BY MOTORHOME ACROSS AUSTRALIA

The Daily Log of a 8,000 mile Journey

Part One: April 2005

Margaret and Barry Williamson

The log could be read in conjunction with our Notes on Motorhome Travel in Australia

The full range of published photographs can be seen at Australian Photographs

For a map of the journey, click here.

This daily log gives an account of a 90-day motorhome journey across Australia by hired motorhome. We left Perth on the west (or Indian Ocean) coast on 2 April 2005 aiming to reach Brisbane on the east (or Pacific Ocean) coast at the end of June. The route was to take us across the Nullarbor Plain to Port Augusta (with time to hike in the Flinders Ranges), south to Adelaide, then along the Murray River to Echuca and down to Melbourne for the ferry to Tasmania.

After Tasmania we aimed to retrace our steps to Swan Hill on the Murray, drive north to Broken Hill and then to follow the Darling River up to Bourke. We would then drive the Mitchell Highway and Matilda Way north to Barcaldine and north again to Cairns, before turning south for the inland route to Brisbane. 

This log of what actually happened should be read in conjunction with 'Australian Travel Notes' which gives a lot of background information on travelling and motorhoming in Australia, as well as details of the motorhome we used.

The distance driven is given, along with the cost of a powered site with 2 adults at the named CP, TP or HP, taking account of the 10% discount if a Top Tourist or Big 4 member.

CP = Caravan Park     TP = Tourist Park     HP = Holiday Park  

(All would be called a Campsite in the UK, a Campground in the US)

April 1 2005                                SINGAPORE to PERTH

Early taxi to Changi Airport from our room in Singapore's Geylang Road (visit www.hotel81.com.sg for details of a chain of 17 budget hotels). Singapore Airlines flight SQ223, dep 9.35 am., arrived 4.5 hours later. Excellent flight, lunch and choice of 60 films ('Alexander' for M, 'Merchant of Venice' for B). Even a free Singapore Sling cocktail, as invented at Raffles Hotel - very refreshing.

Singapore, just 100 km N of the Equator, had been damp and steamy hot. Perth was damp and chilly (17°C) but we had a very warm welcome from cyclist friends, Ruby and Bill, first met camping in Brisbane 3 years ago. They drove us to their home just north of Perth, ideally situated between the Herdsman Lake and Lake Monger, linked to the city centre by a network of cycle paths.

April 2/3                                      PERTH, chez Johnson

Collected our home for the next 3 months – a 21-ft 2-berth Mercedes 'Spirit' motorhome (2.8 litre turbo-diesel) – from the Maui Rental depot near Perth Airport. This was booked via the internet (www.travelaustralianow.com) at a price of 69 Australian Dollars per day, unlimited mileage, all inclusive, for return to Brisbane. (Current exchange rate $A2.4 = 1 pound sterling). Low season rate began on 1 April. Diesel price had risen since our last visit, now $A1.20 per litre in the city (or 50 pence).

Set up camp in Bill and Ruby's back garden for a great weekend of talking, eating, cycling and sharing experiences. The sun shone again (25°C or more). An Indian meal downtown (Woodlands Vegetarian Restaurant, first tried in Madras), a ride on a suburban train, a BBQ in King's Park, cycling into and around Western Australia's beautiful capital with our energetic hosts: a wonderful start to our journey.

NEWS: Pope John Paul II died late on Saturday night at the Vatican.

April 4 (26 km)                           PERTH, Karrinyup Karrinyup Resort ($A22.50)

Farewell to Bill and Ruby (about to leave for a cycle-tour of Turkey and Eastern Europe themselves). First stop, a brew-up by the Indian Ocean at Scarborough Beach watching the surfers enjoy the superb autumn weather.

Plenty to buy in the Perth suburb of Karrinyup's Shopping Centre to prepare for the road: food and equipment, books and CD's. (The motorhome came with such luxuries as a radio/CD player, a microwave oven, air-con and a safe, but lacked any kind of mirror, chopping board, sharp knife, washing-up bowl, tea-pot, the list went on …)

Sorted our stuff and packed our lockers at the Karrinyup Waters Resort Caravan Park, just off the Reid Highway a few miles north of the city. Joined the Top Tourist Parks group (membership $A20, valid 2 yrs, giving 10% discount at all member caravan parks). No need to join the similar Big 4 Holiday Parks group, as Maui rentals qualify for 10% reduction there. A powered site (meaning a pitch with an electric hook-up) was $A25 before discount. An unpowered site was only $A1 less. (Rural sites were to prove cheaper, from $A14 to $A20). Facilities excellent, typical of Australian caravan parks, including free electric BBQ and small outdoor pool. Washing machines $A2.40 per load, soon dry on rotary clothes lines – the famous Hills Hoist.

