NIPPING ACROSS THE NULLARBOR

How Far?!

Whew, that was quick!  If ever I needed proof that men and women come from completely different planets and or communication between the genders is often oblique and confusing, then these last 7 days have provided the evidence.

I was under the impression (obviously an incorrect impression) that we were going to slowly wend our way back to WA, smelling the wild-flowers along the way.  WRONG!!!

As you would know from the last blog we left Melrose in SA last Friday and I expected to arrive at our destination in Kalbarri WA tomorrow – that would be eight days of pleasant travel.  Guess again Stephanie!  We took off from Melrose around 7ish in the morning, hoping to get a good run up to end up at Penong in the far west of SA by late afternoon.  What happened?  Well let me tell you.

FLYING THROUGH THE FLINDERS

Ummm?

And Round Again

The day dawned perfect for travel, sunny, mild temperatures and NO WIND!  The wind was the most important motivating factor aided and abetted by the number of flies chasing us out of Melrose.  We had been told that the flies were even worse further into the Flinders and any remaining desire to explore those incredible hills further dissipated with the swarms of the sticky little blighters.

Sunlit Splendour

From Afar

The journey thru’ the Flinders was to say the least stunning;  where on our way across in February, the hills had been clothed in gold velvet, now they were wearing soft greens.  I am a loss to adequately describe the scenery for you and hopefully some of the photos will help to explain the beauty.

Towards Port Augusta

Not The Nullarbor!

Zed performed admirably as we wound up and down thru’ the various hills and dales and thru’ the well known Horrocks Pass with Jezzy trundling obediently along behind us.  We made excellent time and before we knew it were passing thru’ the now quite pretty Port Augusta.  From Port Augusta the countryside starts to flatten out and some of the beauty dissipates a little heading towards Ceduna.  We passed thru’ Ceduna in amazingly good time and continued on towards Penong.  By the time we reached Penong it was still only around 3ish in the afternoon and so we made the Big Decision to keep going.  We kept going right up until we reached the Nullarbor Roadhouse and CP.  You need to remember of course that SA was on daylight savings time and we were chasing the sun so to speak.  Daylight seemed to go on forever. 

Iron Knob

The Lonely Harvest

NIPPING ACROSS THE NULLARBOR

By the time we reached the Nullarbor Road House there was just a little wind, but nothing like we had previously experienced in this region.  The wind was slightly to the side of us and over our left shoulders.  Not too shabby at all.  The CP was predictably dusty and bare, but with it’s own certain charm.  The Road House is pretty much at the beginning of the true Nullarbor and the countryside around there stretches out into indistinct distance – it is flat for as far as the eye can see and the only vegetation is low lying salt bush and tough looking scrub.

Desolation

And Then Some

We saw very little wild-life, only a couple of eagles, 3 dingos and remarkably and fortunately very little road kill.  The traffic was kind to us and we had absolutely no trouble with anything.

Hmmm

Uh Oh - Some Welcome

In the morning the winds, whilst reasonably light were more on our nose, but we took off regardless and with great optimism for a good day.  Only a few kilometres down the road (oh you know 100 or so) we crossed thru’ the Bordertown Quarantine Checkpoint.  Another disappointment!  Previously we had been lead to believe, by no less a personage than one of these checkpoint people that providing fruit and veg were frozen there was no problem.  To this end I had frozen our lemons and the beautiful little limes that Zan had given us and happily and trustingly placed them in the freezer.  By the time we reached the checkpoint, they were frozen solid.  The very nice and informative lady who checked us out, informed me that this was incorrect and once again I had to hand them over.  Zan I felt so bad about your limes – thank goodness we had used some of them – they were absolutely beautiful by the way!

Golf Anyone

Communication Nullarbor Style

So ‘lemonless’ and ‘limeless’, we continued on our now somewhat subdued way.  We crossed the timeline and gained two and a half hours and so it was only natural that once again we just kept on going.  Late afternoon we trundled into Fraser Range CP, some 100 ks east of Norseman.  This is a great little spot and much ‘improved’ since our last stay some 3 or so years ago.

Forever

Dad & Children

Era's Past at Fraser Range

GALLOPING THROUGH THE GOLDFIELDS

Fraser Range is situated at an historic sheep station and encompasses some of the old original buildings.  I didn’t photograph them this time but if you are really interested you can always slip backwards in time to our first crossing and have a bit of a gander.

