Eventually we stayed an extra night in Bonny Hills to see if Roger’s health improved and on Tuesday he decided that he was improving.

Thus we set out for Lithgow, a town in the Blue Mountains which is a part of the central section of the Great Dividing Range.    Today was mostly about going south down the Pacific Hwy, then turning inland and passing the place where only a few months ago we had picked up the new caravan from!    Having negotiated the traffic and got out into the country we stopped for some lunch, after which Roger promptly slept for two hours.    When he woke, feeling considerably better apparently, we made our way about an hour up the road to Jerrys Plains and stopped for the night.

On Wednesday we’re back on one of our least favourite roads, the Golden Hwy, fortunately we’re only on it for a while then we have a lovely run through the Byalong Valley road which takes us through the lower slopes of the Blue Mountains (so called because of the ‘blue’ haze that is given off by the eucalypts).

  

We make very good time getting to Lithgow. The reason for going there is to get the hitch sorted by the manufacturer himself. All goes well and by mid afternoon we set off to Bathurst for tea.    Pat has booked ahead and said that we have quite a big rig, however, as usual we are allocated a site that is big enough for the van but there is very little room to manoeuvre the van into the spot.    Several people are on hand to give advice and watch the event! In the end Roger makes it look very easy and impresses the neighbours with his driving skills.

Wandering over to them for a chat we discover that it is the weekend of the Bathurst 1000 on the hill at Mount Panorama, no wonder the campground is full!

In the morning we head west, essentially on our way home but with nearly 3000 ks to go!  Once past Dubbo we’re out of most of the traffic and down on the plains so no more hills for a while, the next ones will be going through the southern Flinders Ranges.   We’ve done this trip many times now and there will be pictures in the archive if you’re interested.    It’s a pretty good road and it’s relatively easy driving and it’s not difficult to get to Nyngan. We get established down by the river at the Caravan Park and are amazed at a continuous stream of camper trailers arriving which we discover are on the Forensic Services Police Bush Safari, raising money for the RFDS, a very worthy cause to which we subscribe.   Their route had had to be modified because there had been 200mm rain at Mount Dare, on the edge of the Simpson Desert and the roads were impassable.

Friday we’re back on the Barrier Hwy heading for Broken Hill, stopping for morning tea at Cobar, which is a copper mining town and has this, fairly unique, town sign.

   Having finished morning tea we set out again, this time for Wilcannia where we will stop tonight.    We’re greeted with ‘you’ve been here before, welcome back’ and we go down to the unpowered area by the billabong, which has a bit less water in it than last time. We sit and watch all the birds coming in for their late afternoon swim and admiring their aerobatic skills.

‘The Hill’ hasn’t changed much since we were here at the end of August, so having done the shopping and filled the fuel tanks, we get back on the Barrier and Peterborough where we’ve decided to stop tonight.   We know that there is a quarantine station just before the Peterborough turn where we will have to give up all our fresh fruit and veggies so lunch is a finishing up job.    When we get to the quarantine station the guy gives a new handout which changes quite significantly what you can take into South Australia but it wouldn’t have made much difference because we’ll be entering WA in a few days when we will have to clear out the fridge again!

Peterborough is a railway town, pretty grey and drab and it never seems to be sunny there, just like the UK version really!    Today is no exception and we do some shopping before trying to find a site on the free parking area, which is unusually busy.   Again, people parking badly has wasted useful space but we can get in.     It rains during the night and just to prove me wrong, in the morning the sun is shining – though it doesn’t last long and after breakfast we leave under grey skies.   By the time we get to Orroroo, the sun is out and it is a beautiful day.    It’s a lovely run up and through the South Flinders Ranges which are lush and green, then down the other side and across to the Spencer Gulf and Port Augusta which is looking really good this morning, there’s no wind and the reflections in the harbour are quite picturesque.    A quick stop for morning tea and we set sail for WA on the Eyre Hwy.    It is a really good day for travelling, the sun is behind us, the road is good and the sun picks out the colours in the landscape.    Cruising at around 80 makes driving comfortable and there is little traffic, in fact, we have no trucks behind us all morning.    Half a dozen or so go past whilst we’re stopped for lunch but again in the afternoon we have no trucks behind us, most unusual!   There is something special about driving across this country on a day like today, the landscape, the colours, even the road, a reddish colour, disappearing into the distant horizon makes you feel good.   We are going to stop at Minnipa tonight, there is a campsite and a Rest Area in town but we have previously stayed at Tchurkuldu Hill a free camping area 4ks to the north of the road by a granite out crop.    There is only one other van there and we find ourselves a reasonable spot and settle in.   

We get a phone call from Brad and Denise to find out where we are and we decide that we’ll meet up in Ceduna on Tuesday morning and head back over the Nullabor together.    We may decide to go along the Old Eyre Hwy which runs approximately 30ks to the north of the new road.

Monday 9th October

It only takes us a couple of hours or so to get to Ceduna this morning and yet again we don’t have to deal with any trucks until just before we turn off for the camp site.    We’ve been here before and know which sites are good for us and we’re quickly settled in.   Pat almost immediately is across to the laundry and at one stage is using all three machines but only because there is no-one else around who appears to want to use them.

We’re treating ourselves to dinner tonight at the Foreshore Hotel.    This hotel was bought by the community a few years back and it is very well run and good value for money.    The menu has a good variety and the bar is well-stocked with wine.  The oysters are really fresh and and nice and fat, they slide down nicely!