The lake had a good variety of antipodean waterbirds, including swamp hens, ibis and black swans.

April 5 (281 km)                         PERTH, Swan Valley Tourist Park ($A22)

Drove up the Gt Northern Highway to NEW NORCIA, Australia's only monastic village, founded by Spanish Benedictines in 1846 to bring Christianity and agriculture to local aboriginal communities. The museum told the very interesting story of the monastery's development, the closure of its boarding school/orphanages in the early 1970's and the present work of the Brothers. A small gift shop sold souvenirs and produce such as olives, bread and cakes.

Returned towards Perth along the Middle Swan Valley, lined with vineyards and wine-tasting opportunities, staying at the Caravan Park on West Swan Road.

April 6 (138 km)                         NORTHAM CP ($A18)

Back to the town of MIDLAND, pausing to buy a 'Motorhome Guide' (the 2^nd edition of a new quarterly magazine), a newspaper ('The West Australian' – each state has its own paper, in addition to the national 'The Australian') and a phone card.

The journey east now began (just as it had done in June 2000 on our bicycles, riding Perth to Brisbane). Today, set out along the Gt Eastern Highway but turned off to visit historic YORK, WA's oldest inland town, first settled in 1831. Told the Tourist Information Officer that we also came from York-shire. Walked the heritage trail, crossed the swaying suspension bridge over the River Avon and made lunch in the spacious park. Plenty of well-preserved 19^thC buildings: churches, courthouse, a motor museum in the garage of WA's first Ford dealership.

Drove up the Avon Valley to rejoin the Gt Eastern Highway at NORTHAM, WA's largest inland town, a fertile agricultural centre. Here, the Avon is home to the only breeding colony of white swans in Australia, the native swans being black. They were introduced by colonists in 1896 and are still protected and fed by a Swan Warden. Another heritage trail walk, past Northam's 19^thC flour mill, hotel, police station, post office, church, etc, all solidly and worthily built. Also located the Northam Motel, our first night's stage after cycling from Perth in the rain in 2000 - very different weather today.

NEWS: Barry had his annual haircut at a friendly barber's on the main street!

April 7/8 (206 km)                      MERREDIN, Av-a-Rest Caravan Park, ($A20)

The new Northam Visitor Centre (on the river by Australia's longest pedestrian suspension bridge) is excellent, alongside a car park with water and free electrical hook-ups for travellers (day-time parking only). We returned there to visit the exhibition 'A Sense of Place' covering the area's migrant history during the decade following WWII. The 10-pound Poms and DP's (Displaced Persons – refugees from eastern and western Europe) found initial hardship was their passport to a land and life of new opportunity. A thought-provoking display.

Drove along the Gt Eastern Highway, following both our cycle-route and the Golden Pipeline Heritage Trail. Stopped for lunch at MECKERING, a small town which was completely destroyed in 1968 by Australia's strongest recorded earthquake (over 8 on the Richter scale). Astonishing photos and display of twisted railway lines, prompting us to detour to view the preserved ruins of a farmhouse. Amazingly, no deaths.

Next stop CUNDERDIN, to visit the No 3 Pump Station Museum. (There were 7 steam-driven pumping stations along the pipeline, lifting water 1,300 ft from Mundaring Weir, in Perth's Darling Range, to Kalgoorlie and the goldfields, 350 miles away. Built at the end of the 19^thC, it was the world's longest pipeline and is still in use with electric pumps!) The museum, in the old pump station with an original 80-ton steam pump, also had a one-room bush school, a 1903 railway dining car and an interactive earthquake house, as well as the usual pioneer bygones.

Continued east, through KELLERBERIN, another wheat and sheep-farming town which was opened up by the Golden Pipeline. Actually, the pipeline is silver-coloured and visible along the highway for much of its length. It had been a valued companion on our cycle ride as far as Norseman, back in 2000, offering a useful seat for brewing-up in the empty bush. Now it's a well-signed tourist trail, with accompanying map, book, CD's and souvenirs for sale at every info centre along its route!

The landscape became drier and emptier as we progressed, with salt lakes indicating an ancient river system. It is early autumn, going dark around 6 pm, and rain is overdue – virtually none since August 2004!

Came to rest at the thriving little town of MERREDIN. As well as the familiar Federation-era architecture, it has the longest grain storage facilities in the Southern Hemisphere and military defence installations from WWII (in case the Japanese wanted their wheat?) Now, there is even a flying school here, training Chinese pilots. Oz is full of surprises!

