The Road Home

Today felt like we were heading home. We left Port Lincoln and at first thought we would stop at Arno Bay halfway up the eastern side of the Eyre Peninsula but as usual got there very early, nothing there, so pushed on.

    First time we have seen the Sydney sign since leaving 14 weeks ago.

 Next stop we thought of staying was Wilmington and maybe get a sandwich for lunch.

   The general store was closed down, nothing there so where to now? No lunch? Let me tell you neither of us need it, a lot of work to do when we get back to get back in shape.

  To get to Wilmington we crossed the Flinders Rangers, very picturesque.

We were lucky and stumbled upon a great little town with a tongue twister name - Orroroo ( o-roar-o- roo) like kangaroo. Wonderful pub 100 m down the road from the caravan park, an old fashioned butcher and some interesting country shops. Great TV reception to watch the finals of footy, what more could you want. Good choice.

    The main street of Orroroo.

From here we turned to Broken Hill.

The roads into Broken Hill were littered with dead animals, such as sheep, wild goats, birds but mainly kangaroo. Instead of dodging the pot holes it was dodge the unfortunate animal. I did not take a pic of this it was too sad.

Broken Hill aka Silver City has become the first Australian city to be included on the National Heritage List with the town's mining history and a decade of campaigning helping it to earn the unique honour. It was also the birth place of Australia's union movement and the 8 hour work day. Lots and lots of history here and many museums to tell the tales.

    One of the iconic buildings in town, The Palace Hotel, where they filmed Priscilla Queen of the Desert.

Behind this building is the city's mullock heap, a mountain of the waste rock from mining. It is also where they have a monument to the lost miners over time.

 The monument.

   Each white rose was next to the name of a fallen miner and how they passed away. 

   The rustic monument from the outside.

  View from the top of the mullock at the mining side of Broken Hill.

    Broken Hill's settlement is like a long narrow seam of mineral in the rock, it is not wide but long.

  Very touristy but fun, at the miners monument.

  We didn't stay at a caravan park at Broken Hill but the race course which was a good choice.

   Woke to the trotters training, very peaceful.

    Lovely old grandstands in need of some repair, however, they still have a few Meets here a year.

   Wild goats that roam everywhere.

  Lots of wide open spaces, the nothingness is back.

Next stop after Broken Hill is Wilcannia, nothing here. This town was once a thriving township but unfortunately there is little left of it besides a few lovely old buildings. We stayed at a caravan park out of town that had really great reviews but the flies carried us away. Not a pleasant stay.

   Did manage to use up the last of our supplies on our last home cooked dinner. Lots of healthy veges shame about the bourbon!!!

We didn't have a big drive to Wilcannia only about 250 kms so we could get prepared for the big drives home.

   More massive loads that actually force you off the road.

    This is how menacing they look up close.

    The road from Broken Hill through Wilcannia to Cobar. This was the worst stretch of road for dead animals on the whole trip. It was amazing how many littered the road.

Stopped at Cobar for a lovely fresh sandwich. You may ask what the big deal with this was, well it's hard to get a fresh sandwich or wrap on the road in these remoter places everything is frozen.

From Cobar we were going to stop at Nyngan but decided to push on and ended up in Trangie. What a lovely little spot to stay. Caravan park excellent and we had a pub dinner at the Imperial Hotel and had a very interesting chat to the locals. Good stop over. 

Our second last day on the road and it was going to be a big one. We left Trangie early in the morning passed through Narromine, Dubbo, Wellington, Orange, Bathurst, Lithgow and made it to Valley Heights in the Blue Mountains. Parked outside Cath(one of my best buddies) and Fran's home for the evening. Just lovely to relax after some terrible traffic and the roadworks through Bathurst and after Lithgow were terrible.

Just too buggered to make the last trek into Sydney. Need to attack Sydney, traffic when you are fresh, the worst drivers in the world, everyone drives at a thousand miles an hour and there is no regard for anyone else(and yes I am one, however, I am now very conscious of poor caravan and motor home drivers that attempt the Sydney roads). You really notice it especially when you are in a vehicle that only just fits in the skinny lanes of Sydney's roads.

    Just left the mountains, the final drive to home.

