The Nullarbor crossing was not the best. The weather was cold and damp – not decent rain but foggy with drizzling rain and heavy dew. Between Westonia (west of Kalgoorlie) we did only about 300 km on 5 of 6 days because we needed to wait for rough weather in South Australia to pass through the state. We did have one longer day of 470 km because stopping while it was raining was not enjoyable. By the way, although Nullarbor is Latin for “treeless” the part of Nullarbor Plain that the highway crosses is really only treeless for about 40 km and it is much more interesting than people think.

Happy hour at Nullarbor Roadhouse

A highlight, as usual, was a visit to the whale watching centre at Head of the Bight, about 20 km from the Nullarbor Roadhouse. This time we saw at least 20 whales, mainly females with their calves. Some came very close to the boardwalk.

Head of the Bight

Mum guiding her calf along the base of the cliff

Our final stop for 2 nights was at Crystal Brook where we spent a few hours cleaning both the inside and outside of the caravan before taking it to storage. The delaying tactics worked and we missed the really bad weather. Here the daytime temperature rose to 17 deg but at 7.00 am it was zero, glad we have an insulated van with a heater.

For those interested in statistics (rough figures), during the 92 day trip we travelled 13,000 km, being 11,000 km with the caravan and 2,000 km on side trips. We relocated the caravan on 43 days at an average of 250 km each time we moved; the van did 400 km or more on 7 days and less than 100 km on 9 days. We used 3,000 L of diesel at an average cost of $1.72, making a total of $5,100, or $55 per day. Average fuel consumption was 23 L/100.

It was a very enjoyable trip, allowing us to see and experience places that we hadn’t visited before. We spent time with old friends and met lots of interesting new friends – a special Hi goes to Kate, Ben, Jasper, Flynn and Leo whom we met several times up north and again at our local caravan park at the end of our trip

Until our next holiday, keep safe.

From Ted and Jo

2200 km after leaving Exmouth, we are at Fraser Range Station, about to start the 1100 km Nullarbor Plain crossing to Ceduna. So far it has been easy driving, 5 days at an average of 440 km per day. For the first couple of days, via Carnarvon and Geraldton, the maximum temperature was 27 deg, then suddenly, as soon as we left the coast it dropped to 19 deg at Dalwallinu, then 15 deg at Westonia, Kalgoorlie and Fraser Range. The overnight temperature was down to 2 deg by the time we arrived at Kalgoorlie. If we didn’t have friends, rellies and a nice home in Adelaide we would be tempted to turn around and head north again.

Nevertheless we have enjoyed the drive. At first the terrain was flat, coastal plain, with low vegetation and a few flowers. Eventually we got into wheat country and there has been some rain over winter. The crops are low but at least it is green everywhere to be seen for hundreds of kms. The little towns of Dalwallinu and Westonia are tidy, proud towns and looking quite prosperous. Westonia (never heard of it? We hadn’t.) on the edge of the wheat belt and goldfields, still has an active gold mine providing ongoing employment for lots of people. The whole area since Carnarvon is starting to show the beginning of the wild flower season. We saw it later in the season a few years ago and it is spectacular and even this early in the season it looks good, with lots of colours on the ground and in the trees.

Out favourite vegetation would be the salmon gums. Now they are shedding their dark grey winter bark and displaying the beautiful orange coloured fresh skin, with orange tips on the new leaves. For hundreds of kms the look wonderful beside the road and further afield.

This morning we had dense fog and at 9 am it hasn’t lifted yet. Visibility is now ok for driving so we’ll be leaving soon.

As always, we hope you keep safe and healthy. From Ted and Jo.

As expected the 1400 km trip from Broome to Exmouth was easy and relaxing. We did have a bit of excitement when we stopped for coffee about 30 km from Broome to find that the cover on the front window of the van had come open. Luckily it must have only just happened and we were able to fix the brackets before any damage was done.