The caravan park is home to Billy, its resident talking corella (a kind of white parrot), and a 2-year-old pet kangaroo (one of many orphans which owner Sue Bartlett has raised and returned to the wild).

Next morning we walked back into town to shop and email. Dewsons supermarket and the French Hot Bread Shop supplied our needs (including a cake for M's imminent birthday). The District Library was very generous: free internet on their one machine and free tea or coffee while we worked! A junior school party came in for a tour, part of a day out to celebrate the last day of term (Easter is a fixed school holiday, not dependant on the actual Easter dates).

Good fish & chips for lunch in Gabbi's, with a complimentary pot of tea (thanks to the Golden Pipeline Heritage Trail Guide's bonus vouchers!) Vouchers and coupons are popular here, including 4 cents per litre off petrol/diesel with supermarket receipts (spend $A30 at Woolworths or Coles, the 2 main food outlets in larger towns). Gabbi's also had internet at $A4 per hour, while a computer shop offered it at $A6 per hour, both with faster links than the free library but no wireless access.

Walked back to camp just before a short rain shower.

NEWS: Pope's funeral today caused the postponement of Charles & Camilla's wedding. Lucky the Windsor Registry Office was able to fit them in tomorrow at short notice!

April 9 (140 km)                         SOUTHERN CROSS CP ($A19)

Still following the Gt Eastern Highway, the Golden Pipeline and our cycling route of 2000, a glorious drive with vivid colours: the blue of the sky, the red of the earth, the green of the gum trees and the pink of their silky-smooth trunks after the annual bark-shedding. Paused after BURRACOPIN at the site of the No 1 Rabbit-Proof Fence, which crossed hundreds of kilometres of WA, keeping not only rabbits but emus and dingoes out of the wheat belt – the usual interpretive sign and map in the rest area explained all.

Next stop was the Edna May open cut goldmine at WESTONIA, a short detour on sealed roads, about 10 miles north of the highway. The open cast mine, in and out of use since 1911, is now flooded and disused, though rumoured to be re-opening. An impressive sight and a quiet place for lunch.

SOUTHERN CROSS in Yilgarn-shire is dubbed a 5-star town, named after the constellation which a pair of prospectors followed to the Yilgarn Goldfields in 1888. We climbed to the hilltop viewpoint over the town before settling at the caravan park. Every town, however small, has a well-equipped caravan park, with a few cabins and static caravans to rent (with or without linen), as well as space for tourers - mostly utes (utility vehicles) with trailer tents, or small pop-top campervans and caravans. Very few Australians use motorhomes, the commonest being a conversion of the Japanese Coasters used as school buses.

The town keeps up the stellar theme with street names like Polaris and Sirius. It was indeed a very clear (and surprisingly cold) night and the sky was brilliant with stars.

NEWS: Charles and Camilla finally married. Our venue of last July - Methoni Town Hall in the Greek Peloponnese – would have been a quieter choice for all of us!                                                      

April 10/11 (234 km)                  KALGOORLIE CP ($A14)

A long empty section of the Gt Eastern Highway, still following the 1890's route to the Goldfields. The derelict site of the No 7 Pump Station community is marked by the pipeline, railway and telegraph. Recognised the place we put our tent up in the bush 5 years ago, between Yellowdine and Bullabulling – a memorable night – and the solitary Rock Tavern roadhouse at BULLABULLING where we enjoyed a late breakfast by the wood-burning stove.

COOLGARDIE, the 'Mother of the Goldfields', with its wide streets and grand heritage buildings, offers a caravan park, museums and historic Moran's Store for supplies.

On to KALGOORLIE-BOULDER, the centre of the Goldfields and the biggest city on our route since Perth. Here are 5 caravan parks, fast food outlets and restaurants, Coles and Woolworths supermarkets and fuel, parks and museums. Chose the simplest caravan park, mostly statics housing mine-workers, with a small area for touring visitors.

Birthday meal for Margaret: a roast chicken (or 'chook') and a fresh jam and cream sponge cake (known as a 'Lamington'). Australian food is familiar, fresh and delicious – all home-grown, from lamb to bananas.

Visited the WA Museum (entry free, donations welcome) and took the lift up its tall headframe for a panoramic view of the city. The massive working Super Pit, Australia's largest open-cut gold mine, is another awesome sight, yawning below the free viewing platform. Mt Charlotte Reservoir, reached by O'Connor's water pipeline in 1903, is another significant viewpoint.

