Salmon Gums

12/4/2013. Somewhere on the Australia's Longest Straight Road

Drove for another day across the Nullabor on the Eyre Highway and played some more golf. This road is in a good condition but after while we were happy to just stop and play golf. Lidia started to take photos of the road,  road's signs and even our shadows. 

 

 

 

 We even saw a little twister off the side of the road. Not sure if you can see it on the photo, but it looked pretty good spinning around

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We crossed the boarded into WA, and with the excitment of a boarder search, we forgot to take the road sign photo  We did get the boarder Kangaroo, with Lidia in the pouch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 We had a strong head wind for the whole day, which added around 3L/km to our economy, just as petrol prices hit the roof.  This meant that even with the extra 50L fuel we carried, we couldnt make it across.  Graham was a bit worried to start with, anc checked the tyre pressures and bearing temperatures, but after talking with other people, it was confirmed just the headwind.  At least it was only fuel, and not overheating problems like others were having.

 

 Graham did some calculations, and we needed to buy an extra 44L of fuel to make it, so we rounded it off to 46.41L -  and Graham was not impressed.   

 

 

The Pathy rolled over 200,000kms on the Nullabor - how Australian is that.. 

 

 

We stopped for the night on one of the free camp spots on the Australia's Longest Straight Road - 145km.

Graham has been quiet on the beer subject recently.  Mainly because we though it would be good to try a "working mans" South Australian beer, we we bought a 30 can slab of West End Draught.  This was hard work, but this is the last one.  Graham doesnt regret it, but wont do it again.  Funny thing, was the beer actually tastes better out of the can, than it does on tap..

 

13/4/2013. Kalgoorlie-Boulder Centennial Park

 We did it!!!! First finished the nullabor (without incident), other than a minor incident when some guy in a bongo tried to overtake when there was oncoming traffic, and found the car and van was longer than he thought.  Not really close, but I did need to use the brakes and give him some room.  ,There was no wind today, so our fuel economy was back to 13L/100, so we cruised into Norseman with 80kms of fuel to spare.. (Could have cut the safety margin a bit)..

We stoped on Norseman to see what there was to do, and apart from some cheap fuel, and camels made from corrugated iron, there was not much going on.  We were warned about dress rules for the final golf holes, so visited the local op-shop to get a collared shirt.  This was awsome, because Graham found a souvenir shirt that cost $45 in the tourist info shop, for $2 - and it had a collar.  We snapped it up.

 

We had decided to commit to the golf scene, and detoured a bit to Kalgoorlie.  By the time we finished the golf, we scammed a free shower in the Club house and a $12 pizza special, washed down with some clubhouse pints -  The World's Longest Golf Course it's officially over.   We added a page to the blog, with all of the details.

 

We headed to the free camp area in Centennial  park, which happened to have "Justice Crew" live in concert there playing, with people and cars everywhere.  Somehow, security kept the "free caravan" park for RVs and caravans (not for parking), so we got an easy park.  The music was pounding the van, but I fell asleep watching a movie, and Lidia reports she was asleep by 9:45.  I really dont know how.

 

14/4/2014 (Today). Salmon Gums.

We woke up early as we are not use to the time change yet to WA, and found ourself in a deserted main street.  We thought we would drop by coles and top up the van supplies, but it didnt open on Sunday..  How retarded is that.  The only places we found open, was the bakeries, Bunnings and the tourist info place.  We got our final stamps and certificate for the Nullabor Links, and Graham asked the girl what there was to do in Kalgoorlie,   she actually chuckled (as did another customer).  "Not much" she said..  We took in some lookouts and headed out of town.

 

 

The drive was long and boring, and Graham was tired so we stopped at a highway rest area for an afternoon snooze, but stopped in midge headquarters.  We travelled another 20kms down the road and stopped at a community funded caravan park in Salmon Gums.  $5 per person per night, for toilets and hot showers, and extra $5 if you want power.

Nullarbor Plain - Lookout #2

Yesterday, we left Ceduna after visiting the Aboriginal Cultral Centre and signing up for the worlds longest golf course which basically has the 18 holes scattered accross the Nullabor.  It was a bit expensive, but we thought worth the while.