    It is already mayhem at 5.30 this morning.

We have seen a lot of countryside and without a doubt the countryside we drove through today was the most picturesque in the whole of Australia. In saying this it is not because I am a New South Welshman it is because it is true. As we were driving Mez said at one stage, looking at the landscape, this wins hands down.

I have always wanted to see this vast land of ours and never really thought I would.

We have been very fortunate to have had a lovely trip seeing this beautiful country, many memories to have for a lifetime and a new outlook on this place we call home.

A very big thank you to everyone who looked after things when we were gone.

    Home after just over 16,000kms and almost three and a half months.

Just to finish up with a few lines from Dorothea Mackellar's famous poem - My Country 

' An opal - hearted country

  A wilful, lavish land

 All you who have not loved her,

 You will not understand

 Though earth holds many splendours,

 Wherever I may die,

 I know to what brown country

 My homing thoughts will fly.'

THE END.

Eyre Peninsula

'Eyre Peninsula has over 2000kms of spectacular coastline, awesome national parks,amazing wildlife experiences, world class seafood and top local wines'. This was the blurb that was on a brochure. The Peninsula does have some beautiful beaches and coastline, we didn't see the national parks, we did endulge in world class seafood(best oysters ever, any fresher they would slap your face), didn't do the wildlife experiences, but did have one or two local wines. The weather wasn't on our side for such a lovely part of the world, for the majority it was overcast, cold, windy and wet. Talking to a lot of locals and this weather is not the norm for this time of year and had been like it for a few weeks. 

After leaving Smoky Bay which was the one and only good weather day we stayed the night in Streaky Bay. Very cold and overcast day, managed to ride our bikes to a very good local restaurant right on the water known as Mocean.

Elliston was the next stop down the Peninsula. 

It is situated on the shores of Waterloo Bay and has the most spectacular rugged coastline. This place is so different from any others down the coast it is well worth a visit.

 

The rugged coastline and crystal clear water of the Southern Ocean.

    Mez is standing very close here to the edge which has a mighty big drop under the cliff.

  Some spectacular rock formations. This little formation won't be here in a few years taking the brunt of massive swells day in day out.

    A little bit chilli but of course you couldn't tell, not the best pic. Behind me the waves were rolling in and smashing the rocks, picked a lull in swell for this shot.

    Mez retrieving an abalone she'll from the rocks below.

    

One last shot of windflowers growing in the rocks

We spent a fair bit of time exploring the coastal rock area and collecting shells etc. I also found what is locally know as a 'clog'. Clogs are 100,000 year-old fossil cocoons from weevils that still inhabit the area.

   A clog

The jetty has been heritage listed because of its steel pylons screwed directly into the sea floor using a horse drawn winch.

The road to Coffin Bay.

    The country roads were lined with wattle trees.

    Little old buildings dotted the landscape.

    The Lake Hamilton Eating House was constructed in 1852 and was used as a stopping place for coaches and travellers through the area.

   Good sheep grazing area.

   Very rich agricultural area.

Next stop Coffin Bay. Matthew Flinders named the bay in honour of his good friend Sir Issac Coffin. For many years it was also known as Oyster Town as it is the place to get scrumptious oysters so first stop was the oyster shed at Pure Coffin Bay Oysters. You can buy them unopened or they will chuck them for you. So cheap at $12 a dozen chucked and sooooooo fresh, just delicious.  

   Oyster leases everywhere, weather not so good would be sparkling on a sunny day.

  Explored the town on our bikes, interesting rock formations in the easily weathered limestone rocks.

    Just outside the Coffin Bay Hotel where we caught the courtesy bus for dinner. These emus were so used to people apparently they are there all the time.

   Head honcho emu was always looking around and checking out the scene.

There would be a lot to do in Coffin Bay with national parks on the doorstep as well.

Last stop on the peninsula was Port Lincoln.

We stayed a couple of nights here.

   We pulled up in town right next to Makbe Diva's statue. She was owned by a local tuna fisherman, Tony Santic. The city is renowned as a hub for the tuna industry.

   We stayed at the caravan park nearest town and on a sunny day would have been wonderful. This is the view of the Southern Ocean from our site in the caravan park.