Email facilities were disappointing – none at the Library and only one expensive internet place which we had to use.

April 12/13 (245 & 286 km)       LEONORA CP ($A20)

North from Kalgoorlie on the Goldfields Highway, following the railway line to Leonora. Mining ghost towns line the route –a single hotel at Broad Arrow built in 1896; abandoned railway cottages. MENZIES has a historic town hall and a caravan park. A red kangaroo with a youngster at foot bounded past as we visited the fascinating pioneer cemetery there. Eucalyptus trees gave way to mulga scrub as we continued north, the highway very quiet except for road trains serving those mines still working.

LEONORA has another caravan park, roadhouse and post office. Camped here, with a variety of neighbours: a young man hoping to find work; outfits preparing to drive the Outback Highway track from Laverton to Ayers Rock (1,000 miles of gravel road); and a friendly retired 'digger' on a fossicking trip, his Polish accent still thick after 40 years working in West Australia's many mines. He had a campervan, a metal detector and a wife who preferred to stay home in Perth! The woman running the caravan park told of her health problems, having contracted the mosquito-borne Ross River virus, for which there is no treatment or cure. As the sun set, the sky blackened and sheet lightning flashed, heralding a short heavy rainstorm. The first, we are told, for a year.

Next day, drove east to LAVERTON, an extremely quiet outback road – in almost 100 miles we saw only one car going our way and 8 coming towards us! Lost count, though, of the number of dead kangaroos lining the road, attracting murders of crows and a pair of wedgetail eagles which we kept disturbing. Saw our first string of emu running through the bush. Past the working Murrin Murrin mine (cobalt and nickel), to WINDARRA. Here is a more modern ghost mine – the worked-out Poseidon nickel mine, which operated from 1982-1994. In nearby LAVERTON, nickel and goldmines are still operative.

Back at Leonora, visited the GWALIA goldmine – another big hole in the ground, due to re-open next year. Its first manager in 1898 was Herbert Hoover, later President of the USA, and his grand house is restored next to the museum. The whole settlement of little miners' huts, abandoned when the mine closed in 1963, is freely open to visit. Many of the corrugated iron shacks have been roughly refurbished and peopled with scarecrow figures, an eerie experience!

April 14 (246 km)                       KALGOORLIE CP ($A14)

Retraced our track to Kalgoorlie along the 'Golden Quest Discovery Trail'. Lake Goongarrie, on the left of the highway south of Menzies, appeared to have water, though it may have been the mirage of the sun shining on the salt lake. The larger Lake Ballard, north of Menzies, only has water about once every 30 years.

Stocked up with food and fuel (courtesy of Woolworths) for the onward journey.

April 15 (213 km)                       NORSEMAN, Gateway CP ($A22)

Returned to COOLGARDIE, in order to continue following our cross-Australia cycle route, which had not deviated to the northern goldfields. The impressive Warden's Court Building on the main street houses a good Goldrush Museum, price $A3 (half-price for seniors), which included a viewing of an excellent video about Prospectors old and new, along with coffee and biscuits! Ben Prior's park, opposite, had plenty of rusty old ironwork.

The railway, water pipeline branch and our road now turned south, through empty eucalyptus woods, past the huge Lefroy salt lake, until the roadhouse at WIDGIEMOOLTHA marked another stage on our ride. We found the simple Widgiemooltha Cabins, where we'd spent a freezing night huddled by a bonfire 5 years ago. The Wilderness Survival Centre appeared locked and deserted – as it had been then (we had got the key from the only neighbours).

Racing a freight train of ore, which just beat us to the level crossing; pausing to lunch by Lake Cowan (another salt lake, crossed by both road and railway on low causeways); we finally reached NORSEMAN, the Gateway to the Eyre Highway across the Nullarbor – a 9-day cycle-ride from Perth, and 2 weeks by motorhome this time, albeit with more side-trips!

First stop was Dollykissangel, a second-hand book shop cum doll and toy museum, run by a motherly Geordie. We'd bought books from her on 2 previous visits and were sad to find the store closed due to her illness. Her husband, an Austrian goldminer (6 ft 6 ins tall - a height matched by their 3 sons), told us the local news.

The new Shire Hall and Library offered the only internet in town and we had an hour ($A5) before it closed at 5 pm for the weekend. The Shire of Dundas reaches the WA/SA state border, covering 92,725 (mostly empty) sq km!

The caravan park asked us to use water sparingly, while a sign on the highway reminded us to fill up in Norseman as there was little water until Ceduna, about 850 miles away! The area is classed as semi-arid with about 10 inches of rain per year.

