Nullarbor Plain.

After a few days in Ceduna restocking supplies and giving the car a check over it was time to head west on the Nullarbor (aboriginal meaning No Tree Plain), in distance terms it is 1200km from Ceduna in the east and Norseman in the west, as you can imagine it is quite a journey to undertake considering there is only the occasional roadhouse for fuel and accommodation. For us it meant fuelling up in Ceduna with 130ltrs of diesel, we would stop soon after in Penong to top up to minimise fuel required at the more expensive stops along the way.

A few people we spoke to said how it takes 3-4 days to travel this section of road connecting east with west, for us it meant we needed to stop short of the West Australian border as we had a dinners worth of vegetables to consume before crossing. And so it was we just kept driving that first day past the Yalata aboriginal reserve and past the next roadhouse at Nullarbor before pulling of the road at a spot 50km east of the WA border. After a nice dinner of vegetables we took a walk towards the coastline near by, about 50m away we had the Great Australian Bight, 200m below the cliffs we were standing on!. After trying to get a few pictures it started to get too dark and the weather was closing in, so much so it changed our ideas for the rest of the crossing.

Waking to the sound of rain on the caravan, not something we have had to deal with much this trip, we made a hasty departure from our roadside stop. We turned off for a couple of the lookouts but with rain and cloud cover we quickly retreated to the comfort of the car, and so it was we came to the West Australian border on a wet and chilly day, this did not stop the quarantine inspector being thorough but finally we were in WA. It took some effort for me not to break out the Fluoro PPE being that WA is one of the big mining states in Australia but I resisted and onwards we went.

Just over the border is Eucla, one of the few places for fuel on this stretch of road, I had heard it was the cheapest so filled up the tanks with 60ltrs at $1.98/ltr, considering other places were $2.07/ltr this was the best choice. Also at Eucla towards the coast is an old Telegraph Station which is worth a visit, although now disappearing under the shifting sands it is still a fun story to hear about the station. Apparently during its time of operation the two states WA and SA occupied the building, if WA received a message to pass on they wrote it down then passed the note through the window to the South Australian manning their side, funny but the way it was done.

Now we were on the move again and rolling west, under grey and wet skies we passed Mundrabilla Motel,  had an ice cream stop at Madura Pass, and checked out the blowhole at Caiguna Blowhole. After this point you reach the longest straight in Australia at 147km, so straight we stopped a short way into it for an overnight rest, by now the clouds had cleared but for us it meant we had nearly completed one of the iconic road trips in Australia.

The next day we had a delayed start so the kids could catchup some schooling, topping the fuel tanks up with the jerry cans we had we continued on the longest straight before finally reaching Norseman, this meant we had completed the Nullarbor and could fuel up for the next leg south to Esperance.

For those that need to know we used about 170ltrs of diesel for the 1200km from Ceduna to Norseman. :)

Eyre Peninsular

Travelling south towards Port Augusta we started making enquiries as to where the school mail pack was, online tracking was showing still in Sydney but it seems Toll could not locate the item and so after stocking up with supplies we continued west towards Iron Knob an old mining town that again had seen better days. Of course on arrival the couriers called to say they had found the package and forwarding on would be tricky so we agreed to return the 60km the next day to collect. The town of Iron knob was the first place in South Australia that iron ore was mined, along with Iron Monarch these two mines were the start of something big for the area creating many jobs and with the export operation in nearby Whyalla you can see the connection between the local areas, I can also see why BHP named a ship Iron Monarch now, the alternative could have been embarrassing to some.
We had read the mine just outside of town had been closed since 1998, we can reliably confirm after a night spent listening to dump trucks reversing that the mine is opening up again, however the donation camp in town is nice if not a little exposed to the winds but served its purpose for the one night.

The next day it was back to Port Augusta, package in hand we could now head south along the coast first calling in Whyalla, this town was built around the ore mines it services and we were lucky to catch up with a resident Mike from aulro to have a chat and get some inside knowledge of the run further south down the coast. Reminding me of my previous work sitting alongside the wharf was the CSL Whyalla, an interesting solution to exporting large bulk cargos without being able to get large ships into port, loading this vessel alongside it can then head out off port to load into larger waiting vessels.

