (daylight savings SA time), or 5.30 (Vic time).  What timezone do we work in???   ARGH.  Well, simple answer actually, whatever our body feels like, we go with the sun, after all, we are on holidays, with no real time commitments!!

We found a little side track to drive down and made our camp in a small little clearing of land.  It doesn’t take much to make a place your home, and this small patch of ground did us fine.  We were treated to a beautiful sunset and afterglow.  The wind did test us a little here too.  Cooking was a challenge, where you turn on the gas full bore, and then sit back and let the heat get whipped away.  Amazing how long it can take to boil water this way.  We worked around it though.

A picturesque camp, seemingly in the middle of nowhere

A little moondance

 

The next day was similar.  Watching the road go on forever, you definitely know it’s a long road by this stage.

We passed through Eucla, the border town between WA & SA, and then dropped into a couple of the lookouts along the Great Australian Bight.  We particularly enjoyed checking out the view of this rugged coastline, with towering cliffs, and the huge Southern Ocean swells rolling in and crashing on the rocks.  It all seems so untouched and quite spectacular.  We did have to do our viewing whilst trying to stay on our feet, with the gale force winds trying to push us over.  See.. hardships!

Hang on tight!

 

That night was a roadside stop near Yalanta.  We were pulling up reasonably early to make sure that the girls were not too strung out from all day in the car, and we all got a chance to run around, (or for us, sit around and have a beer/wine).  Making dinner comes up all too quickly though!

Each afternoon the girls kept busy, often playing with the cars in the red sand.  The convoy and recovery action was still a favourite, as well as visiting each others ‘houses’. 

The final run was an easy morning into Ceduna, the eastern end of the Nullarbor.  We had to find a spot to pull over for lunch before we got into town.  Ceduna is where they have their fruit and vegie quarantine station, and you have to hand it all over.  We hooked into the last of the tomatoes and lettuce, but we couldn’t polish off the potatoes and onions, so they got donated.

Another successful crossing of the Nullarbor.  Definitely not boring, but long, and on this occasion, very windy.  Phew, we endured all that was thrown at us.  Tough, so tough!