Across the Nullarbor

We enjoyed a very happy evening at Marg & Brian’s new house and how lovely to see them finally settled in after a very long wait. It was also great to catch up with Mark Lindsay & Ollie. Thank you Harris’s for spoiling us. For ANAC day we attended a very nice service at a little place called Tarlee and were happy that the crowd was the best they have had for many years. These services are always a little emotional as we remember our Dads.

We were very impressed with our stay at Gulnare as we had lots of space, showers, toilets and the added bonus of buying a homemade pasty and soup for our lunch from the chap who runs the attached gallery. These small communities are wonderful, banding together to provide such  facilities for us travellers.

From Gulnare we headed west past Port Augusta along the Eyre Highway and ended up at the Showground campsite at Wudinna where we were very comfortable again with facilities, our campfire and space. The sports ground there was excellent and on a Friday night before their first game, volunteers were busy getting everything ready which reminded us of our home team at Murrabit. We had a long trip the next day to Penong (the windmill town) where we were fortunate to get a site in the campground as they are particularly busy with travellers going east and west. Tops and I hit the laundry and came away with clean sheets and towels ready for the trip across the Nullarbor. 

The Great Australian Bight is truly magnificent with amazing cliff views. We called for a couple of viewing spots but were disappointed that many access tracks are now closed.

The Nullarbor trip is certainly a long way with lots of expensive fuel stops but everything is looking lush and green and we wonder why it’s called a treeless plain when we see lots of trees and shrubbery. The more barren scenery is on the SA side. The wildflowers are just starting to emerge and are so beautiful. The road is in super condition with no pot holes or waves -  what a happy change from our roads!! We found free campsites along the way and even enjoyed a gravel pit! At least there was no dirt there! 

The time zones were quite confusing and for a day we had no idea of the real time as all of our devices and watches showed a different time - SA, WA, central WA and some kept showing Vic. However, now we are right as we’re on WA time which is 2 hours behind Eastern Standard time. 
Wildlife seems to be non existent as we only saw one eagle - no kangaroos, emus, cattle or sheep. We assume the good conditions have provided feed for animals away from the road as we didn’t even see road kill.

So now we’re over the Nullarbor, not that far from Norseman, we’ll head to Kalgoorlie then towards Southern Cross where we’ll head a bit north towards the coast and avoid Perth. Our weather has been cloudy and mild with cool nights suitable for our campfire. We trust all our readers are well and who knows where the next blog will find us. ❌❌❌

Westward bound

For several years we have been wanting to go to WA to the Pilbara and West Coast area especially. However, Covid and floods stalled out plans  but now we are on our way with a very rough  plan! We’ll go across the Nullabor to the west coast north of Perth, north along that beautiful coast to Port Headland then inland to Karanji, Mt Augustus and the Kennedy Ranges and back along the Great Central Road. 

We set off beginning with a 2 night stay in Hay to attend Murrabit’s first netball & football game for the season. We ended up with mixed results but we were the winners in that between us, we had family representatives in every game, from under 14’s to senior games. . It was pretty busy trying to get to see everyone play, but how fortunate we were to be able to mix with family and friends in safe, harmonious & ideal weather conditions - country sport at its best!

From Hay we traveled west through Wentworth to this secluded spot at the Lake Victoria / Rufus river outlet. We were the only ones there and had water views, a shower,  toilet and rubbish bin - and it was free - what more could we ask for? 

Lake Victoria is a large storage facility for South Australia within the Murray Darling Basin. Water is released at the outlet, which then flows back into the Murray downstream from lock 7. The aquatic birds are very abundant, no doubt waiting for the fish as they come through the outlet. 

We enjoyed a very restful day there and Dennis even spoilt us with freshly made scones for morning tea.

The trip on the road to Renmark was pretty rough - probably construction of a huge new power line would have put added pressure on the road surface. Anyway, it was with relief that we hit the bitumen just out of Renmark! We had lunch at Morgan down by the river - where the ferry runs and many houseboats are moored.

It was quite warm lunch time - about 30 degrees - but by the time we reached our destination of Kapunda, it was cold and windy! We sheltered in the camp kitchen as it was too unpleasant to be sitting around our fire pit. 

Today we’ve had a look around Kapunda and purchased a few supplies - plus we’ve also been in the laundry! 

This evening we are being spoilt and are dining out at Marg & Brian’s new house in Tanunda. Tomorrow we’ll move on and plan to attend an Anzac Day service at Tarlee before heading a little further north. 

As we settle into our camping routine, it feels as if we’ve been away for longer than the few days we actually have. We are very appreciative of being healthy and able to undertake travels like this and will certainly enjoy every aspect of our life on the road. 

Until the next chapter of our travels, love from Dennis & Tops, Darryl & Marg ❌❌