They have there a large communal fire-pit where most folk gather in the evenings to enjoy a tipple and pleasant company under the canopy of stars.  They also offer ‘dinner’ for travellers.  The meal was priced at $25 and the evening we were there comprised of Chicken Casserole and Apricot Tart with cream and ice-cream.  You will be amazed to hear we didn’t avail ourselves of this doubtless delicious repast, having already prepared a meal previously.  Oddly for the lad, he didn’t bother to join in the group gathered around the fire – I suppose that should have told me something, but I was just too grateful to really wonder why the lack of interest.

To Beautiful Not To Pass On

Curious

As we were only semi-unpacking, staying hitched up and ready to rock and roll, we took very little time getting back on the road the next morning.  Not before we spotted a Daddy Emu and all his little (or actually not so little) chicks foraging right next the CP.  The park is set in what almost amounts to a natural amphitheatre at the foot of small hills.  In the early morning light it was quite beautiful.

Off we went again, early Sunday morning saw us on the road heading towards Norseman.  As a child, my paternal grandmother lived in Norseman and I spent a few very happy holidays with her in that austere and dusty mining town.  As a kid of course, I saw none of the ugliness; I just thoroughly enjoyed the big swimming pool and being totally spoiled by my grandma.  Despite my status as an only child, my mother held some very stern beliefs about the upbringing of children.  Spoiling them was certainly not part of her belief system, so being out of sight of my very strict mother and with a doting grandma was just wonderful.

Barren & Salty

Sunday Morning Coolgardie

Anyway I digress, we filled up with both petrol and breakfast at the Servo in Norseman and continued on our speedy journey.  We passed the old Widgiemooltha siding where I used to switch from the big Prospector diesel driven train to an old dog box puffing billy for the last leg of my journey to Norseman.  Before we knew it we were passing thru’ the old gold mining town of Coolgardie.  Trust me the main street of Coolgardie early Sunday morning is pretty quiet.  We topped up the fuel again and moved right on along.  Thru’ Southern Cross where the giant open cut mine lives (without stopping) and finally into the outermost reaches of the wheat-belt.

Roadside Splendour

Tassie Doesn't Have The Only Weird Names

WEAVING THROUGH THE WHEAT-BELT

Early afternoon saw us pulling into the wheat-belt town of Merredin.  DD drove us thru’ and around the sleepy town in order to find an IGA where we managed to purchase some reasonably good fresh produce.  The IGA in Merredin was surprisingly good I have to say.  Merredin also brought back memories for me as I used to run Training Seminars at the motel in that farming town.  The CP was quite good and we had a drive-thru’ site right near the front fence bordering the Great Eastern Highway.  Other patrons complained in advance about being kept away by the noise of the semis thundering past during the night, but I have to say I wasn’t aware of them.  The sound of the bloke slumbering next to me tends to block out most other noises!  I guess too, that I was pretty weary with all that hard work being a passenger/navigator!

More Beauty

Salt Encroaching

Monday morning saw us hit the road once again heading towards the famous (in WA anyway) tiny town of Meckering, site of the epicentre of our famous (once again in WA) earthquake. At Meckering we took a northwards turn taking us through the heart of the wheat-belt and up towards wild-flower country.  We thought we were being smart taking a little used back road, but guess what.  Half the wheat trucks in WA had the same idea.  Well, at least half a dozen of them!  Not usually a problem but these blokes were haring along in the opposite direction, on very narrow roads, fully believing the worst they would meet coming the other way would be cars – not large lumbering caravans.  It was a little squeezy but the first of these truckies contacted us on two-way advising of his mates following him.  We managed to cope, talking to these blokes where possible and finally reached our destination of Perenjori in one piece.

All Done

Make Way!

It was interesting driving thru’ WA wheat fields having just traversed some of the SA wheat producing country.  I would say at a very uneducated guess, the SA crops looked to be a little heavier, but both states are looking pretty good.  The big difference I think is in the sheer size of the farms over here.  Traversing the golden paddocks and cresting the mellow hills you can see forever.  It made my heart sing driving thru’ the wheat – it’s hard to explain I guess, after the decadent beauty of Tasmania, the verdant countryside in NSW and the glorious water-colours of SA, just what it is about WA that makes it so very special to me.  I think it is the starker colours and the immensity of the countryside.  There is a bare and bold beauty here and an inexplicable feeling of freedom when you are out in this countryside.  It makes you want to spread your wings and take flight!  Ah well, perhaps that’s just me.

Water On Salt 

More Salt

We have stayed at the pretty little Perenjori CP before when chasing wildflowers a couple of years ago.  After that stay, we went home and I packed mum into the car and brought her back and she and I stayed in one of the surprisingly well appointed little on-side cabins in the park.  Happy/sad memories!

