Hi everyone, I hope you and yours are doing well. We have been thrown into winter last weekend with two big storm fronts crossing the south west coast in quick succession. Luckily we came out of it unscathed, unlike some with missing roofs, fallen trees and branches, flooding and loss of power.
In my last post I introduced you to our 8 week tour across Australia to Victoria. If you missed it, you can catch up here - 8 weeks across Australia
When you live in Western Australia it doesn't matter what other state you want to go to, you have to travel a long way to even start. Below is a map. There really are only 4 ways to get from Western Australia to the eastern states - I've put arrows on the map -from north to south. Great Northern Highway through Kununurra then into the Northern Territory, Tanami Track from Halls Creek to Alice Springs, Northern Territory (mostly graded gravel), Great Central Road from Kalgoorlie to Northern Territory (mostly graded gravel), and in the south the Eyre Highway across the Nullarbor. It really depends from where you are coming. There are a few links there for you from previous blogs, though we haven't done the Tanami Track.
This lack of road crossings has created some problems in the past, for instance when there has been a weather or bushfire event on the Eyre Highway, closing the highway for days or weeks.
For our recent trip we were travelling from the south west, so went via the southern access along the Eyre Highway.
We joined the Eyre Highway at Norseman, 840 kilometres from home, having free camped the night before 151km south of Norseman.
We had a quick stop at Newdegate to take a photo of the silos art painted by Brenton See in 2018. The first silos art of our trip.
Here is a map showing the next part of the trip. We took the southern route from home to Norseman. (the northern route through Kalgoorlie was our return trip) This map also shows our camping stops.
It was then onto the Eyre Highway and the Nullarbor to Ceduna in South Australia - 1201 kilometres. We have travelled across this vast, semi arid expanse several times in both directions. There had been a lot of rain down through this way a few weeks earlier and it was greener than we had ever seen it before.
It is a long way, but you can break up your trip by stopping at the various points of interest along the way. For instance: The old Eucla Telegraph Station slowly being engulfed by shifting sand, The Bunda Cliffs - the dramatic cliffs of the Great Australian Bight, and also the Head of the Bight Visitor Centre - a prime spot for watching Southern Right Whales and their calves between May and September.
I've blogged about the Nullarbor before - Eyre Highway and the Nullarbor
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Watch out from camels, wombats, kangaroos and emus - trust me you wouldn't want to hit one.
You also drive along the 90 mile (145.6km) straight - Australia's longest straight road.
There are a lot of road trains towing 3 trailers (big trucks) using the West-East Eyre Highway. If you are towing it is best to slow down and let them pass you.
The Royal Flying Doctor Service can land on the highway in an emergency.
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| Royal Flying Doctor air-strip on the highway |
My son did the Nullarbor Links golf course - promoted as the world's longest golf course - an 18 hole, par 72 golf course spanning 1,365 kilometres across two states and two time zones which was opened in 2009. It starts in Kalgoorlie in Western Australia and finishes in Ceduna in South Australia. Purchase a score card and get it stamped at each of the holes.
Going east there is a border quarantine check at Ceduna, and coming east to west the border check is on the WA-SA border at Border Village. Please be aware of what you can't take across the border - they will check. The main issues are fresh fruit and vegetables and honey, so you really need to plan your food needs for the crossing. Cooked, dried, or frozen fruit and vegetables are ok.
There is a downloadable booklet or get one from the Quarantine Station, that shows what you can and can't take. I suggest you study it when travelling around Australia. The rules change from time to time, and we needed a new booklet which we were given at Ceduna. All borders in Australia have different rules. These apply to keep states free of pests. Go here for more info - Interstate Quarantine Australia
There are lots of free road side camps on the Eyre Highway. Some have toilets, many do not. Take all your rubbish away with you. We have stayed at many over the years. It just depends on how far you want to travel each day and what time you want to stop. You can also camp at the Road Houses (fuel service stations).
We usually look for a spot that is a little way back from the road and preferably under the shelter of some trees. Camp fires are lovely, but please aware of fire restrictions. This time round we stopped at - Big Rig Turnaround about 3km east of Cocklebiddy Road House in Western Australia and Rush's Balcony east of Nundroo Road House in South Australia.
Wikki Camps is a downloadable app that can help you find a camping site.
These are both great campsites with heaps of space. We hadn't camped at Big Rig Turn Around before, but it was a great camp. If you know anything abut photographing the sky at night, this is a great opportunity as the night sky is amazing!
In the bottom left hand corner above you can see wombat holes at Rush's. We didn't see the wombats as they are nocturnal. These would be the Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat. They are a heavy burrowing marsupial. More info here - Bush Heritage - Wombats We have seen them in the wild in Tasmania. Below is one we saw later on looking rather sad in captivity.
From Rush's it was onto Ceduna (for the quarantine check and a quick grocery shop), Penong to see the windmills I blogged about them a few weeks ago), Poochera for lunch break (check out the dinosaur ants), and then to Kimba at the top of the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia, reputed to be half way across Australia and home to the Big Gala. They have a beautiful silos mural, and a great overnight camping site at the Recreation Ground where you can camp for a few days for a donation. I recommend it. They have facilities including a camp kitchen, but no power.
Our home to Kimba is 2,384 kilometres. Find out more about Kimba here: Kimba, South Australia
We saw lots of amazing grain silo art and water tank art while we were away which I will share with you as we go along. Measuring 60 metres x 24 metres, the Kimba silo art was painted by Cam Scale and was opened in September 2017. There are also other murals around town. Is silo and water tank art a thing where you live?
After an overnight stay in Kimba, it was on to Port Augusta to top up some supplies and fuel, then eastwards and southwards to the next part of our trip through South Australia, which I will bring you next time.
Thank you so much for stopping by. I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week.
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