 

The first 2 holes for us were at Ceduna, and it was pretty mind blowing.  We will start a seperate page dedicated to this shortly, because we really need to tell a story for each hole.  We quickly established Lidia was not good at the fairway driving.  She really just lacked golf style - I think that both legs straight with arms bent might work well for water skiing, but it really doesnt work well for golf.

I needed a couple of practice holes myself, and the rules are flexible, and I think we are making them up as we go, but here they are.  (Maybe Jimbo can help?)

GRA-LID GOLF RULES
      1.  If a ball gets hit so far off course, none of the players can be bothered retreiving it, it becomes a practice shot
      2.  If the ball doesn't move more the 10 metres after being hit, it becomes a practice shot
      3.  Practice shots don't add to the score
      4.  If a crow steals you ball, and drops it closer to the hole, the ball is in play.  If the crow steals the ball and it is not retrieved, the player may decide the location of the ball and no penalty.  If the crow steals it, and runs it backwards, and you miss it with the golf stick, the player may decide where to drop the ball.
     5.  Repositioning the ball in tufts of grass, or the like is allowed, and expected.
     6. All shots must be played using a 5 iron
     7.  Graham is allowed to do what he wants
  

After a few holes, we worked out a routine.  Graham does the fairway driving, Lidia does the putting.  The system works pretty well, and so far, we have the highest score for each hole (even using the Gra-Lid golf rules.

 

 

Rule number 6 sort of came about because we bought a 5 iron for $5 from a second hand shop, and its the only club we have.

 

Anyway, back on subject.  We stayed last nightat Fowlers Bay, and crossed the worst roads we have seen yet.  The damage to the caravan was 1 smashed beer glass (lucky it was Lidias) and the fascia of the air-cond panel was broken.  The corregates were masive.  Even the 80kmh rule for corregates didn't help.  I was talking to one guy who said he was doing 5 kmh over them to save his van, another guy dropped an axel on them...  Maybe the 80kmh rule helped?

 

Fowlers bay is being overrun by sanddunes, and I cant explain why, but we didnt take any photos of them just got some from internet.  But, it looks like the whole town is going to be buried in sand soon. Not a big loss, as the only reportable fish I managed to catch, was a 1kg mullet that was schooling, and I accidentally jagged him on a trout lure.

 

We got another flat tyre on the way out, this time the steel belt was sticking out or the tyre, and even after my dodgy repair trick, the green goo oozed out like an alien with his head cut off.  I might try a reputable tire repair place when we cross the Nullabore, but starting it with no spare makes me a little nervous.

Lidia got here Sign post photo.

 

TheNnullabore is really flat and boring, but the 70m Bunda Cliffs are pretty amazing.

We got a free camp at lookout number 2, which is actually only 50m from the edge.  From the road, you would not even know its the edge, it just looks like more flat ground

 

For dinner tonight, we BBQed the King George Whiting (we bought ) and I opened the last dozen oysters.  This is the official end of our seafood trail through the Aire Peninsula, and I think its time to mention that the oyster vendors eithor cannot count, or, generaously give and extra oyster or two when you choose unopened ones.  I (Graham) have been absorbing these "free oysters" before serving the dozen.  Lidia will be surprised if and when we reads this :)   Barrrrrhahahahah

Ceduna

7/4/2013.  Port Kenny

Travelled by Coffin Bay, but were disappointed with the yellow sands again and the seaweed in the water.  We did pick up another 3 dozen unopened oysters, and got another free lesson on how to open them.  These were $8 per dozen, but were smaller than the last ones, and actually tasted nicer because they were not as chewy.

We kept driving to Locks Well Beach, and walked the 283 steps from the car park to the beach.  As we were walking down, there were some fishermen carrying bags full of fish, complaining about how heavy they were to carry up.  I tossed in my line, but this time nothing.

We kept driving again and finally stopped at the worse camp we have had so far.  Didn't matter though, cause we were just there to sleep. (Port Kenny)

8/4/2013.  Baird Bay


We backtracked a bit to Venus Bay, and went for a walk on the "South Head Walking Trail".  I took my fishing rod again along for the walk, and had a little cast in here and there, but caught nothing again.  Lidia spotted a heap of dolphins, certainly more than I have ever seen.  Probably 10-20.  The funny thing was, that the batteries in the camera went flat just as Lidia was going to take the photo.  They were jumping in the waves, there were babies and all...Doh!!!