A stroll round the starlit town in the early evening was strangely quiet, just the 2 roadhouses doing business. If the goldmine closes, it will be another ghost settlement.

April 16/17 (106 km)                  FRASER RANGE Sheep Station ($A20)

Water and diesel tanks filled, we headed east along the Eyre Highway, surprisingly hilly and green with gum trees reflecting the sunshine. Our altitude has been over 1,000 feet since Northam; Fraser Range is at 1,400 ft, surrounded by granite hills and eucalyptus forest. Passed 2 large rest areas off the highway, each with tables, fireplace, outback 'dunny' (dry toilet) and a sign permitting 24 hrs stay - a common feature in the bush.

After 100 km, about half way to the Balladonia Roadhouse, we turned right along a 2 km track to the FRASER RANGE Station, On our long cycle ride, we'd been welcomed here for the night by Heather Campbell and have fond memories of staying in the shearers' quarters, simple candle-lit outbuildings, cooking on the wood-fired stove in the kitchen. The Fraser Range Station was settled in 1872, the first on the Nullarbor Plain.

Now a new caravan park, with electricity generator and full facilities, has developed and the 'quarters' have become 'historic accommodation with false ceilings and queensize beds'! Water is still scarce though and not potable: showers are coin-operated, the washing machine takes $A5 and bottled drinking water is on sale. Very sad to learn that the station changed hands 3 years ago because Heather's husband was killed when his microlight plane crashed into the hills behind the sheep station. Heather and teenage son, Alastair, have moved away and incomers have taken over.

An afternoon walk, 2½ miles climbing 400 ft up to the cairn on the top of the range, gave a wonderful view of the Nullarbor and a meeting with a pair of bounding kangaroos, as well as a few of the damara sheep which are now run here (for meat rather than Heather's merinos for wool). Lamb chops for supper, too!

Listening to ABC Radio's 'Australia All Over' (a Sunday morning national favourite from 7-10 am), we heard Macca (Ian McNamara) hosting the programme from Tumby Bay on the Eyre Peninsula. He interviewed one Jonathan, who sang his own song about Tumby Bay (where his father and grandfather had both been GP doctors). He'd been a touring singer-songwriter but said he'd now settled on 'a sheep station between Norseman and Balladonia': he turned out to be the manager of Fraser Range, away for a few days! Tumby Bay was celebrating the centenary of its school and recovering from bush-fires which claimed 9 lives early this year.

We took a longer walk on Sunday afternoon, about 4 miles in the hills, photographing more kangaroos. Sparsely scattered sheep shared the barely existent grazing. Very warm in the daytime (laundry dried in minutes), clear and cold at night.

In between times, we sorted photographs and text for our upcoming website: www.magbaztravels.com, set up for us by Rebecca in Cairns and now ready and waiting for data.

April 18 (341 km)                       COCKLEBIDDY Roadhouse ($A18)

An early start for the long straight drive, pausing at the well-spaced roadhouses and some of the rest areas which punctuate the Eyre Highway. First BALLADONIA Roadhouse, after 91 km, which had been a day's stage from Fraser Range on our cycle-crossing. Each of the 10 roadhouses (and there is absolutely nothing else on the Nullarbor) offers fuel, licensed bar and meals, motel rooms, maybe expensive coin-operated internet, powered caravan sites, showers and toilets, though drinking water is not freely available. Balladonia, the largest, also has a museum display with bits of the American Sky-lab which landed there in 1979.

Soon we were on the 90-mile straight, Australia's (and perhaps the world's) longest straight road, an incredible sight stretching in front of us through the endless scrub, trees and hills. It was good to see so many live kangaroos 'out bush', as well as the road-kill attracting crows and eagles on the road in front of us.

Lunch in the large Baxter's Rest Area (named after Eyre's companion, the pioneers of this route in the 1840's). Here we pitched our tent for a cold wet night 5 years ago, but today the sun shone. Examined the Caiguna Blowhole (where the underground limestone cave system breathes) just before the CAIGUNA Roadhouse, which marks the end of the 90-mile straight, 178 km after Balladonia. Clocks go forward here 45 mins, travelling east! Only 64 km to the next stop, COCKLEBIDDY Roadhouse ('The Wedgetail Inn'), where we stopped for the night on the windswept caravan park behind the roadhouse. Incredibly quiet as night fell, just us and 2 campervans, - only road-trains drive after dark. Felt very small and remote under the vast moonlit sky – as indeed we are.

