Week 12 - The Crossing of the Nullarbor and other such adventures

Hi all,
This week we are broadcasting from Adelaide having made it over the Nullarbor.  Story there in itself - that's below somewhere.  We are all well and still enjoying our travels - in fact, we are experiencing withdrawal symptoms from the movement of the car when we are stopped for more than a couple of days now.  The girls travel really well and our intial aim of 500kms a day is now an easy morning for them.  We are struggling with the smallness of the States on this side of Australia after being over in WA for such a long time.  WA is just so vast and travel distances between places so huge that it is somewhat of a shock to look and the map and see that we can be over the state lines here in under a day and we could in theory be home in one big day from here.  There is  much more traffic now so overtaking is much more of a trial which means that vanners who travel at 75kms an hour are a much more frustrating thing to be behind than over in WA.  The car continues to hum along and our little house bumps along behind.  We love our trailer and are now pretty used to living in this smallish space.  Everyone keeps their own space neat and tidy - if only I could be confident that this will continue at home.........I think not!
We started the week in Albany where it continued to pour with rain.  With no respite from rising damp, we checked into an on site van in a van park  in Esperance for 2 nights hoping to keep our canvas dry and ourselves sane.  This worked rather well and we still managed to get out and about and Mal got some fishing in on the jetty.  We left Esperance and moved on to Cape Le Grand National Park.  What a magnificent park.  The camping there is second to none with fantastic camp spots right on the beach with wind breaks so shelter you from the wind - which can be pretty strong in that neck of the woods.  There are flushing toilets and hot water from the camp kitchen which is a large covered in space with gas cooktop and BBQ's.  Glorious when the sun shines.  We took lots of photos at Lucky Bay which the the beach photo we have hanging on the wall at home. 

Lunch spot at Lucky Bay, Cape Le Grand National Park WA

The next day we took a deep breath and headed for the Nullarbor.  We travelled to Norseman (3 hours) and then on to the Nullarbor itself.  It is flat.  Sometimes trees, sometimes not.  We stopped at Balladonia for lunch and to check out the "museum" to see the bit of Skylab that fell out of the sky in 1979.  Then on to Caiguna.  Pulled into the roadhouse and got the second last powered site in the camping area.  Hmmm.  Camping area - not sure I could call it that.  It is a strip of bitumen behind the roadhouse with 5 power mushrooms along the strip. We tried to set up but with bitumen it was impossible to peg down - that's no big deal, we can set up without pegging down and it was a beautiful 30 degrees anyway without a whisper of wind so we were pretty happy.  The sky was blue and clear of clouds for the first time in many days so it was all looking pretty good.  We left the trailer hitched to the car for a quick get away the next day.  All good.  Until I tried to cook dinner.  Gas ran out and since it was after 6pm, no gas refills till 7am in the morning.  Lucky we have a little backup cylinder.  The only hassle is that the gas is delivered ever so slowly and dinner took an age to be ready.  Dark by then and all tired.  Hit our beds just on 8.30pm and all lay looking out at brilliant star show in summer pj's again.  Then, all of a sudden, without any warning at all, the wind started.  It hit the tent with such force that we weren't sure what was happening.  It sounded like rain was thundering down on the tent roof, but it was dry as dry outside.  It was dust and bits of gravel hitting the tent roof as they were tossed about in the air.  The wind was phenomenal.  It just hammered us for 4 hours.  Mal moved Rachel up onto our bed platform and he lay across the floor using his body weight to keep the tent down on the ground - no pegs remember.  We weren't even able to guy rope to the car this time (the bull bar has been used before to great effect) as the car was still hitched and facing the wrong way to the tent set up. The poles stood firm against the raging weather outside but Rachel and I lay close together holding hands and talking to the big guy upstairs to keep us safe.  I was fairly anxious that night.  We talked about moving to the car if need be but decided to tough it out inside the capsule for a while.  Finally, at 1am the wind died down to a dull roar and eventually Mal and I slept on and off till 5.30am.  The morning after inspection revealed one broken pole clip and lots of debris including tin sheets that had blown across the bitumen strip during the wind storm.  Without any internet access (no signal out there) we were unable to see the weather radar or get any info about what to expect for the next couple of days.  The roadhouse staff were able to tell us that the wind was clocked at 130kms per hour and that there had been a severe weather warning posted during the evening.  The worst winds they have had there for just over 14 months.  We were pretty keen to move on and after having a shower and discovering I was sharing it with a scorpion, I was in the car and ready to go without a second look back.

Lunch stop on the Nullarbor - lots of nothing.......and wind.

 We drove steadily all day with the intention of making it to Eucla on the WA/SA border.  We made it by lunch time and when we hopped out for lunch, we were nearly blown away.  So, we kept driving and got to the Head of Bight by 3.30 after making and eating lunch in the car on the move.  We went into the whale platform and saw some Southern Right Whales with babies which was lovely to see but we were all pretty tired from a terrible night and we were dead sick of the wind by then so it was good to get off the platform, beanies and all, and back into the safe windless environment of the car.  We had a family vote and decided to drive for as long as Mal could manage and then stay in a free camp/rest area on the side of the road.  Well, what a trooper - Mal kept driving all the way to Ceduna.  We hit the fruit fly inspection point at 7.30pm in high winds and after a very brief inspection of our fridge, we were waved on.  We found fantastic fish and chips in the main street and then headed for the nearest motel.  Our first motel since leaving home but we were all totally exhausted and just needed hot water and a decent bed to sleep in out of the wind.  The Ceduna Motor inn was fantastic, they checked us in quickly despite the late and unannounced arrival and by 8.30pm we were all in bed asleep along with the other 3 camper trailer families that had been blown off the Nullarbor earlier in the day.  A huge day for us, 970km - the one and only day like this on the trip.  We have the dubious honour of being able to say we drove the Nullarbor in 2 days but would have liked to have been able to enjoy the experience for a couple of extra days.

