Thursday 14th February.   Kalgoorlie was hot!   It did get down to about 25 during the night but it got hot again pretty quickly, 43 by lunchtime.   Fortunately we were on our way by then, having made a few modifications to the AC system on the van, which now works properly and buying Pat a decaf soy latte, it being Valentine’s Day.  

We’re heading south to Norseman where we fill up with diesel, with my new tank, enabling a 270 litre fuel load so we should be able to get all the way across without having to pay high prices.   Tonight we’re heading for the Fraser Range Sheep station which is a couple of ks south of the main drag some 100ks from Norseman.   Along the way we check out a few places as potential night stops for on the way back.

The Fraser Range Station is a working station situated on a flat plain with hills on three sides, it is a bit of an oasis at this time of year, the temperatures are lower and we did not need the aircon.

Friday 15th February.    A leisurely start this morning, heading east, we’re not taking too many photos this time, all the photos we included in last year’s blog are valid if you want to remind yourself of the vastness of this country.   We are again travelling along the 90 mile (146 k) straight section to Caiguna, stopping for lunch after about 250ks.   Another 160ks gets us to Madura Pass (see last year’s blog for the vistas).   We going to stop here for the night, I have to get out the bbq and do a bit of cooking, with a nice drop of red in the other hand, of course.    Once again our number plate CP337 (a Capel registration) attracts a couple from Dalyallup, near Bunbury, who used to live just round the corner from us in Gelorup!

Saturday 16th February     It wasn’t as noisy as we expected, being close to the main drag and with trucks going through all night, also it was cooler again that last night.   I think it was just after nine this morning as we set out again, although it seems a long way (which it is I suppose), we really have no choice, there are only three roads/ routes out of WA, the Eyre Hwy across the Nullabor, our route this time, the Great Central Road, our return route last year and the Great Northern Hwy which goes to Kunnanurra before crossing into the Northern Territory and Darwin.   Thus it is more than likely that we will be doing this again and again and……………… well you get the picture.   Essentially, travelling this way you have to do about 2000ks before turning right to Adelaide (800ks) and on to Melbourne (1500ks), left to Alice Springs (800ks) or keep straight ahead to Sydney (1800ks) –  flying is of course much quicker!!!

The Eyre Hwy here runs very close to the Southern Ocean and our lunch stop today was on the cliffs overlooking the ocean.   Below left is looking west, back to WA and below right looking east.   There are several points a long here where whale watching is a rewarding pastime, unfortunately this is the wrong time of year.

Taking turns at the driving, we arrived(one time zone later) at our selected bush camp site, about 30 ks west of the Nullabor Roadhouse.  Discovered we had an internet connection and caught up with some e-mails.   Again, being close to the road we expected a noisy night but surprisingly the traffic did not keep us awake, in fact we slept longer than we expected.  

Sunday 17th February   This morning the grill in the oven proved a problem, I had changed all the thermocouples on the gas rings but did not change the grill or the oven because they were both working.   Of course, I didn’t put the spares in the cruiser.   We managed to cook breakfast without the grill but it is a bit of a pain.    When we got to the Nullabor Roadhouse, we called our really good neighbours, John and Krystina and arranged for them to get the spares from my shed and post them to Ceduna Post Office where, hopefully, we’ll be able to pick them up in 3/4 days time. 

Continuing our journey, we caught up with a wide load, it being Sunday (a good day for wide loads).   Fortunately, the pilots use channel 40 so we’re aware of what’s happening and as we get up behind them we call them up, let them know we’re there and wait to be called through.   This was a big one, a 5.5 as they call them, referring to the width (metres) and it’s quite hairy going past them when called through, you’re on the wrong side of the road, in this case we were blind (ie; we could not see if the road was clear) and travelling with the nearside wheels on the tar and the off side wheels running in the dirt beside the road.   Anyway we popped out the other side OK.   About 20ks further on we met another wide load, travelling in the opposite direction, a mere 4.5 this time and listened in as they decided how they were going to pass each other.   Although the Eyre Hwy is in the middle of nowhere it is not a particularly wide road.   Anyway, it made an interesting interlude in an otherwise uneventful trip.   We arrived at Nundroo where we decided to top up the small tank and buy some bait.   Then the last leg was a 30k run down to Fowlers Bay.   Fowlers Bay is a small village on the Southern Ocean, the bay being named after Matthew Flinders’ First Lieutenant in 1802. A base for fishing holidays now, it was once called Port Eyre and could take quite big ships up to the jetty.   The picture below right is of the telegraph office building built in 1876.

