Wednesday 13 December – Completed the novel “Elites of Eden” by Joey Graceffa. Book 2 in the series complete and I can’t wait for book 3.
Streaky Bay – Ceduna – Yalata – Nullarbor – Bordertown – Cocklebiddy – Baxter Rest Area (Camps 8 WA # 15)
It remained hot and sticky last night, even with the air con cranked. In the end it felt like it was just blowing hot air around. We woke at 730am, surprised at the time as it was quite dark. When Paul opened the door it was quite overcast, a contrast to yesterday and it was cool.
I sat in bed reading and using my data limit to upload what I could. Paul read until 815am before declaring it was time to get the show on the road. I followed, hopping out, making the bed and joining him for breakfast. While I was off having a shower, he began unplugging, stowing and setting up the van for the short drive ahead.
I returned, finished off the few things I needed to do and then we were off heading around the bay to Ceduna, only 110km further around. We saw a couple of feral cats during the journey which made us wonder if there is a problem with them out here.
We stopped at 950am, in a roadside rest bay, so that Paul could top up the diesel from the jerry can. We had 45km to Ceduna and the van’s range was saying 50km left. Not wanting to run out, it was smarter to stop.
It was an exceptionally still morning to go along with the thick cloud cover and cooler temperature. This had Paul thinking we may just continue the journey rather than hole up in Ceduna for the night. I know it makes sense but, the more the trip is coming to an end, the more I am fighting to return. I want everything to be in slow motion, I am in no hurry to return. Paul however, seems to be running towards the finishing line.
By 1015am, we were in Ceduna. We did a very brief shop, no fruit n vege and then moved on to the BP to fuel up the van ready for the trek across the Nullarbor. Our final stop was the Oyster Shack for tonight’s dinner and by 11.10am, we had the van pointed West and the border only 478km away. WA here we come.
We passed through Penong at 1145am, home to Australia’s largest windmill and I would also hazard a guess, the town with the greatest number of them too. Nundroo was next at 1230pm. I was starting to feel peckish, even though we had scoffed the remaining vege, after leaving Ceduna.
The wind had also picked up quite considerably, gusting around and across the van. I felt like I was in a crowd being jostled about, as I attempted to move forward. It was also affecting the vans fuel consumption.
We stopped in Yalata, 290km from the border, just after 1pm, pulling into a roadside gravel park. I put together our lunch and enjoyed the opportunity to stretch out and get off my bum which was numb again. As we pulled out of the stop at 120pm, a big yellow sign warned us of the possibility of having Camels, kangaroos or wombats cross our path. We had already seen plenty of wombats between here and Ceduna, squashed in the road. You would not want to hit one of these solid critters.
2pm, and we entered the eastern end of the Nullarbor Plain, the roadside trees long behind us, with low lying smoke bushes carpeting as far as we could see. The silvery, cream road creating a seam between two halves. I could imagine it was a zipper, with the land rejoining as we sailed past.
It had been pleasant driving conditions, about 27C and fairly blue, after leaving Ceduna’s overcast morning. There was also very little traffic heading in our direction. The same could not be said for those travelling east. Caravan after caravan, truck after truck, all seemed to be making a beeline for the eastern states.
At 215pm, we pulled into the Nullarbor roadhouse to fuel up again, Ceduna now 300km and Adelaide 1075km behind us. Eucla 199km, Esperance 1103km, Albany 1579km and Perth 1658km still to come.
3pm and we had reached the Great Australian Bite lookout. Just like last time, it was grey, rainy, windy and only 20C. How much the weather conditions had changed in such a short time span. The clouds had formed a thick blanket and a dirty, misty rain was falling. It was not enough to clean the van, but enough to make a mess of the windscreen. We were now only 100km from the WA border.
At 410pm we pulled into the Bordertown roadhouse. Paul put fuel in the van once again while I took some photos of signs, a kangaroo statue and one of the Nullarbor golf links holes. It was bloody freezing and still raining. We then joined the short cue at the quarantine station, having our fridge checked for disallowed vege. Given the ok, we began our journey once again, this time with a little time travel.
I had put Eucla in as a destination and the apps was telling me it was currently 420pm and we would make it to Eucla for 2pm. It wasn’t soon into our travels that the clock time was also changed. So back on WA soil and time, I set the GPS for Cocklebiddy, 260km further along and 2 ¾ hours of driving. We would have ourselves there for 445pm or 715pm on our current body clock time.
Mundrabilla appeared to have had plenty of rain, with lots of puddles within the forecourt of the roadhouse. We were feeling hungry, so I got up and smothered a roll with lashings of crunchy peanut butter, hoping it would tide us over for the afternoon.
We drove past Mundra at 345pm, where many road trains were parked up for the evening. We followed the road up the Mundra Pass, which gave a great view looking back over the flat plains. A wedge tailed eagle was standing resolutely in the middle of the road over a recent road kill, not wanting to give up his prize. He did eventually move off, after the sound of the horn. We had seen a lot more carcasses this side of the border. The SA side had been almost nonexistent, apart from the wombats. The WA side was littered with the remains of Roos and emus.
We made it to Cocklebiddy at 435pm, stopping in at the roadhouse for fuel once again. While Paul was busy, I got out for a walk around, coming across a cage full of budgies and a very large cage housing two wedge tails that were busy chowing down on some fresh meat.
Happy to keep driving, but wary of roo time, as we had already passed a number by the side of the road, we continued to make our way westward. I had consulted Camps 8 and realised, Baxter, our first stop on the Nullarbor in January, was only 120km further on, so we aimed to reach it, before stopping for the night.
Halfway, was the small settlement of Caiguna and then we began Australia’s 90 mile straight, Australia’s longest stretch of straight road, all 146km of it, though we would only manage about 65km of it before stopping.
We finally pulled into Baxter at 605pm, but in SA time it was 835pm and I was just about ready for bed. We found a spot to pull up stumps, made the van ready for night time and then prepared the oysters we had bought in Ceduna, before cooking and eating them.
At 7pm we were finally ready to just take it easy. I had forgotten how lovely it is out here, with nothing but the landscape to envelope you and the sound of the bugs and birds to keep you company.
The orange glow of the sun left its mark, but was soon to be replaced by the closing night. Trees were left as black silhouettes, there lengthy branches topped with a mop of leaves. I didn’t last long after dinner, choosing to head to bed and read until the eyes dictated it was time for sleep.
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