We noted the rising price of diesel at each roadhouse ($A1.55 at Balladonia, 1.58 at Caiguna (we had filled up in Norseman at $A1.25). Longest day's drive so far, imperceptibly dropping 1,600 ft to 270 ft asl.

April 19/20 (277 km)                  EUCLA Roadhouse ($A15)

Less wildlife along the highway today, as the terrain gradually changed. In the 91 km to the next roadhouse, the MADURA Oasis Motel, we gradually climbed to 400 ft at the top of the Madura Pass, with a view over the Roe Plains (once the sea bed), before dropping abruptly to 60 ft asl. The Hamilton Tablelands now formed a backdrop to the north, as the road ran between the limestone escarpment and the coast. The Madura Station (1876) had trained horses for the British cavalry in India.

MUNDRABILLA Roadhouse, after 115 km, was our next stop, to refuel (at $A 1.34 per litre – or 56 pence - the cheapest diesel on the Nullarbor). On the steady drive of 656 km from Norseman, our consumption averaged 11 km per litre. The little animal park at Mundrabilla had died (or rather most of the inmates had – just chooks and geese left). A row of pet graves across the main road told the story!

The final 65 km to EUCLA culminated in the first view of the Southern Ocean to the south, a deeper blue than the sky, contrasting with the startling white of the fine sand dunes. A short climb to 300 ft and a right turn into the best roadhouse/caravan park on the Nullarbor, complete with sea view. Eucla, with about 40 inhabitants, is also the largest settlement on the Nullarbor. It has a 9-hole golf course, museum, police station and meteorological office. Below on the beach are the historic remains of the Eucla Telegraph Station built in 1877.

Dusk fell suddenly at about 6 pm (Eucla time).

So far, we have travelled 720 km across the Nullarbor, with another 500 km to Ceduna ahead.

We took a rest day here, as we had during our 2000 cycle ride (when we shared the motel with the Olympic Torch circus on its way east for Sydney). Down on the shifting white sands we revisited the half-submerged telegraph station buildings – all that remain of the buried sandstone buildings of the original township - and climbed to the summit of the highest dunes, for an exhilarating slide down, setting off mini-avalanches of flowing sand. Walking on to the shoreline we found the old wooden jetty, used by the sail and steam ships which supplied the settlement and took its wool and sandalwood to Albany or Esperance. The jetty was lined with sea birds, the sky a clear blue, the ocean a sparkling turquoise and to the east the Bunda Cliffs (the longest unbroken stretch of cliffs in the world) rose 300 ft sheer from the ocean, shining white in the sunshine. What a perfect solitude on this, our 3^rd visit.

April 21 (217 km)                       NULLARBOR Roadhouse ($A17)

A short climb over the next 12 km to the WA/SA BORDER VILLAGE Roadhouse and quarantine checkpoint for west-bound traffic. Going east, we advanced our clocks another 45 mins. From here the road skirts the Bunda Cliffs which run for 200 km, about 90 m above the Southern Ocean, to the Head of the Gt Australian Bight. The 6 coastal lookouts have danger signs along the undercut cliff edge. Today, though still very hot, a strong wind blew off the land and we heeded the warnings whilst taking photos.

On our cycle ride in an even stronger wind, we had camped on the north side of the road, pitching our tent in the lee of an emergency phone about 50 km before the Nullarbor Roadhouse. At the Roadhouse, we had taken a 30-min flight in a single-engined plane with Whale-Air's bush pilot, Nigel, to spot the Southern Right Whales which migrate to the Head of Bight in winter (June-Oct). Nigel and his little plane were not here today – probably running scenic flights in the Bungle Bungles.

The Nullarbor National Park crossed today is truly 'Null arbor' – no trees, very sparse scrub, no wildlife apart from a pair of dingoes scavenging alongside the crows around the Roadhouse. Night fell suddenly, just the headlights of passing roadtrains occasionally piercing the darkness.  

April 22/25 (301 km)                  CEDUNA, Foreshore CP ($A19.35) - Top Tourist

A long drive to complete the Nullarbor Crossing. After 14 km we passed the turning for the Head of Bight whale-watching lookout, 12 km south of the highway. This is part of the wooded, rolling Yalata Aboriginal Reserve and the next roadhouse, after a further 79 km, is YALATA. Its store and petrol station also serve the nearby Yalata Mission Village (which is out of bounds to non-aboriginals).