We left Whyalla hoping to make camp that night around Tumby Bay Area but it was getting late in the day so we checked out a free camp at Port Gibbon, unfortunately it was packed with grey nomads so we pushed on until Arno Bay. Now calling ahead we asked if they had a site which was fine and a good price too at $28pn, unfortunately the site given to us was not even a sight but a dirt patch next to the amenities, complaining got us an ocean front site, next to the fish cleaning bay and in the tightest corner of the park but we managed to reverse in first time gaining credit from the others setup around us.
It turned out to be quite a nice stay mainly due to the lovely couples setup next to us, from the Adelaide local to the Queensland couple who we arranged to meet later in Kunanurra layer in the trip (where is that?).

Our next days travel we think is our record as the shortest day travelled, from Arno Bay you continue south past Port Neill and turn left at the sign for Lipson Cove. We had been given a tip about this for Barry back in Sydney and what a treat it was to arrive at the top of the hill overlooking the bay and not a camper in sight, most unusual as we had heard the place was full the previous day so be careful what you do with information recieved.
We stayed three nights at Lipson Cove, a $10pn honesty box is used and there are a couple of toilets, but you also get a lovely beach to fish, walk or swim. Whilst there only a few other campers joined us and despite the wind on some occasions it really was one of the highlights for us in this part of South Australia. Also from here you are only a short distance from Tumby Bay where they have all the facilities you could required and fresh water available to top up the tanks just out of town.

Tumby Bay

  

Back on the road and Port Lincoln was the next destination, we had been given a tip from a family we met in Tasmania that the swimming with Tuna activity was worth the money, that and it being Kellie and Lil's birthday that week a little time to recharge was required. The caravan park is set on the south side of town overlooking Boston Bay, surprisingly it was quite busy but the site was nice and the amenities good, at the time they had a pay three stay 4 deal which was good for the budget.
From Port Lincoln we did a day trip out to the Lincoln National Park which has a selection of campsites right on the water and some large sites for those witH caravans, the main road through the park is sealed until you go past Surfleet Point towards Cape Donnington where it becomes good dirt.

Cape Donnington

On the last day when we were leaving Port Lincoln we had booked to swim with the Tuna as it was the only date available, so after an early pack up we were parked at the marina waiting for the boat out to the Tuna. Once on the boat we left the marina for the short trip out to Tuna holding pen, these are a large circular structure which floats on the surface with a nett hanging underneath containing around 60 bluefin tuna. Disembarking the boat after some safety instructions those that were swimming got off first to suit up in wetsuits (no pictures sorry), the others on the boat were just going to feed tuna from the pontoon. There was an inner section containing some of the local fish species which was the first stop for those of us swimming, lowering yourselves into the water you are greeted by a couple of very friendly Mowong's which know they will get a feed soon, paddling out into the middle there where large Snapper, Tommy Roughs, Trevally and cruising around the bottom of the net some Port Jackson Sharks. Whilst the kids were not overly happy about getting into the pool Lily made an effort and joined Kellie out in the middle briefly until she saw something bigger than her and returned to the side. The best bit was still to come, once ready the guides called us over to the Tuna section, now if you are more used to eating Tuna for a can seeing them in the flesh can be quite a surprise, these were 35-75kg examples which can grow upto 40 years old. Once in the water you can see the power and speed of these impressive creatures, and then the guides start throwing dead pilchards over our heads and around us sending the Tuna into something of a frenzie, amazingly non hit us but for Kel and I it was a great experience. The kids did not miss out getting to feed the tuna using the poles from the pontoon, for us in the water the guide would throw us a pilchard and we could hold it out underwater for the tuna to take from our hands, brilliant if not slightly scary. After our swimming fun the kids had fun checking out the touch pools which contained various crabs, mollusc's and starfish, before it was time to get out of the wetsuits and head back to shore.

On the way back in the skipper gave out some information about the Port Lincoln area, the tuna business brings in $230mil for the town, on top of the $30mil produced from mussel and king fish farming, per capita the town has the highest rate of millionaires and only 11 companies have licences to fish for tuna, amazing for such a small town.

Off the boat we headed out of town towards Coffin Bay, I had heard the oysters were good from this area but it seems they do not want you to buy them locally as we could not find anywhere selling them. By now it was getting late so we had to find somewhere to stop for the night, back onto wikicamps and we found Farm Beach just north of Coffin Bay. A dirt road takes you the 10km off the highway into the small community campground, another good spot with $10pn and basic amenities. We caught up with another couple for 5 o'clock drinks and they gave us the run down of where to get some oysters in the morning and some tips travelling further north up the coast.
And so we packed up the following morning and found the oyster sheds just down the road, $20 for just over 2 dozen unshucked oysters straight from the cages they grow them in, now that's fresh.

