Road signs in South Australia
Thought we had got the mouse in the night, but no such luck. Started a bit overcast but clouds now clearing. Packed up LRover and colin rang Dodzee for a chat, he will be in Perth again in a few weeks, also told us that we are lucky to be seeing the Nullabor green.
Showers on site were great, we both ended up having cool showers. Stopped at quarantine on border
and officer was telling us it was 43degs yesterday, but will a lot cooler for us going west as we will be dropping down onto the Tablelands. Stopped at the Old Telegraph Station ruins
at Euchla and the Eyre memorial, you can see right over to the coast
and the Eyre Hway.
At least the roads have bends in them today, saw a lot of trucks on the road this morning, stopped at Mundrabilla roadhouse to fill just one tank with fuel, ouch $1 88 per litre, better than Border Village at $1.93 or Madura $2.04. Stopped at Madura Pass to lookout back over Roe Plains, amazing flat lands of nothing
to the sea. Road has staightened out a bit as we head towards Cockelbiddy for the night, no shade at the roadhouse so carried on a further 21kms to Jillbunya Rockhole rest area, still no shade but as clouds have come over it does'nt matter. Started raining and thunder and lightening, temp has dropped to 22Degs, we bought rain again. Night in LRover again. Rain did'nt last long. Had to put clocks back again another 45mins, now on Western time. Got dark early so went to bed not long after dinner, both very tired.
26th February Sunday
Disturbed night trying to catch the mouse. Wind changed direction, so bit cooler today. Land flat and featureless. At Caiguna we started the 90 mile straight,
the longest straight road in Oz.
taken every 20 minutes approx
In the first 2hrs today we only had 26 vehicles and 2 cyclists(mad) pass us going the other way. Stopped at Balladina Roadhouse for lunch and had a look round museum, it told about the Indiginous peoples and the building of the Eyre Hway and Roadhouse, it also`houses part of the Sky Lab which crashed not far from here in 1979. Had to stop to let Emu's cross the road.
Stopped early today to let Colin could do a small service on LRover, we missed the Newman Rocks Rest Area so carried on to Mt Pleasant instead. Sleeping in LRover again tonight, getting used to it. On road today we had pass us 2 cyclists 2 motorcyclists and 58 other vehicles(not a lot for a days driving). Only ones on site tonight, it is a very big area. Bed early again as Mozzies are out.
27th February Monday
Up early 6.30, Colin did oil change after digging a big hole. Chilly start to the day, sun trying to come out. as we get closer to Norseman the trees are getting taller and some have a lovely red/orange bark. Seen very few vehicles today. Arrived at Norseman, did shopping in IGA and when we came out was approached by a German bloke who has a 1963 LRover at home, he is travelling round Oz for 6 months in a Toyota he bought for the trip, very chatty, then another LRover pulled up driven by an expat from Cheltenham, he had converted a 130 tray back into a county station wagon,
they could sleep in the back but also had OzTent to fit to the side, every thing was stored in a custom made bag on the roof rack, nice job. Finally got to info centre, had to wait for it to open then got leaflet about National Parks. Decided to camp at Dundas Rocks for a couple of nights. Dark just after 6.30pm so went to bed just after 7pm, after setting our new mouse traps(we will win). Getting very windy now.
28th February Tuesday
Mouse got the bait but did'nt get caught. Windy and cloudy this morning. We are camped in part of the Dundas Hills with rock formations scattered throughout,
some dating back 2,892 million years. Colin doing some more mantenance today, fitted socket outside for Solar Panel to plug into then did some repairs to the side awning. Had a walk and some of the rocks are amazing,
it seems in the 1800s they used to collect the run off rain water from the rocks into a small man made dam, where they used to sell it to the gold miners. Saw a lizard on the walk,
it ran away on tiptoes. Decided to stay tomorrow night as well. Put cheese out as bait tonight.
29th February Wednesday
The mouse likes cheese, took everything again, even found a store of crackers under the draw but no sign of where the mouse is or how it gets in, cleaned everthing inside yet again. Colin renewed the netting over the radiator today and checked a few things under the bonnet. Weather changable today with a few spots of rain. A few people came into area to sightsee, one chap wanted to stay but his wife wanted a caravan park so she could have a proper shower. Had a shower but the weather has turned cooler. Reset traps before bed. Sorted photos for blog, just hope we can get uploaded.
1st March Thursday
Cloudy and showery this morning as we break camp. Mouse not touched the bait, where is it? Away by 8.30 later than planned, on Esperance Hway to Esperance. Sun keeps trying to shine through. We are passing a few dried up lakes on this road. The further south we go the greener it gets even with few sheep and cows in the fields. By the time we get to Esperanceit's nicely warm, first did fuel $1.57 per ltr, luckily still had 4cents ltr off voucher, then went to library to upload photos, it took us the hour that we had to pay for $4 but what a relief. had to shop in Woolies as there is not a Coles here, after filling up with water we drove approx 80kms west off Esperance on The South Coast Hway to our camp site for the next few days at Quagi Beach. we eventually found a pitch, decided no room for the fly sheet on tent as trees are too close, then had to level the site to allow the LRover to back into tent. It seems it's Labour Day weekend in W.A. so we were lucky to get somewhere to pitch. After us a motorhome came in and they had to park right next to the toilets. YES we have flushing toilets and cold showers all for $2 each per night. We are in luxury.
2nd March Friday
FRIDAY FACT:- AT 250,000 SQ KMS THE NULLARBOR PLAIN SITS ON THE BIGGEST SINGLE LUMP OF LIMESTONE IN THE WORLD.
Cold night will have to get the big sleeping bag out again. The mouse ate the bait again, speaking to a young German couple last night and they used bacon rind, also mice don't like the smell of Eucaliptus Oil,it worked for them. Had a walk to the beach it is gorgeous and the sea is warm, people are swimming. After lunch we went for a swim it was lovely, did'nt stay in very long as tide is going out and it knocked us about a bit. Lovely relaxed day, might even try fishing tomorrow. Set the traps with bacon rind.
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