About 150 km south of Broome we stopped for 4 days at Barn Hill Station, where a large caravan park has been established. We had a shady powered site about 100 m from a steep beach with a sunset viewing platform. The waves made it difficult to swim but that didn’t matter. Park patrons, many of whom come here for 3 to 4 months every year, organise card games, a market, a quirky dice game called left/right/centre that was good fun, a craft circle and even bowling tournaments on a 2-rink concrete green with fake grass. A cafe sells pies, pasties, sausage rolls, cake and delicious vanilla slices. The park is dry and dusty but is great fun for a few days – it’s important though to not use a chair or table or bit of shade that the regulars think they own. We saw an interesting exhibition of horse skills and riding skills by a young station hand and her two quarter horses , worth $35,000 each. One nice feature of BHS was the range of resident birds, butcher birds with their fabulous songs, finches, honey eaters, corellas, black cockatoos and more.

At Barn Hill Station, next to a tiny caravan of the same brand, 35 years old

Jo in Kymberly colours, Barn Hill Station

Sunsets at Barn Hill are always beautiful

Next stop about 200 km further south was 80 Mile Beach, another large park separated from the beach by a sand dune about 5 m high. This park is unusual because it has lots of green grass, the first time we have had such luxury since leaving Renmark. We were allocated a non-powered site only a few metres from the walkway and viewing platform, also the fish cleaning station which we didn’t need but it was interesting to see people returning with their catch. We saw a small python slithering along the ground near the toilets; that gave us something to think about when visiting the toilet at 4 am. No swimming here because the beach is very shallow with sand flats about 200 m wide at low tide. With good sunset views and beach walking, 80 MB was another good stop. The pie night was good too.

Fishing trailer at 80 Mile Beach, check out the sign

Our van, with the green plastic tub, was one of 300 at 80 Mile Beach

We by-passed Port Headland and drove to Indee Station, about a 30 km detour. The station has 3,000 cattle, run by an 80 year old couple, a full time station hand, a volunteer caravan park caretaker and cleaner and others as needed, e.g. a grader operator who was there at the time. 3 mine railways lines run through the property and they probably make as much money from that as from cattle grazing.

At Indee Station, our van at the right

Fortescue River Roadhouse consists of a roadhouse, 200 huts for mine and road workers, a tavern that opens from 6.30 to 10.00 pm for the workers, and a small, dry, dusty but clean caravan park – and butcher birds that sing beautifully all day.

Another detour, this time 80 km each way, took us to Onslow, a nice town on the coast. Two caravan parks are occupied mainly by long term fishing enthusiasts and we were lucky to get the last site in the overflow area. It was a large and shady site and had both power and water so we were happy. This was just a one night stop because we found that we had a night to spare and were pleasantly surprised; 2 pubs, a couple of cafes, a museum, a nice boardwalk around the headland and huge salt works with mountains of salt exported through a deep sea port.

300 km further on we checked into Bullara Station, looking forward to a roast dinner and desert but we missed out because it was fully booked. We had also missed out at Barn Hill and 80 Mile Beach so obviously we are destined to go without a roast. The weather was good, the damper provided to all was the best (we have the recipe now) and company around the campfire was good. We haven’t had many fires on this trip so that made a nice change. While at Bullara we visited Coral Bay for snorkelling, which was very good, right off the beach and also for a visit to the bakery (another one! How can we lose weight?).

A few days ago we arrived at Cape Range National Park, near Exmouth, one of our favourite places. We are at North Kurrajong camp area (site 34 for 2 nights and site 28 for 2 nights, having to change because we didn’t book early enough), just 2 minutes walk from a beautiful beach. We have seen lots of whales a few hundred metres away on the outside of Ningaloo Reef and 4 dolphins about 100ms from us. The reef fringes WA for hundreds of km and is quite spectacular. We have snorkelled with fish, rays and turtles and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. It has been quite windy but the temperature has been about 30 deg and the afternoons/evenings have been calm. The camp area has only 9 sites so it is quiet, no power or water but there are 3 shared long drop toilets. We have visited other beaches for snorkelling and sightseeing, all within 25 km; an amazing place.

Happy Hour takes 2 hours at Cape Range National Park

We will leave in a couple of days to drive steadily back to Adelaide, arriving about 16 August. Not looking forward to the cold weather but it will be good to back home again.

Love to all. Keep healthy and safe. From Ted and Jo