Now it was a drive up the coast stopping in Elliston for lunch, the have a number of sculptures around the town, the one below making reference to the squid fishing in the area.

 



After Elliston we continued north before turning off the highway at Talia, here they have some ocean caves that you can access down a short set of steps, the pictures for me came up great for a novice photo taker.

The top of the cave is limestone with a honeycomb effect, the lower rock is sandstone.

At little further along the track you can find The Tub, this collapsed cave is still open to the sea from what we could work out.

 

Back on the road it was time to find a stop for the night, we had seen some information on a bushcamp just up the road so thought we would give it a try. Coodlie Park is a working property with a few cabins to rent and a nice open bush camping area with quirky showers not to everyone's liking.

 

 The next day we moved on towards Streaky Bay, first detour was into Venus Bay a very popular spot for fisherman and the caravan park was quite busy, there was a great view out over the ocean from the cliff tops looking out towards the entrance to Venus Bay. 

 

 

 

Further up the coast we took the turn off for Murphys Haystacks, Murphy's Haystacks are inselberg rock formations, they obtained their name because a traveller in a coach saw the formation in the distance. He asked how a farmer could produce so much hay. As the farm was on a property owned by a man called Murphy, the rocks became known as Murphy's Haystacks.

Further along the dirt road will take you to Australia's only permanent Sealion colony at Point Labatt, the road out is a little long when towing but once there from the cliff top you can see a number of Sealions on the rocks below and hear the young calling mothers. Interesting information for the day, Sealions have the flippers which they waddle on when moving over land, seals do not have the flippers so just shuffle on their bellies.

 

 

 

Back in the car we continue along the dirt road north to Streaky Bay, another very popular spot for fishing and a nice jetty in the middle of town, one item of interest is the replica of the Great White Shark caught by a teenager in Streaky Bay. Imagine catching a 1520kg fish on a rod and reel, took him about 5 hours to reel it in and became a world record at the time.

 

We now had our destination Ceduna in range and after another 110km we arrived in town and setup at the Big4 caravan park in town, we plan to stay for a couple of days to meet some mail and restock supplies in readiness for our crossing of the Nullarbor into West Australia.
Thevenard is a port just next to Ceduna, we took a little drive around to check out the wharf and also found this memorial lighthouse to seafarers lost at sea which I thought was nice as people often forget the sacrifices made by those on the high seas. 

Next stop Western Australia.

Flinders Ranges National Park

As mentioned in the last update we had some time to use whilst waiting for some mail to arrive, looking at the maps not too far away the Flinders Ranges took our interest. In winter 2013 we did a trip into Central Australia and passed through this area but did not get to have a look, by doing a big days drive we would be able to spend a couple of days exploring then get back on track heading west.

And so we left Alford heading north towards our destination, passing through Port Pirie and turning off the highway at Stirling North we made our way inland. Quorn and Hawker were the next towns we passed through, Hawker being the last major town before the remote regions of the Flinders Ranges for semi reasonably priced fuel.

When we passed by the area last year we thought the ranges looked very impressive and approaching again we were not to be disappointed. We decided our destination would be Wilpena Pound, access is good for caravans and it puts you central to what the area has to offer, they also have a resort with rooms and pool along with camping areas for tents so everyone is covered. There are a couple of other private campsites at Rawnsley Station and Willow Springs so be sure to research both if heading this way. Throughout the Flinders Ranges you can do many walks both long and short, one of the bigger walks is the Heysen Trail at 1200km starting in the south of the state at Cape Jervis and finishing Parachilna Gorge and there is also plenty of wildlife and Aboriginal art to be seen.

Although not looking to do any of the walking trails during our two days here we did have a couple of wants on the list, Skytrek which is 4x4 track on a private property which takes a day to complete and then a quick loop though Bunyeroo Gorge which takes in some impressive rock formations and joins with the geological trail which is another driving route through the park.

Our first adventure was to be Skytrek, as mentioned this is a track on Willow Springs which is a private farming property of some 70,000 acres. They ask that you start the track before 10am as it takes 6hrs to complete the 80km and they do not allow camping along the route so this gets you to the end around 4pm. The price is $65 per car, you get a slight discount if camping on the property, this gets you an information booklet with all the interesting sights and km reference points so you know how far around the track you are at any given point. Some points we found interesting were the Aboriginal engravings (Petro-glyphs) into the rocks which they believe were carved by a race of Aboriginals who inhabited the region before the current Adnyamathanha people.