We headed for Baird Bay then, with a minor stop at Murphys Haystack, another rock formation..

At Bairds bay, there was a free camp (honesty system).  We went for a 4WD and ended up in pretty heavy off road mode somehow.  Anyway, the Pathy looked after us again, but did get a couple of new salt bush scratches down the side... Damn.






While driving around the beaches, we found the worlds biggest whalebone on the beach.  It wasn't the only one either.  The beaches here also had small pebbles instead of sand.










Today. (Ceduna)
We Baird bay, and detoured via a sealions colony at Point Labatt.  They were mainly laying around in the sun, with an occasional reshuffle.

We took the dirt roads to Streaky bay, where there was a replica of the largest Great white shark caught, the real one was 5m and weighed just over 1.5 tonne.  Perfect for goofing around with.

We were planning to stay tonight at Smoky Bay, but when we got there the only caravan park was booked out.  So we did some fishing off the Jetty, and caught 5 silver mackerel and 2 sand crabs.  I lost a larger one, but was still a good fishing spot.

We found vacancy at a caravan park at Ceduna.  Set the van, and headed down to the town.  Lidia went food shopping, so I took the crab put and bucket fishing.  Didn't catch any more fish, but got a blue swimmer.

We cooked up the crabs and one of the fish for dinner, no photos, but were delicious.

Louth Bay and Lincoln National Park

We left Port Gibbon quite late as we met some people from WA on the holiday with almost the same caravan as ours (their caravan was smaller but had the same colours as ours). It wasn't all bad as we were heading to Arno Bay for lunch (just 44kms from Port Gibbon) to try "Arnormous Burger- the Largest on the Eyre Peninsula".   As it was just 10 am when we get there we went for some boardwalk walk and Graham even had time for some fishing on the jetty. No luck.  By midday we were hungry enough to have a challenge like "Man vs Food". Man won!!!

 

 

 

We were supposed to go to Port Lincoln for our next stop but instead stay at Louth Bay for the night.  The place was quite nice and had only 8th caravan places and we got the second last. As it was still quite early we went for a drive around Port Lincoln and got some more seafood for dinner as this place supposed to be a "capital of seafood in SA".  The lady in the Information Centre suggested September Beach as our next camping spot, which is in the Lincoln National Park. She was right the place is great.

 

 

We went for some 4WD drive around the island and got to this beautiful spot called MacLaren Point. The water was crystal clear and very calm so we went for a swim.  It was nice just to relax a little...

 

 

Port Gibbon

106 km from Whyalla is a little town called Cowell, where you can go fishing or just go on the Oyster Dve and buy their award-winning oysters direct from the shed. We both 3 dozens NOT OPEN oysters. Graham was quite sure it's not hard to open fresh oysters but thank God he asked the guy in the oyster shed how to do it or we would be still seating at the front of them and crying. After a while he become quite an expert:)

 

 

 

Cowell's nephrite jade is recognised as the oldest and one of largest deposit in the world, with variety of colours and patterns not found elsewhere.  We had fun browsing through the showroom and picking some presents.

After than Lidia wanted to find out how a Quandong jam test like. They have a add saying that "you can enjoy a cuppa with hot scones and delicious homemade Quandong jam at Schultz's Quandong Farm". But what they forgot to mention is that is "you can enjoy a cuppa with your nanna". This old lady is running a Bed & Breakfast plus sells homemade jams from her home. She has a beautiful garden behind her house and make scones and jams in her little kitchen. Jams were great and we even both one Quandong jam and got one plum jam for free. Plus Graham got a recipe for homemade scones. So sweet.

 

 

We stopped at the Port Gibbon Foreshore free camping spot.  The beach was cover by seaweeds but there was a lot of "cool stuff" as well. We are not sure what are those colourful "balls" are but the other thing are spiral shaped shark egg cases.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And guess what we had for dinner? More seafood!!!!  