Only In WA!

Bad News Wrapped In Pretty Paper

Most of the wild-flower season is now past, but the larger shrubs are still in flower and we were gifted with some very pretty road-sides as we travelled.  The bloke at the CP gave us a mud-map to Geraldton, having Googled the various options for us and finding that the route via Geraldton was surprisingly the shorter option.  It is an interesting aside here that at both the servo in Merredin and the CP at Perenjori when we enquired about local maps, they went instead to either the ‘apps’ on their mobile or the Google option on their laptops.

We still had some 4oo plus kilometres to go to reach our destination and so without too much haste, hit the frog on Tuesday morning, heading towards our much beloved Kalbarri.

I Could Take Flight!

Love It!

KAPUT AT KALBARRI

For those of you who are not familiar with Kalbarri, it is a little village, some 150ks north of Geraldton.  The tiny township hugs tight to the semi-circular river-mouth where the Murchison River meets with the Indian Ocean.  I won’t elaborate at this point as I want to bring you Kalbarri as we know and love it over the next couple of weeks.  Suffice for now to know that it is exquisitely beautiful and splendidly decadent insomuch as one can do practically nothing (if that is one’s want) or if one is adventurous and active, be as active as you could possibly wish to be.  We are currently of the first preference!

Road To Kalbarri

Pink Salt Lakes

So, from Perenjori we travelled through some delightful farming country we had not previously seen, this being a new route for us, eventually arriving (due to a slight altercation between driver and navigator) at the southern end of Geraldton.  Had the driver listened to the navigator, we would have entered at a slightly more northern point, but, really, it mattered not.  We moved quickly through the port town of Geraldton, just skimming the periphery really, and popped out on the road to Carnarvon. 

We stopped to fill up with fuel and brunch at the servo just north of town – bought way too much in the food department.  I have a fondness for salt and pepper squid and this place sold it by the cup full – brilliant, but one each was way too much.  Feeling somewhat bloated, we continued north to the tiny town of Northampton where we took a left turn towards the ocean.  Now we really had the bit between our teeth.  Onwards and upwards, feeling that we were practically there we threaded our way along the coastal road, past the pink lakes which were totally pink and much larger than we remembered.  The photos I took from the car window didn’t really come out very well, so we will have to take a day trip back down there to get some really good shots.  These salt lakes are a hue somewhere between rose pink and soft mauve – stunning!

Kalbarri Snuggles Along The Murchison

To Whet Your Whistle

Finally the ocean glimpses became ocean gazes and the town and the river-mouth came into view.  Ahhhh, we drove through the little town and into the entrance to the old Anchorage CP.  We had booked a site, not just any site, but the one that we had always salivated over, J1!  Unbelievably despite the vast numbers of vans we had seen on the road, obviously travelling down the west coast and back across the desert divide, the park was almost empty.  We have this row almost to ourselves, the families and all the little children having left for home last week-end.  Can we plan or what!!?

That was Tuesday, it is now Friday and I think in another 2 or so days, the bloke will be back to normal.  He was totally buggered!  I don’t really know what particular demon drove him to make that sort of time – and no it wasn’t me – I would have been happy to dawdle a little.  The flies mind you were a contributing factor, having been in pretty much swarm proportions everywhere we stopped from Melrose onwards.

Anxious

'Cause Dad Is Catching Waves

It has really taken it out of the lad and he slept for a good part of Wednesday.  Mind you..............the bloke can be a tad obsessive you know, and he had been having problems with his VAST satellite system and had been unable to make it work since.....well somewhere in NSW I think.  He was starting to get really steamed about the whole thing and when he tried to set it up here and once again it just wouldn’t go, he almost lost the plot (having had a tenuous hold on it in the first place).  He found a bloke here who used to earn a living making these things work and guess what, even HE couldn’t make it go.  Hours were spent both on Tuesday evening and on Wednesday morning trying to make it GO.  Finally in desperation the lad re-activated his card and TA-DA! It worked!  Thank the ......for that girls.  Frankly I had pretty much had enough of the wretched thing and would have been happy to be ‘televisionless’ forever rather than continue down that frustrating track.

So, we are back in WA, on the road to sanity recovery, and finally having some lovely down-time.  Over the next couple of weeks I won’t post proper blogs, but rather will simply run some photos of this place and tell you a little of why we love it so much.  Any antidotes worthy of telling will be posted, but other than that, like us, you can have a little holiday from all these words. Until then, be kind to each other, slow down a little and enjoy the journey.  Stephanie.

Jealous?