Old Moxans Hut, built around the turn of the century the hut was permanently occupied by a station employee until the early 1960's!, quite a place to live that's for sure.

At the lunch spot there was information given of some new fossils having been discovered up the creek bed so we went to look and found this.

  Coming near to the end of the track your drive up some quite steep tracks of loose gravel, for those unused to 4x4 driving it comes as quite a challenge but the views from the top are reward with 360 degree vista of the surrounding ranges.

 I had read that the track had been modified in 2012 due to a dispute between the station owners and the owners on a section of conservation park bordering the property that the track ran through, how much I did not realise until we finished the track. The old track used to take you into the The Bunkers Reserve and up to the peak of Mt Caernarvon which we could see throughout the track, to me this has spoilt the Skytrek adventure enough for me not to want to return, for the money you pay you are just travelling around a station on tracks with similar views to what can be seen in other parts of the ranges.

Bunyeroo Valley scenic drive is just that, only 24km long it takes you through some pretty areas, Razorback is of note with a great view into the valley, Bunyeroo Gorge with its rock formations, it really is a photographers paradise. At the end of the track you can take a quick side track to Aroona, these are the ruins of an old sheep station and also an area were the artist Heysen spent a lot of time capturing the scenes around him and who the walking trail through the region was named after.

Razorback

And so that was it for our short but enjoyable trip to a most beautiful part of the country, from here we headed south towards Port Augusta and our eagerly awaited mail. 

Yorke Peninsula

Looking at the map the distance from Adelaide to the base of the Yorke Peninsula would only take three hours to complete, I had two options in mind depending on timing and how our day was progressing. First option was to be Ardrossan, at the northern end of the Peninsular it sounded attractive in the brochures for its fishing and an untried to us catch of blue swimmer crabs.
Arriving in Ardrossan we checked out the caravan park and the jetty which all looked nice but as it was early we made a quick call to the Edithburgh Caravan Park further south and our option two. Edithburgh is a small township at the southern end of the Peninsular, my thoughts were we could base ourselves there and cover the region without needing to setup and packup each day. The park was offering a special price for the week and included the kids so decision made we went straight to Edithburgh and checked in at the park for the next seven nights.

Edithburgh has two pubs, a couple of takeaways and cafe/restaurant all servicing a population of around 400 people, the town appears to be limbo as some of the businesses have closed yet a new housing development is taking shape on the outskirts of town. Further out from town is a large wind farm Wattle Point, opened in 2005 it was Australia's largest at 91megawatts and consists of 55 turbines at a cost of $180million.
There is a great play area for the kids and a nice ocean swimming pool so you can take a dip without fear of being the next sharks lunch. That brings me to one thing that is prevalent on all of these peninsulas and you have to be wary of, Great White Sharks are known for inhabiting the waters off the coast, in fact only a few weeks earlier a spear fisherman was taken by a shark not fare out of Edithburgh so getting us in the water snorkelling was going to be an issue despite the beautiful clear waters around us. Our days here were spent catching up with school, fishing off the jetty for squid and taking drives around the local area.

At the very bottom of the Yorke Peninsular there is Innes National Park, throughout the park are viewing points out to sea where many ships have come to grief on the rocks over the years, at one point you can see two shipwrecks of the Ferret and The Ethel which ran aground in 1904. Also in the park you can find the old Inneston village, this is an abandoned gypsum mining town which once was called home to around 200 people whose only link to the outside world was via ship.

Another interesting point is at West Cape, taking a short walk you come to a look out with 360 degree views of the surrounding Althorpe Islands conservation park, from this position you can see five working lighthouses it would make for a good view after dark.

 

 

When it was time to leave Edithburgh we travelled out through Yorketown, Port Victoria and Walleroo, as the kids had some school work being sent to Port Augusta we did not want to go past there until needed so pulled in at a free camp in the small town of Alford. The place to camp is in the old school grounds and is run by donations from those staying, the school was closed in 2004 and around the same time most the local businesses also closed their doors. All that remains is the bowling club, the pub which is due to reopen in April 2014 and the tennis club which still operates, such a shame to see these small towns die off but a sign of the times with everyone wanting to be close to the major centres in this case Kadina.
Still having no joy knowing where the kids mail was or when it would reach Augusta we needed to find somewhere to spend the weekend, but where were we to go?, until next time.