Bunda Cliffs - Southern Right Whale Land.

The drive into South Australia from Ceduna is a long haul of nothingness - we overnighted at Port Augusta - a mining town for miners and tourists are just an inconvenience really - and then we moved on here to Adelaide.  Tonight is our second night here and we move on again tomorrow.
Last night we drove to Victor Harbour (about 80kms) and did a Fairy Penguin Tour on Granite Island.  The girls loved it and it was great to see the little penguins coming ashore and waddling up the beach to their burrows to feed their babies.  We met Kath and Kim there (really, we did - I swear they are the real Kath and Kim that the story is based on!) and they managed to keep Mal and I well entertained all evening.  Still giggling thinking about it.
Crossing the Nullarbor gives you lots of time to think - especially when there is a 970km haul in one day!  I thought a lot about how in our society there are not many limits for people - most people do what they want when they want and are usually able to get what they want over time with a combination of effort, good fortune and sometimes hard work.  There are some people who have never hit any true limits.  Out here, the ultimate limit is nature itself.  There are some things that you just can't do because of the weather.  You can't drive the Gibb River Road in the wet season - you can have the most expensive 4WD with all the mods but you still can't do it.  You can't live in some places because there is just no water and without water, you can't survive.  If you come out here and don't bring water, you just couldn't get anywhere.  It is very good to be reminded that there are limits to all human activity and out here those limits are evident and real.  Everyone out here lives by the rules of nature and everyone has respect for those rules. Those days in the isolated outback are over for us for now, and we will be in built up cities and towns from now till we get home.  Mal and I are keen to return to some of these places but know that we will have to wait till we too are real Grey Nomads.  I wonder if we will have Mal and Jane, UHF 18 on the back of our rig........

A bit more Nullarbor.......

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - The good would be making it in one piece through the Nullarbor and not sustaining any damage to our house in the wind.  The bad would have to be the drivers in SA.  We have seen such reckless and impatient driving since we hit the border. I have lost count of the number of times I have seen cars coming directly at us in our lane as they attempt to overtake on their side with nothing like enough vision or room.  Even here in the city they are shocking.  If they want to go somewhere, they just go and they don't give a damn about anyone else around them. I am curious to know if the SA road toll is the highest given the head of population in the National Road toll figures. 

And now to the Ugly - definately meeting Kath and Kim at Victor Harbour.

There we are, waiting to go our Penguin Tour and there is a very loud family standing quite close by.  There is a mum and a dad, 2 kids, a boy and a girl and a grandma and grandpa.  The mum is the spitting image of Kim from the TV show - honestly, - she was wearing a stretchy pink Adidas gym top that was at least 2 sizes too small for her ample bosom and over the top she wore a grey tracky top and bottom.  Her mum, and this is the scary part - was a dead ringer for Kath - her hair was exactly the same, and she wore cute little heeled shoes, had a red trenchcoat thing on and a big handbag.  Mal and I shot sideways looks at each other and mouthed the same thing at the same time!  Bang on 6.30pm when the tour was to get underway, Kath announced in a loud voice that the tour was late, and when was it going to start.  A conversation then started up between her and Kimmy.  Lots of discussion about which guide booked them in, which one looked like they knew what they were doing and about how they didn't like being kept out in the cold.  Kim complained loudly about how cold she was, and her mum said it wasn't any wonder since she had come dressed in her gym clothes.  Kim shot back that at least she didn't look like her mother in the trenchcoat.  And so it went on - just like the real script off the show.  Meanwhile, both men in the party looked on helplessly and the kids ran around like feral sheep both coughing like they should be at home in bed with a vaporiser on.  As luck would have it, they were shuffled into our group.  Mal and I spent the next hour gigling our way round the boardwalk being entertained by the conversations that ensued. At the end of the tour the guide pulled out a penguin skin/pelt to show us and that's when it got really ugly.  First they were repulsed but such an awful thing, then the jawdropping question  from Kim - "Was the penguin dead when you skun it?"  The guide blinked and repeated the question to be sure that she had heard right.  And then she answered it with a "yes, that's right, the penguin was already dead." Undeterred, Kim launched on with her next brain teaser - "So, was it very still when it was being skun?".  I had to move away from the group at this point and kept thinking what fun I would have if my Dad had been there with me!  "Yes, it was dead, therefore it was still."  And then, question number three "So, did you eat it after you skun it?"  The lady next to me on the other side actually verbalised her disbelief before clamping her hand over her mouth to bite her thumb.   Anyway, you would think that would be the end of it - but wait, there's more.  The pelt was then handed around for everyone to have a feel (gorgeously soft and furry) and when Mal handed it to Kath, she had a fit and wouldn't touch it.  Meanwhile, the guide had another pelt to show us and she told us it was a female skin.  She said she knew this and turned it over to reveal its name - none other than KATH - she went on to say she had left Kim at home!!!!!  I was nearly wetting myself by now.  The human Kath then announced in a loud voice that everyone could hear "Kath and Kim, what an awful show, someone should have skun them a long time ago!".  Mal turned and looked at her (somewhat incredulously) and she immediately said "well, sorry, but I really don't like them."  Her husband then kept telling her over and over not to worry and that the man (Mal) didn't seem to have taken offence at her comment.  They then all decided that it was too cold and told us all that they were heading off now, to have dinner.  We all laughed long and loud on the 1.5 hour drive back to Adelaide to our tent.  Then Eloise fell asleep and we were left to laugh with Rachel.

No dream stealers this week.  We must be looking too dusty and well travelled these days to attract advice.

Love and starry nights,
Mal, Jane, Rachel and Eloise