   The wind was blowing from the south, the direction we faced, Mez battling the washing.

Port Lincoln is Australia's largest fishing port, producing a diverse range of seafood worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the state and local economies. Again there is a lot to do in Port Lincoln. The Eyre Peninsula is a wonderful place to visit, it would be good to spend weeks down here in the warmer weather to take full advantage of the pristine waters and beautiful coastline as well as picturesque national parks.

Next stop somewhere on the way to Broken Hill.

The Nullarbor

Travelling from Esperance we headed 200kms due north to the town of Norseman, known as the gateway to the Nullarbor. It is here that you turn right onto the Eyre Highway to cross the 1200 kms of the Nullarbor. Some people we ran into said they enjoyed the trip across others were indifferent. Not knowing what to expect I decided to give a picture view of what we saw along the way.

First stop Norseman, a historical gold mining town. We drove down the one main street, bought a coffee, took a pic and turned right to the Nullarbor.

    The main roundabout in town and their corrugated iron camels.

  

    Not sure what to expect but here we go 1200kms to Ceduna, the eastern end of the Nullarbor.

    The first type of landscape, not that exciting, very outback Australia.

  A slight change in scenery after another 150kms from Norseman. So far today we have travelled 350kms and we were going to stop the night at Balladonia. Called in there for petrol and a sandwich for lunch and were nearly picked up and carried away by the flies. Decided to push on.

     Another 60 kms further on and the landscape is changing. This is where we thought we were on the treeless  plain that is the main part of the Nullarbor but that is another 450+ kms away.

We had a quick photo stop at the start of the longest straight road sign, then back on the road again. It was a bit tricky to get this shot as the wind kept moving the camera that was resting on the bulbar of the van and it was a quick sprint to get into the shot in time. 

     More of the same vegetation with a slight hint of colour- look closely.

   Trees are back on the scene.

At the end of this stretch of road was our first stop for the night at a place called Caiguna. Today we traveller approx 575kms and were on the road for 8.5 hours - big day. Nothing at Caiguna except the roadhouse and a patch of dirt out the back where you can pull up for the night.

   The amenities at Caiguna.

    Some of the locals that hang around.

  One of the many road trains that pass us.

   The top of the sign reads ' Caiguna Hub of the Universe' !!! Will let you decide that one.

    Mez doing her best to get the bugs off the windscreen. This was our spot for the night.

Day two of the Nullarbor, no real plans as to where we will get but hoped to make the WA/SA Border near the town( by town I mean a roadhouse that is a one stop shop for petrol, food, souvenirs and most have a bar as well) of Eucla.

     As we left in the morning this sign was just down the road. So already we have lost 45 mins which can make a difference to where we might reach for the night.

    These three we have to look out for as we travel this road.

    Long stretches of nothingness are back.

    One lone emu and that was all we saw besides lots of kangaroos.

    The first roadhouse at Cockabiddy, good name, 66kms down the road from our starting point this morning.

    More long stretches of the same with a slight change, we now have small white flowers lining the road.

 Wild flowers at a rest stop where we made our brekkie. I have become a bit into the way the windflowers florish in this arid environment, so not like me.

    This was a bit sad, someone had lost their best buddy while on their trip. The inscription reads ' 2011, Diesel 8yrs good dog'. This was at the rest stop.

    Another 90 kms from Cocklebiddy.

    It is hard to tell that we are looking down at the plains of Madura. 

    

    From memory I think we passed 3 of these signs along the stretch of the Nullarbor.

   These markings on the road indicate the start and end of the small airstrip that is part of the main road travelled.

   This is what the airstrip looks like, the sides of the road have been cleared of vegetation. This airstrip had another hazard that being a dead kangaroo halfway along it on the right hand side.

    These road trains are flying, this one passed us and we were doing at least 100/110.

 Mundrabilla next roadhouse 115kms from Madura. Didn't stop.

    These guys decided to have a rest on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere under the only tallest shelter they could find. They are mad.

    Next roadhouse to pass was Eucla 65 kms on, bit upmarket from the rest it had a stone sign, that was about the difference.

    Twelve kms from Eucla is the WA/SA Border. Stopped here for a coffee and a rest before pushing on.

