We pulled into Ceduna and found another fully automated
toilet. I am thinking that they have these to deter the “locals” from camping
in the toilets. Ceduna was the first
town in a very long time that reminded me of living up north. Locals hanging
around on the corners dressed in their best. Needless to say I was not sold on
Ceduna even though it was quite pretty.
We had a bite to eat and started chatting to these other
people who pulled up behind us. Meet Jim, Jim, Christine and Bev!
So we travelled with them and camped the first night at
Nundroo, only 30km or so from the Aboriginal mission. The boys collected firewood and we sat around
the fire. Knowing I had to get rid of my
fruit and veg before crossing the border I made a massive pot of pumpkin soup
to share with everyone and Christine (the other one) made damper. Together it
was yummy.
The next morning Rod did an oil change and I cut up the 3kgs
of potatoes and put them in the thermal cooker and we headed off again. We had showers at the famous “Nullabor
Roadhouse” and went to the Top of the Bight viewing platform. Unfortunately we
were too early for whales but the views were amazing. It was even better that
the man on the front counter stuffed up and we got in for free!
Rod and I stopped at a couple more lookouts along the way.
The first lookout was just beautiful. The cliffs and the water were amazing. We
even returned to the car and made the kids come back out for a look.
The next lookout Rod did another good deed and climbed on
top of a man’s caravan and re-sticky taped his hatch closed. It had come off
due to deterioration. I chatted with a couple sitting there and swapped some
recipes on the thermal cooker.
We decided to pull up short of the SA/WA border to eat some
more of our food. I made another pot of
pumpkin soup and we cooked up some of our Tasmanian Trout. We were lucky enough to find Jim, Jim, Bev and
Chris again. This time we were perched
on the cliffs of the Great Australian Bight – an amazing view, the water just
there and the winds hurling through. We rocked all night long.
We said our goodbyes and left in the morning. We didn’t get
far until we stopped at the “border control” and next minute Jim and Christine
pulled in behind us. We got rid of the
rest of our fruit, after the boys had just eaten an apple and a huge bunch of
grapes within ½ hr.We met up again just down the road at Eucla and went down to
the old telegraph building for a look.
We drove most of the day – nothing to report. We saw one
dingo.
We found a free camp with a large shelter that we pulled up
and under, thinking it was going to rain. We decided to give it ½ hr before moving
on if nobody stopped to stay the night. Just as the time had lapsed Jim, Jim,
Bev and Christine pulled up. It was so funny.
The V8 trucks were going by and I was trying to convince one
to pull over and give us free tickets or merchandise. No such luck.
The boys went and collected firewood and we set up under the
shelter, out of the wind. There were no communal feeds for dinner but I
attempted to make pumpkin scones in my thermal cooker and Bev made a lovely
date and walnut cake; which we enjoyed later that night. We had a much better
sleep that night.
We really did say goodbye again, knowing we would see
everyone in Esperance in a couple of days. We headed off to Norseman thinking
it was going to offer grocery shops, water, showers and cheap fuel. Well we got free showers but that was it.
They wanted money to dump the potty, money to get water, which I heard was
crappy and the IGA was known to be very expensive. Anyway, cranky we left and headed for
Esperance and Rod even let me drive for a couple hundred kms while he had a
nap.
On our way to Norseman we did another good deed and pulled
over a compass van whose pop top was popped, while driving. We ran into them in
Norseman and it turns out it was the man I met at Streaky Bay in the laundry –
we go way back. LOL.
We arrived in Esperance and stayed at the Esperance
Waterfront Van Park. Ordinary, very ordinary and aged. It did the job and the highlight was the $2
washing machines and $1 dryers. We did all the washing and drying that night.
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