It was one of the stations on the famous Overland Telegraph Line (OTL) built from Adelaide to Perth, finished in 1877 and operated for 50 years, until the railway crossed the Nullabor in the 1920s.

There is a caravan park here but we planned to bush camp a few ks west of here at Scotts Beach.   The track to the sand dunes is pretty rough but only for 5 ks and we liked the area behind the dunes that we found when we arrived.   We got set up, had a bit of squiz, a swim, a cup of tea and sat around giving a few flies a hard time and finished the Times cryptic!   Unfortunately, we won’t be able to get another crossword for a few days at least, so we’ll have to make do with some old ones from the Telegraph (courtesy of Roger’s Dad who keeps them for us), which we can usually knock off in about 10 minutes.

Monday 18th February   We got up late (for us) at 0830 this morning, so it was well past 1000 by the time I got the fishing gear set up.   Unfortunately, we could see a weather front approaching from the west.  It’s a bit ironic as we have been been looking forward to it coming through to drop the temperatures but it should preferable to have happened two days ago! 

It looked as though we might get a couple of hours in before we had to ‘batten down the hatches’, we’re expecting a bit of wind but probably no rain.   Went fishing but mostly provided breakfast for the fish, before the wind started to get up and built up the sea.     After lunch we rolled in the awning and made everything secure in case the winds were stronger than expected, since the sun had disappeared, we have been inside catching up on ‘blogs’ and e-mails ready for transmission when we next get within range.

Tuesday 19^th February   A dull day, pretty windy again, so fishing was not much of an option, so did very little except read and write a few e-mails.   We needed to run the generator to charge up a few things, the accessories battery in the cruiser being important ‘cos it runs the overflow freezer in the car. Went fishing for a couple of hours in the afternoon but caught nothing edible.

Wednesday 20th February   We packed up and headed for Ceduna, arriving after lunch.    Unfortunately, I can’t reproduce a photograph of this camp site for you because I left it ’til we were about to leave then discovered that the camera battery was flat!!    Pat has a couple of photos on her iPad but we haven’t yet worked out how to get them onto my PC.   Having settled into the caravan park we went for a wander around the town and reacquainted ourselves with Ceduna.    Had a chat with the people next door, a couple from a place near Leamington Spa, who are travelling round Australia in Land Rover which they shipped out to Perth.   Apparently, it’s cheaper than hiring a rig out here!    Went out for tea yesterday, to a place we enjoyed eating at on our last visit.   An interesting place, it is run by the residents of Ceduna and is a bit like the RSL Clubs.   The food is good and is subsidised as is the drink and the view is probably the best in Ceduna, next to the fishing jetty and bathing beaches on the foreshore.

Thursday 21^st  February    Rang QLD to get an update on the inverter, they are replacing it under warranty, so have asked them to send it Ceduna PO so we can get it refitted before we head off down the peninsular. Meanwhile the washing got done and the van floor wiped clean to get rid of the accumulated sand and dust.    Picked up the thermocouple from the PO, did some shopping and went to the local Tourist Information and got the information on places to bush camp on the peninsular.   The people in these local TIs are usually pretty good and this lady was very helpful.   Tomorrow we will head out of town for a few days then come back to pick up the inverter.

Fitted the new thermocouple only to find that the grill still wouldn’t work!   So will have to ring Melbourne tomorrow and find out if there’s anything else I can do.    Had the people next door over for a drink before dinner, they have done a lot of travelling in Africa, shipping the Land Rover out there and then flying out to pick it up. Interesting stories but they do feel safer in Australia!