Point Lowly (Whyalla)

Last night, Lidia woke up to something scratching under the caravan.  She turned on the light and opened the door, and it growled at her.  She woke me up, I took my torch and opened the door, and it was a kangaroo, eating a paper bad we left outside.  It was right under the door, and I had to hit it with the door to move it, then hit it again with the torch to move it along a bit further. It was screwing up its face like a dog showing teeth, and wasnt happy.  I quickly (but in a very manly way) picked up the bag pieces and closed the door. That was one mean kangaroo.

Anyway,  today was a driving day, leaving the Flinders and starting the "Seafod Trail" through the Eyre Peninsula.  We stopped for a short 3km walk to see Arkaroo rock, which was actually pretty amazing.  There was a fence around it which wrecked the photos, but still was good to take a look.

 

We had lunch in Port Augusta, and the girl in the info centre receommended a free camp just outside of Whyalla.  We needed fuel, but somehow we were out of Port Augusta city and into the desert without filling up.  We didnt have enough fuel to take the 20km detour to the beach camp so we had to go to Whyalla to fill it up.  We made it ok, the tank took 75 litres, so there must have only been 5 litres left.  I also filled up the 20L jerry can (again).

 

We backtracked to the free camp on the beach near the lighthouse, and bumped into an older couple travelling from Belmont.  This is the 3rd time we have met them on our travellels.

 

I dropped in the fishing line, but got nothing again...:(

 

Wilpena Pound

We figured the Easter rush would be gone from Wilpena Pound, so we headed there because this was the locals favourite camping area, and normally had hundreds of people. But, in general, we found the area to be very quiet, and although we may have missed the masses checking out, the camping area had scarce few when we arrived at 10:30. We think that the dry conditions made people to choose another location for their holidays.

We walked the geological trail, which was an 8km return walk.  It was very well narrated with detailed descriptions of the rock formations, but I think we are just dumb, because we couldn’t see most of the things the info was telling us.  To make it worse, we started the walk around midday, and dry river beds are a very hot place. But the worst were all those annoying flies. Lidia was growling from the 2km mark – she said it was a camel noise, but I assumed it was pure enjoyment, so we pushed on to the end...  The end was very unspectacular, and actually was just a fence, without any “Congratulations” sign or anything.  The return leg was unpleasant, mainly because of the camel noises.
 

Dry Creek bed

 

We got back to the car, cranked the air-conditioning, and decided to do the rest of the day like Americans...  If we can’t drive there, we are not going.

 

 

We drove another geological drive, which was good, but very bumpy and slow.  Most of the track was through dry river beds, with very rough roads.  The 20km drive takes you through around 100 million years of rock formations, due to the arrangements here.  As fantastic as it sounds, it just looks like the same stuff, with different colors. As American tourists, we got bored with the lack of Starbucks and Macdonalds (and it was pasted beer o’clock) so we headed back.

On the way back,  I felt there was something wrong with one of the rear tyres, because the car was sliding a bit around the tight corners.  Didn’t feel flat, just a bit low so I pushed on so I could change the tyre with a beer in hand.

When we got back to camp, the tyre was completely flat.  Couldn’t believe it. Travelling at 100km/h with a flat tyre, cornering reasonable and not really noticeable on power or noise.  I’m just pleased that these tyres were getting scrapped soon.  Gave me a chance to try my dodgy brothers repair, which was a tyre plug and some of the sealant goo.. I have the spare on now, and store the "repaired" tyre.  Seems to work, but will check it again in a few days.

 

2/4/2013

We decided to do a walk, and most were too long (22kms was the longest). We did the Ohlssen-Bagge walk that took us to the top of a nearly mountain.  6.4km walk, starting at 500m above sea level, finishing at 928m.  There were more camel noises coming from Lidia..
 

 

On this walk we saw some caterpilla chains.  They were trailing each other, to look like one big creature.  This on in the photo was around 3m in length.  I picked one out of the chain to see what would happen, and the whole train stopped.  I put the little guy back, but he went in circles while the others waited.  Dont know how it turned out, because we got bored watching them, but they were gone when we came back so I guess it got sorted out.

 

 

We had some lunch then took a drive to Sacred Canyon. Which was pretty nice  and had some more Aboriginal markings there.

 

 

 

 

On the way back we stopped at Cazneaux tree.  There was a photo taken in 1937 on display.  The amazing thing was that this tree had not changed at all, other than for some new lower branches growing.