Only 55 km to NUNDROO Roadhouse, with its sense of approaching civilisation – our first sighting of outback windmills, parched grass, signs of farming and a dirt road turning south to Fowlers Bay. After 76 km, PENONG signals the end of the desert crossing. Here, on the western edge of South Australia's wheat belt, are a few people, sheep, a folk museum in the old station's stone-built woolshed, a roadhouse (with fuel at the lowest price since Perth), a hotel, general store, caravan park, even a laundromat!

Over the final 75 km to CEDUNA we passed the abandoned sites of several schools – in Victorian pioneer days, a couple of farms would have enough children to fill the classroom. A mixture of excitement and regret as we spotted the blue of Murat Bay and knew the crossing was almost over. Through our quarantine checkpoint (having consumed all fresh fruit, vegetables and honey in readiness) and along the single street of shops to the foreshore. The Top Tourist CP, opposite the long jetty, is beautifully situated. Just a short walk to the Foodland supermarket and Bill's fish & chips (excellent local King George Whiting for supper).

We have now crossed the Nullarbor on the Eyre Highway (National Highway No 1) 3 times - that long narrow ribbon of bitumen through the far from treeless desert - and find it an extremely varied and poignant journey. So many memories: of kangaroos (dead and alive), deserted Eucla buried in the sand, the sheer windblown limestone cliffs, the dramatically empty landscape, like travelling the very edge of a map: 'there be dragons' (or at least whales). No mobile phone signal, no internet or email, no crossroads, no telephone or power lines, nothing but the bare essentials of 10 simple roadhouses for the last 800 miles! And this time we saw ONE single cyclist, a lone man pulling a trailer, riding east-west. On our own ride in 2000, we met just one other; while driving across in 2002 we met (and fed) 2 separate cyclists. Cycling Norseman to Ceduna had taken us 2 weeks; this time, driving, it took just 1 week!  

We spent 3 more days in Ceduna, a long weekend culminating in Anzac Day (Monday, 25 April). We photographed the superb sunset over Denial Bay from the jetty, and walked 5 miles return along the coastal path to Pinky Point at Thevenard, from where local salt, wheat and gypsum are shipped. At 10.30 am on Anzac Day we joined the people of this small remote town, marching to the cenotaph for a memorial service organised by the RSL (Returned Services League) on the 90^th anniversary of the Gallipoli landings. The veterans attending with their medals are now those of subsequent conflicts – WW2, Korea, Vietnam. The service was short (just one hymn, a recorded Last Post and Reveille, and the first verse of 'Advance Australia Fair'), but the town lacks a band and a bugler. The television channels gave full coverage to the moving events at Gallipoli's Anzac Cove as dawn broke (shown here live, at noon).

The weather began to cool over the weekend and it was good to take time to write up the journey, plan the next stage, send and receive text messages from friends 10,000 miles away, and buy a newspaper.

News: Prince Rainier of Monaco has died. The new Pope is the German Joseph Ratzinger, or Benedict XVI.

April 26 (322 km)                       KIMBA CP ($A15.30) - Top Tourist

A choice of roads from Ceduna to Port Augusta: follow the coast round the Eyre Peninsula via Port Lincoln (as we did in 2002), or more directly stay on the Eyre Highway, as we had on our cycle ride. We took this shorter route today, following the A1, the railway and a water pipeline across the rolling wheatfields, gradually climbing from sea level to 900 ft. Every small town along the way was heralded by its tall white grain silo alongside the railway tracks - WIRRULLA, POOCHERA, MINNIPA, WUDINNA - we are in the driest State of the driest continent on earth, and it's a major wheat-growing area! Each settlement has a pub and a simple caravan park, perhaps a store and a mechanic's workshop, a Memorial Park for a picnic, lots of space. To the north, the faint outline of the hills of the Gawler Ranges, to the south, dirt roads linked to the coast: Streaky Bay, Anxious Bay, Avoid Bay, Coffin Bay … what stories lie behind these, many named by Mathew Flinders as he mapped the coast of South Australia.

Beyond KYANCUTTA, paused at the memorial to explorer John Darke, by the waterhole where he was speared by natives in 1843. He gave his name to Darke Peak, visible to the south.

KIMBA, the largest town until Port Augusta, claims to be 'Half Way Across Australia' and boasts a giant figure of a Galah (the noisy pink and grey parrots which flock in the grain-growing areas). The Top Tourist CP is linked with a Budget Group Motel (which also gives members a 10% rebate on the normal price of $A70 per double room) and with the town's only petrol station, which gives campers and guests a small discount on fuel. It all helps!

