Come Drive with Us

10^th February to 14^th February

You may have noticed a subtle change in direction, no longer are we westward bound. East is our new heading. That’s right folks, we’re coming home! Not to stay mind you, just for a little holiday, then we will be on our merry way once more. Why the sudden urge to come home? Well, it’s not so sudden really. There are a few reasons. One, we know a lady who is having a very special birthday, (but we won’t embarrass Robynn by telling everyone she’s turning 80!) Two, we need to drop off some goodies that we’ve been toting around with us (unused I might add) for nearly three years. And last but not least, we want to catch up with friends and family. But first we have to cross the Nullarbor once more. So join us as we go Nulla- (and you have to say this with a sing-song voice) boorrriing.

So, how to make this post a little different from the last time we crossed the Treeless Plain? What I thought I’d do is take you all for a drive with us. I’ve taken a photograph of the road on the hour, every hour (give or take a few minutes) from leaving Norseman to arriving at the Ceduna quarantine point. Oh, and ignore the time stamps on the car’s nav system. We passed through three time zones over the five days, and the car didn’t update, neither did we for that matter, very confusing.

Day One – We left Norseman bright and early 05:57am hoping to get a good distance before the heat of the day stopped us. The first day of driving was uneventful and we stopped at Rusty’s under the Gums camp spot for the night, 473 kms from Norseman.

Because it was an early start we didn’t have any breakfast, so I stuck a couple of spinach and fetta rolls in the pie oven, ready for morning tea at 11am. Yet again, we were disgusted at the mount of rubbish left behind. I really don’t know what’s wrong with people. Have they no pride in themselves, or they just don’t give a damn about our country.

Day Two – Not such an early start. Today we got on the road at 8am, ready for another day’s drive along one of the longest stretches of straight road in the country. Hang on…we’re going the wrong way!

Yep, only we could get lost crossing the Nullarbor.

We only drove 236kms today, and we stopped for the night at the old Telegraph Station. We actually ended up staying two nights there. We had a good excuse. We had a lot of fresh produce that had to be used up before we reached the quarantine area at Ceduna. Also, it was really nice there.

Day Three  – So while Peter wandered the beach, about 1km over the dunes, I stayed at home and cooked. I par-cooked the carrots, sweet spud and garlic and got them in the freezer. I made some vegetable frittatas, and stewed the apples and pears, ready for a fruit pie at a later date. We ate what was left over the next couple of days.

Day four – We left the Old Telegraph Station at 9:50am, and we drove a short distance to Bunda Cliffs. I had been looking forward to staying there again. It truly is a beautiful spot. It was however, also blowing a gale. I kid you not, the caravan was heaving and pitching in the wind. We persevered until 5pm but the wind showed no signs of easing, so packed up and moved on nine kilometres, where we found a nice sheltered spot amongst the trees. Our trip for today was all the way from Western Australia to South Australia – a mammoth 31 kms.

Day Five – An 8am start found us on the last leg of the Eyre Hwy and on the home straight to the Ceduna quarantine area. It was a longer drive today, 458kms but we did it with ease and without guilt, knowing that we had no fresh produce to declare.

Crossing the Nullarbor really is an iconic Australian road trip. But just for the pedantic among us (Peter) they have taken a bit of licence really. You see the Eyre Highway crosses south of the Hampton Tableland and the actual Nullarbor Plain is north of that. So I suppose that’s a reason why the treeless plain we cross isn’t… well… treeless. But it’s no less impressive for that, just makes you think about what it would be like to really cross the Nullarbor, but that’s over aboriginal land and you can’t do it without a special permit.

Congratulations! You have successfully crossed the Nullarbor with us. All 1198 kilometres. We hope you enjoyed the drive.

See you out there somewhere

On tow and on the go!