Day 3 - Somewhere on the bight to Pandurra Station

After a somewhat windy night day 3 again dawned somewhat cool and cloudy but unlike the previous day whilst the clouds did clear it stayed reasonably cool which we were grateful for.

The tent stood up brilliantly to the weather, but unfortunately the cover hadn't fared so well with the traveling. It was pretty well shredded! Duct tape again to the rescue! *lol*

The third day really was a "hump" day-the halfway point of our journey, we got a lot of kms under our belt but it did feel like a bit of a slog.

We had some interesting sights tho... a real live dingo spotted from the road about 2kms from our overnight camp site! A lot of departed Wombats in about a 10 km stretch of road close to Ceduna now nicknamed "Wombat Alley" Don't know if there are just lots there or if they are all just not very bright and wander out in front of passing traffic?

The dogs enjoyed a travel break paddling in the ocean at Ceduna, we saw "Iron Knob" and sniggered about it *lol* And met the goats at our waypoint - Pandurra Station.

Dawn day 3 - packed and ready to go!

Bight camp - the reason we didnt go wandering around after dark! (note dingo proof bins!)


SA roads are as long, straight (and boring!) as WA ones!


Nullarbor landscape SA style


Big sky country

Ceduna fun!

Big sky grazing


Iron Knob (tho not quite what we were expecting!)

Our overnight destination - great pet friendly spot. We only had a powered site but the amenities were great. Clean and with lovely hot showers. The dogs were well on the way to being true "poo connoisseurs" by this point and the goat offerings were much appreciated by them (not that I was all that pleased!)


The goats...

Dinnertime at camp Pandurra


Mia hadn't quite worked out the intricacies of tethering - or maybe she is just into bondage!

Day 2 - Norseman to somewhere on the bight... !

After a warm night day 2 dawned cloudy and cooler. We were hoping it would last for the whole day but it cleared to a fine, warm day by lunchtime.

Despite the lack of a pillow the tent was really quite comfortable and I was glad to be far away from those enormous ants!

The dogs were very good overnight and refrained from barking at anyone walking past - really good considering we left the solid doors open on the trailer due to the heat and lack of breeze.

Anyway enough typing... enjoy the pics :)

Dawn day two


Its a loong road!


Heat mirage


Plenty of trucks


Uh oh... !


Airstrip (aka Highway 1!)


Nullarbor Dunny


Dropping from one plain to another


Eucla sand dunes


Eucla flasher (Gave the boys sitting at the pub quite a show - of course Glenn had to take a pic for posterity, tho sadly the wind wouldn't blow whilst the camera was out!)



The bight at sunset

Day 1 - Perth to Norseman

No photos for this post as the camera was a little too well packed and impossible to get out without unpacking the whole car.

We left about 6.30am on 21st of February and stopped in at Maccas in Canning Vale for brekky. The sun was shining and all was going well. Until we stopped at Merredin for a wee break... a cursory check of the roof tent and roof rack found that the roof racks were held on by two little metal pins at each fixing point. The front was intact but the rear racks were missing 3 out of 4 pins!! Everything was very loose and how the whole thing hadn't flown off I have no idea!

A bit of duct tape to ensure the front rack didn't lose its pins sorted them. The rear was more of an issue... thanks to the kind staff at the roadhouse we scored a coat hanger and whilst not perfect managed to cut a couple of bits off to use as temporary pins.

Crossing our fingers we made it to the Norseman turnoff, not happy to risk another two full days travel with the coat hanger pins we took the chance we might find help in Kalgoorlie even though it was now late on Saturday afternoon. An 80km detour we hoped would pay off.

Thankfully not only was there a SuperCheap Auto (same place we bought the racks from) it was open and staffed by a very friendly and helpful guy who allowed us to exchange the faulty components of the rear rack :D A bit of sweat and swearing in the carpark - replacing the struts without actually removing the rest of the rack and roof tent was much quicker but somewhat awkward!

With all struts back in one piece and duct taped just incase any of the pins should try and work loose again we were set to go. A quick stop at a lovely fenced oval to let the dogs wear off some steam and toilet properly and we were back on the road. To keep it interesting we took the road via Kambalda to Norseman.

Spotted our first live "wildlife" in the form of feral goats - and very healthy they looked too! There is also an interesting collection of teddies nailed to trees along this road... weird?! but entertaining! :p

We arrived in Norseman about 6pm and booked into the Caravan park. A lovely hot shower and some dinner and we were feeling almost human again. With the roofrack dramas and delays it had been a bit of a stressful first day!

The caravan park was nice tho the flies were extremely friendly and when they went to bed the mozzies came out to keep us company. There were also lots of the biggest ants I had ever seen... until the next day... and the next day! *lol*

Finally got to bed around 10pm and realised I had forgotten to pack my pillow! Had to sleep with a rolled up towel as a pillow but when your tired you really don't notice!

Chronic lack of WiFi

yes I know we have been suffering from a blogging drought... I just had no idea how difficult it was to find decent (free/cheap) internet! or even a phone signal! (fricken Vodafone >:( ) We now have a Next G card so can get internet but uploading is a bit costly so have to wait until we go to Maccas to upload piccies.

Anyway we are now visiting with Ros and Peter in Melbourne so will hopefully get caught up with the blog :D