Our West Australian travel news

Across the Nullarbor ( September 2003) and back (November 2003)

Across the Nullarbor and back – Perth to Ceduna
( September 2003 Long weekend)

We started early 6.00am Saturday to cover the approx 700 Kms to Norseman. This part of the trip follows the Great Eastern highway from Perth to Coolgardie then missing Kalgoorlie we travelled on to Norseman. This course took us though numerous small towns and agricultural areas. The new by-pass which skirts Northam helps with our travelling time but it is now a long distance between roadhouses if you do not go into Northam for fuel. We did not pass any driver reviver stations during our trip. We stopped a Kellerberrin and Southern Cross for comfort stops and a bite to eat to keep up our strength. We got into Norseman at about 3.30 pm so it took nine and a half hours to cover the 700 kms towing the Jayco. We had stayed at the Norseman Caravan Park overnight on a drive through site.
We were up bright and early on Sunday morning, prepared for another long day of driving expecting to do about another 710 Kms to get us to Eucla. We were on the ready for the road by about 6.30 a.m. but did not rush because the petrol station did not open until 7.00 am. Diesel was 105 cents a litre The weather did nothing to help us. As we filled up with fuel the heavens opened and treated us to a dramatic light show and pouring rain, which kept up for most of the day with intervals of brightness which got our hopes up, the rain, coupled with the very strong headwind made driving a slow process and did not make one wish to stop, get out and smell the roses along the way. Obviously one or two stops had to be made for safety and comfort, but these were definitely undertaken at a roadhouse in climatically controlled conditions.
When we stopped for lunch the previous day a guy we were chatting to said that the best prices for petrol on the Nullarbor were at Mundrabilla and Penong both 105 cents compare to 125 at the other petrol stations, Clive was a bit sceptical of this information, but would now like to apologise for his scepticism. Due to the strong headwind we obviously had to add slightly more fuel to the tank than normal and after filling up in Norseman our next top up was Mundrabilla.

Eucla seemed a long time coming, about 20 km. away we saw an unusual sight, four kangaroos on the road just licking it, obviously for the water, they were completely oblivious to us driving up and we were only about 2 metres away before they looked up and decided to hop off into the bush.
Happily the rain had abated for a while when we arrived at Eucla at about 4.00 pm, enabling us to set up without getting drenched. This meant we took 9 hours to cover the 700 Kms. mostly at 100kms per hour. We arrived early enough to admire the travellers Cross, the Telegraph operators memorial and the Eyre memorial, all in the dry. The driving wind stopped us from visiting the old Telegraph Station on this visit so as we had seen it before we were happy to give it a miss.
Eucla we felt was very good value for money as far as caravan parks on the Nullarbor crossing were concerned. The amenities block was spacious and exceptionally clean, the sites, whilst gravel, were level, and if you had good eyesight you could even see the ocean, you had to pay $1.00 for a shower which was quite long enough to wash yourself and your hair but you were only paying $11.00 for the site.

That night the rain continued to fall and the wind to blow a gale, but we were snug as a bug in our Jayco Swift, and slept very well, apart from the occasional gust which rocked the whole van.
We were again lucky in the morning, it wasn’t raining as we packed everything away. We had breakfast at the Eucla motel and were then given a guided tour of the Eucla rescue service headquarters. The ambulance, Fire Services, Bush Fire Services and State Emergency Services all work out of the same headquarters (they are all mainly the same volunteers for each service, it depends which hat or uniform you need to put on). These people do a fantastic job, they are hundreds and hundreds of kilometres away from a main town, but if you are in trouble, be it trapped in one of the many caves in the surrounding areas, are unfortunate enough to have a car accident, or there is a bushfire, they will don the appropriate hat, grab whichever vehicle is necessary and be there to help you, and they are all volunteers. WELL DONE!!

The head wind was still with us as we left Eucla, so was the rain, so we plodded onwards. Stopping at the Nullarbor Roadhouse for a cup of coffee we checked out the whale situation for that day and were told there were about a dozen in that morning so we did the detour to the Head of the Bight. The rain was so cold it felt like sleet, the wind was blowing a gale, but still we walked down to the viewing area, and guess what, no whales, apparently all the adults take the baby whales out to sea in that sort of weather as the ocean is calmer out there. So we got drenched and frozen and paid into the honour box for nothing – I can imagine on a nice day it would be beautiful down there but today was not a nice day.
Back in the car with the heater on full bore it took me a long time to warm up, but the wind direction had changed and we actually seemed to be getting somewhere, but it was still raining. We stopped in Penong for some fuel and a drink and another couple there doing the same thing actually bought icecreams, the thought was enough to make me start shivering again.
As we approached Ceduna the rain finally stopped, lots of sheep (or white wombats as Clive referred to them) and wheat fields, very different from the landscapes we’d been seeing for the last couple of days. We have decided to try for a drive-through site in Ceduna tonight rather than carry on to Streaky Bay. We arrived in Ceduna after over 500 Kms of driving at about 4 pm, which meant we hadn’t done bad time all day, it was about 9 a.m. South Australian time when we left Eucla and we had stopped at the Bight for a while and one or two other comfort stops so it was really very good. We were lucky and got a drive-through site, so set up went and did some shopping and had a look around town. That night the heavens opened again, it was a paddle to the amenities block and back but the town people were very happy to see the rain. We decided to stay another night and get some washing done, sort out Clive’s boat licence and a few other things before heading off to Streaky Bay. Ceduna was a lot cleaner and tidier than when we were there in 1999 and is quite a pretty place to regroup after the journey east and a second night there was no hardship.
When we planned this trip we had promised ourselves a slower trip across the Nullbor this time and to get out and investigate anything we saw of interest, unfortunately this didn’t happen, I could blame it on the weather, but I think the main reason was we really wanted to get across and start looking at South Australia. As you see we did it with the one stop (two from Perth) at Eucla, this was no hardship, the road was good, the big trucks were extremely courteous and there weren’t too many of them. There was still time to take the photos of the ‘treeless plain’ sign and the RFDS airstrip on the road and many others and the long drive never boring.! May be it is the pleasant company we had in the car.( i.e. ourselves).