   The touristy photo of the big kangaroo, just like the big banana, big pineapple etc.

    Only 2,080 kms from home, as the crow flys.

 After the Border Village, which was nothing more than a roadhouse, we came across our first glimps of the Great Australian Bight. I have wanted to see this area all my life for some reason and it just didn't disappoint.

    Just beautiful

    Just thought I would throw in the windflowers growing out of the rocks.

  This is to show you how close the highway across the Nullarbor is to the Southern Ocean.

    The Bear Tree, if you look closely you can see stuffed bears hanging from the tree on the side of the road. Throughout our travels you come across things like this where someone starts something and people add to it, really cool.

    This is the end of day two at the stop known as Nullarbor, which as the sign indicates is next to the western end of the treeless Nullarbor Plain. This was another 182 kms further on a very big day, lots of kms - approx 530kms. 

If you ever do the Nullarbor don't stay at this roadhouse, stay at a free camp close by and come and use the showers here that cost a $1 for 4 mins as they are open to the passers by. We stayed and not only was it expensive for just a bit of dirt to park on and some power, no water, we had to put up with the noise of the massive generators, running the place, all night. Not the best place to stay the night after a long day.

Start of day three.

    The treeless plain or "nullus arbor" was once part of the ocean floor and is the world's biggest, flattest piece of limestone, covering approx 200,000 square kms and is up to 300 metres thick.

   Just down the road from our last evenings stop was a MUST SEE on the Nullarbor. As you can see it is called the Head of Bight. This is where you get to see what the Great Australian Bight is all about and also see the Southern Right Whales if you are lucky.

This place is one of the most spectacular whale watching sites in South Australia or anywhere for that matter. You walk along a cliff top walkway to a viewing platform where the whales just hang out below.

    This is exactly what I wanted to see, I was in heaven, just loved it. Took so many pics and in the end Mez had to drag me back onto the road to get to our next destination.

    Sun was out but a windy and cool.

  

   A mother and her calf just below Mez.

  This is how close they were.

     Just beautiful coastline.

    It can be quite off putting to come face to face with these wide loads that are travelling at fast speeds. We passed a number of these, not much fun.

   Part of the rabbit proof fence that ran for a small way along the road.

    The people that ride their bikes on the Nullarbor are crazy. We passed a few of them, not an easy ride.

    Two more very wide loads, for these guys we had to pullover into the dirt at the side of the road and stop as you can see they took up the entire road.

    Penong, the last town before Ceduna, the end of the Nullarbor. Here the landscape was changing and we were seeing more cultivated land.

    Penong has a uniquely Australian skyline of wheat silos and windmills. It is known as 'the town of 100 windmills'.

    Ceduna and the quarantine checkpoint from WA into SA. SA is very strict with any fresh fruit and veges being brought in as well as no honey. They come into the van and look through the fridge and cupboards, don't tell anyone but I stashed a bit of fruit and veg that we had bought and didn't use.

The end of the Nullarbor. It wasn't really what I expected I thought it would be far more arid but it was very long and monotonous a lot of the time.

We are now on the Eyre Peninsula, the land of world class seafood, so of course the first place we came to at the end of 1200kms of the Nullarbor was a little place called the Oyster Bar just on the side of the road just after the quarantine station.

     Very flash with upstairs balcony!!!

   View from the balcony, which is really the roof of the place with a small rail and a table and chairs.

     The oysters were delicious. This was such an unusual spot but great.

  Had a quick look around Ceduna and decided to push on to the first of the Eyre Peninsula's coastal towns, Smoky Bay. This is the jetty at Ceduna.

    Driving into Smoky Bay we saw the sign that there was a country music night on, in town, however, after a massive day of driving again-365kms we decided to kick back and enjoy the first real afternoon of sunshine we have had for some time.

   Smoky Bay caravan park was right on the beach, just near the point this pic was taken.

  The jetty, a lot of the older coastal towns have a jetty due to the shipping of produce over the years. This is now used for swimming and fishing off.

     At the side of the jetty is the caged area for swimming as don't forget this is the breeding ground of the Great White variety.

    The sun went down on the final day of the Nullarbor adventure.