The weather is dry and sunny again, apparently unseasonably hot when it should be cooling down for autumn. This has been the hottest April for over 80 years (according to the ABC – Australian equivalent of our BBC – on the radio). Farmers are desperate for rain, especially on the Eyre Peninsula where bush fires have again broken out (3^rd time this year).

April 27/28 (172 km)                  PORT AUGUSTA, Shoreline CP ($A19.80) – Top Tourist

The wheatfields now gave way to a wooded rolling landscape, the quiet highway turning NE. The railway line had ended at Kimba and we remembered the emptiness of the next 100 km when we cycled to IRON KNOB. This near-ghost-town is heralded by its worked-out iron ore mine and spoil heaps, though the service station/simple motel where we had stayed is still in business.

The Visitor Centre (run, as usual, by friendly volunteers offering to put the kettle on) has a good display on the history of Iron Knob. The birthplace of Australia's steel industry, it has been abandoned since 1999, when mining reached the water table and the pit flooded. We watched the video and bought a postcard and a colouring-book with the story of Mick the Miner in doggerel verse (he finished by blowing himself up!) All proceeds to the unemployed or retired community, which we sadly left little richer.

The next 43 km to the junction with the busier road from Whyalla crossed saltbush scrub, grazed by a few hardy sheep belonging to the Pandurra Station, which covers 400 sq miles! The Station also farms cattle and tourists at its Nuttbush Retreat CP, 30 km after Iron Knob.

Lunch by the river in PORT AUGUSTA, an important crossroads and rail-head at the top of the Spencer Gulf (and the largest town we'd seen since Perth!) There are 2 good caravan parks (a Big 4 and a Top Tourist) and we treated ourselves to an en-suite cabin for 2 nights, giving more space, a television to watch, an oven and grill – luxury at a small price ($A54 inc 10% members' discount). Fully equipped cabins like this, complete with air-con and heating, are generally available throughout Australia and New Zealand, more economical than motel rooms. An extra charge is made if you require bed-linen and towels.

In the town we shopped (a choice of Coles or Woolworths for supermarket food and discounted diesel – at $A1.12 a litre, our cheapest fill so far). We also posted 'Mick the Miner' to our young friend, Sammy, for his birthday; had a film developed; made use of the free internet facility in the modern library to catch up with MMM reader enquiries and to keep in touch with friends. Two of the 6 machines were set up to take our 128 MB USB flash drive. Nothing wrong with civilisation once in a while, though we certainly haven't missed much by having no TV!

April 29/30 (79 + 32 km)            WILMINGTON, Beautiful Valley CP ($A18)

Another internet session in Port Augusta library (machines have to be pre-booked, an hour at a time), followed by a fast-food lunch. There is a choice of McDonalds, Hungry Jacks (= Burger King), Pizza Hut, or KFC – all recently opened here and unseen since Perth!

Then a short drive SE over the Horrocks Pass at 1,700 ft. Pausing at the top, we talked to another motorhomer (a full-timer on his way round from Queensland) parked there for the night. He had emigrated 33 years ago from Blackpool (Margaret's native town)! A short diversion to Hancocks Lookout (also at 1,700 ft along 7 km of gravel road) for tea with a view of the Spencer Gulf, then on to WILMINGTON, a small historic town with 2 caravan parks on the northern edge of the Mt Remarkable National Park in the Flinders Ranges. 'Beautiful Valley' is the original name for Wilmington and our CP, on the main road, is directly opposite the turning for Alligator Gorge.

The forecast 'southerly change' to the weather is slowly happening, with a cooler wind turning distinctly chilly after dark. Autumn is overdue, as is rain.

Next day, drove 11 km from caravan park up the steep, mostly unsealed road (caravans prohibited) to Alligator Gorge in the Mt Remarkable National Park. The entry fee of $A7 per vehicle gave a choice of 2 car parks and a leaflet guide to various walks: 15 mins to a lookout, a 2 hr circuit, or 4 hrs for the full 'Alligator Gorge Ring Route Hike'. We parked at Blue Gum Flat and walked the full length of the gorge, north through the Narrows, along the Terraces and up the catchment of Alligator Creek – all dry-as-a-bone – turning south to return downhill on a broader track past Eaglehawk Dam (dry) and Longhill (both tent camping places). The total route of 11 km took us 3 hours with 1,000 ft of climbing (highest point 2,400 ft).

Lunching back at Blue Gum Flat, we shared the picnic area with just one other family, and we had only passed 2 pairs out walking, all on the shorter circuit. And this on a beautiful Saturday, the last weekend of the school hols! Adelaide must take its leisure at the beach.

The log could be read in conjunction with our Notes on Motorhome Travel in Australia