Port Augusta to Esperance ( November 2003)
The return trip for us started at Port Augusta, the crossroads of Australia. We spent two days at Port Augusta doing some shopping (not too much in the fruit and vegie line), and generally looking around the town. Wadlata, their visitor’s centre is an excellent source of information and serves a very good cup of coffee. We also visited some of the nearby towns in the Southern Flinders Ranges.
The Flinders Ranges disappears in the rear view mirror as we head to Ceduna, the landscape is fairly flat and scrubby, the weather drizzly and the wind quite fierce. We stop at Kimba for fuel and coffee, a place which has the distinction of being halfway across Australia, and having a big Galah.
I remember the first time we passed through Kimba I was very excited about being half way across the continent, this time my thoughts were “we’re only half way across, there’s an awfully long way home”, the difference between an outbound and inbound journey no doubt. Personally, we found this stretch of the journey (Port Augusta to Ceduna) far more tedious than actually going across the Nullarbor. The landscape was quite flat and scrubby for most of the time and there weren’t even many wildflowers around to brighten up the vista.
Again we had a drive through site in Ceduna (Foreshore caravan park), the shops are very close, as is the waterfront, the hotel etc. so if you don’t want to do any sightseeing in surrounding areas, everything is within walking distance.
Left Ceduna about 8.30 a.m. and headed off to the Nullarbor, the weather was slightly better than it had been of late. Just before we arrived at the Nullarbor Roadhouse we went through a flock of locusts, the windscreen was just covered with muck, and we swept them out of the radiator opening. We continued to go through small flocks of these for quite a while. Lots of signs telling us to watch out for wombats, kangaroos and camels, but no sign of any, dead or alive. We powered on today taking time to view the ocean from some of the many vantage points on the cliffs and arrived at Madura Pass where we had decided to spend the night. Due to time differences it was only about 3 pm (real time) when we arrived. The camp/caravan area was just adequate, very dry, dusty and gravely, and the amenities block again adequate, but clean. The cost was $24.00 a night, which was not what we considered value for money but you didn’t have to pay extra for showers. As we were still working on South Australian time it was very early when we were ready to leave the next day, we had paid a key deposit but the Motel and petrol station were still closed and there wasn’t even a box to put the key in if you left early!! We used the key ring to fix the key to the motel front door it was a very tight fit but there was no-where else to put it!
The landscape as you drive through the pass is quite spectacular, not what I ever expected to see on this drive. After entering Western Australia we were still getting our warning signs about kangaroos and camels (no wombats) and emus, and again whilst we didn’t see any live ones there were lots of dead kangaroos on this side of the border. Does that mean that the SA kangaroos are smarter than the WA ones? It was rather disappointing not seeing many live animals this time, but we had seen quite a lot of kangaroos and emus on the trip over.
We stopped at Caiguna and Balladonia for a stretch and a drink, and drove on through to Esperance arriving early afternoon. Again we perhaps didn’t do some of the looking around we could have done, but it was a very smooth journey and you just felt you could keep going (with safety breaks) for quite long periods.
Driving across the Nullarbor is not boring, the scenery changes frequently, the views from the Bunda Cliffs are spectacular, Eucla is a fascinating place to explore, over all the road is very good and the road trains very courteous. I’ve heard some horror stories about different places people have stayed the night, as you can see we had the one night at Eucla which I would recommend to anyone and one night at Madura Pass, which if some of the other stories are to be believed would also be a good option.
There is an excellent free map available from WA and SA tourist bureaus which indicates all the places of interest along the road, and all the fuel/roadhouse/camping places available. Many of the people we met who had travelled the Nullabor camped in the free parking areas and seemed happy with the price and conditions. We preferred guaranteed locations and amenities for such a long journey. Do not face the journey with trepidation it’s quite fun and lets face it if you want to drive to the Eastern States it’s got to be done (unless you take our favourite route via Kununurra) , so be positive and plan to enjoy it.

Reset Nov 2001