It was an early departure this morning, the wind continuing to whistle and the skies grey overhead. The road didn’t change though – long and straight, stretching into the distance. It wasn’t too far after Eucla that we caught our first glimpse of the Southern Ocean again, at a very chilly lookout.
Hello Southern Ocean!!
We continued on, crossing over the border into South Australia. We celebrated with a photo before putting our watches forward by 2.5 hours…our body clocks are all over the place now!
We made it to SA!Great sign! But we didn’t see any of the animals (except as roadkill).
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It was a gusty drive, Mr A wrestling the steering wheel along the treeless plain.
Onwards on the dead straight roadEven Tassie is over the same-same sceneryWhere is the next bend? Or hill?
The wind was even more challenging when one of these beasts (below) rushed past. Fortunately we worked out the road trains use channel 40 on the radio, so we now listen out for their arrival and have a brief chat before they overtake.
Road Trains stop for nobody
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It was nearly 6pm South Australia time when we pulled up at our campground in Penong.
Sunset
We decided to go for an explore. It’s a tiny settlement, with a store, a fuel station and a pub. Most of the houses are very run down, once beautiful gardens now very overgrown and neglected. Despite a feeling of poverty, there is also some investment here, with a new sports centre and skate park. It is also the site of the windmill museum.
We returned to cook dinner and relax while the sun set. Tomorrow we slow down again and begin to enjoy South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula. Next stop Streaky Bay (…I always think of bacon for some reason)…
We planned to get a few ks under the belt today – 545 in fact (around 340 miles) so we decided to skip brekky and get on the road early. The road stretched in front of us another 1,300 kms before we would pull off to head to the coast. We came to the sign that announced the longest straight piece of road in Australia was starting, 90kms later I would turn the wheel slightly to the right and it was over.
The road ahead…is that a slope I see?Co-pilots in position
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I had had a good sleep so easily chewed up the miles until lunch, a delicious sandwich and a quick break to look at the limestone blowhole and I was back in the saddle.
This is the blow hole – not much happening today but when the ocean is rough, apparently a different storyClassy sign directing visitors to the blowhole
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We listened to a heap of interesting podcasts and were soon pulling into our camp for the night by a roadhouse. We had planned to go for a walk, but it was cold, dusty and windy and not very inspiring so gave up that idea. What a desolate place. It was so tempting to say lets have a glass of wine, but had promised ourselves we would stay dry across the Nullabaor. We had been having a glass of wine nearly every night since we left, so probably time to give our livers a break!
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Tomorrow we cross into South Australia. As well as being a big milestone for us (as the fourth state we had driven into on this trip), the boarder restrictions mean veggies have to be topped and tailed, and some cooked, frozen or discarded in order to prevent pests and disease being spread interstate. That task preceded dinner preparation – a chicken red curry with a lot of vegetables, accompanied by a fine glass of sparkling mineral water!
Distance hiked (at high speed under great duress): 6 km
March flies fed: 200+ (estimate)
After a poor to fair night’s sleep at Gibson’s Soak, we were on the road bright and early to head up to Noseman. The main downside to our free camp was its position – right in between a rail line sporting freight trains hooting their horns from 4am and the main road north, sporting roaring road trains. Not the best combination for relaxation.
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We headed first to Norseman, an old goldmining town, and what we expected to be the last frontier before commencing our crossing of the Nullabor. What we found was far from our expectations. Mr A had a nap while I popped to the local chemist and IGA supermarket for some final bits and pieces. Every shop and building was heavily protected with bars on windows, often no windows at all, replaced with shutters. Many shops were long closed and boarded up, the paint peeling and a strong feeling of deprivation. It was very sad indeed. We had intended to find a cash point, but alas there was none – I later discovered the bank closed two years ago.
Just over an hour beyond Norseman was our stop for the night, a sheep station on the Fraser Range. The station was originally settled in 1872, and was the first on the Nullabor. Its located in the Western Woodlands, and with its granite hills apparently looks little like the rest of the Nullabor Plain.
As we called in to announce our arrival we were surrounded instantly by flies, many of them biting March flies. Ouch. We were not impressed. The temperatures here are up in the late 20s, the warmest we have felt in a long while, but we were forced inside behind the safety of the flyscreens for most of the afternoon.
As the day wore on we decided we ought to try and get out. Mr A attempted a cycle but found few tracks to explore, so we decided to head up to the summit of the range on foot. We mistakenly thought the March flies would be preoccupied with other campers, but found there were plenty to go around.
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Despite being bitten frequently on all limbs, tap dancing our way up the hills over granite bolders, we did manage to see some incredible scenery. It took some skill to stop for the minimum amount of time to quickly frame, focus and shoot photographs while sustaining the fewest bites, but we did it. A few looked vaguely ok even!
Can you spot all the biting March flies on the backs of my legs? Ouch!The summit!
On our 90 minute high speed dance up and down to the summit, we failed to see a single sheep. We did spot a baby camel, a calf, several red kangaroos, a pair of shingleback lizards, and a wild goat.
Thirsty Camel! Mr A feeding it milkKangaroos – tough fur to protect from fliesLikely to be a feral goat (‘range’ goat)Signs of wetter times on the lowlandsQuick snap on the walkShingleback LizardA Shingleback Lizard – well disguisedGreat colours up here as the sky shows signs of a change in the weather ahead
Reaching the summit was a relief. I quickly wrote a message in the visitor’s book, and it was about turn and back down to camp as the sun went down.
Low sunSunset
With darkness the flies vanished, and we retired for dinner and a good night’s sleep…we hope.
With darkness the flies vanished, and we retired for dinner and a good night’s sleep…we hope.