Day 91 - 95 14th July - 18th May 2012

Day 91  Monday 14^th  May 2012

Woke up and it was COLD. Too cold to get out of bed early and start getting ready for our next campsite. As time was passing by, Vania suggested that we stop and “smell the roses”. Didn’t have the heart to tell her there were no roses around here. Whenever Vania and I are potentially in a hurry to do something we often ask ourselves “do you have an appointment”? So with that in mind we decided to “veg” out today and go “fishin”. Went to our friendly Information lady (Nancy, know her by first name now) and asked where we could get some bait and some fishing tackle stuff (technical term) as Vania found a small fishing rod in the bushes on the beach but the reel was “cactus” (another technical term).

Bought our bait (cockles), new reel and off we went to Ceduna jetty.  Here we are with arm chairs, bucket, tackle box, camera and 3 rods. Just like the Pros.  Vania was nice enough to rig up our 2 rods whilst I rigged up the little rod and had a go at catching squid.  It wasn’t too long before I had a bight. Unfortunately it wasn’t a squid; instead it was a sea bird bit bigger than a gull and much darker in colour. Had no option but to cut the line and loose my fabulous lure. Not really a problem as Vania found it in the first place. What the Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away.

It took Vania only about 7 minutes before she caught a baby King George Whiting.  Legal size is 31cm and this baby was only a quarter of the size.  Back she went. Soon afterwards Vania caught a much more respectable size whiting. This one went in the “bag”.  Pressure was on. I didn’t have a single nibble. Changed to the little rod, changed sides on the jetty, put on a large bait and BINGO caught a beautiful whiting and almost had a bonus as well as a rather large squid was trying to catch the whiting as well. Well Vania broke down and burst out laughing. She saw the funny side of what was happening. Unfortunately the “grumpy” old men on the jetty could not see the funny side and looked up in disgust.

So after 3.5 hours “fishin” and 2 lovely sized King George Whiting it was time to go to the pub again, publish some blogs and have a well-earned drink.

Back to camp and yours truly filleted the fish and Vania cooked up a real feast. Fresh fillet fish was magnificent. So, on a day we had planned to go to our next campsite, we smelt the roses and went “fishin” instead. This is what life is all about.

Till next time, take care all.

Getting ready for a HUGE catch.

And here it is. Yes we threw it back to it's parents.

Oyster beds just out side Ceduna (Denial Bay)

Tractors used in the Oyster beds

Day 92 Tuesday 15^th May 2012

Well, it was very cold this morning but we had to leave our “million dollar” views and go west. Back to Ceduna, clean our canister, top up with water and top up with diesel.  We were ready for the next leg of our journey. Next stop Penong to play the 3^rd hole of Nullarbor Links (Windmills) and buy more fuel. Penong out of the way onwards to the 4^th hole (Wombats hole) at Nundroo another 75k’s down the road and more fuel. Buying fuel in these places is a LOT cheaper than at the Nullarbor roadhouse. We were warned.  3^rd hole played today (5^th on the Nullarbor Links) was at the Nullarbor roadhouse called Dingo’s Den. We actually saw the dingo as well.

Along the way we went into the “head of the Australian Bight” where whales can be seen during May and October. Well wouldn’t you believe it today of all days was the first sighting of a Southern Right Whale.  Far away in the distance; but at least we saw one. Hopefully will catch a few more as we cross the Nullarbor and stop at the lookouts along the way.

Getting later than Oscar likes to travel we headed to a rest area 164k’s from the WA border. We arrived here not at 5.03PM or 5.05PM but according to Vania 5.04PM. How’s that for detail? We found a spot and left the van hitched to the car ready for a quick getaway in the morning to cross over the Mexican (oops WA border). We will probably play another 3-4 holes of golf tomorrow as well.

PS come on guys, please text Vania and ask her to take back the blog writing. I’m stressed out over this task!

Sunrise at Nadia Landing (near Ceduna)

First hole for the Nullabor Links (NL's).

Hmm, was it 9 or 10 to get this far?

Tiger Woods, eat your heart out.

2nd hole of NL's.

Love the fairways. So do wombats, kangaroos, emu's, snakes, spiders, etc.... Just kidding.

Houdini is still enjoying his journey. Here he is at the "Head of the Bight" on the Nullabor.

Vania, I told you we were on the wrong road! Nobody else is on this road.

Hey smiley the whales are the other way!

Magnificent coast line on the edge of the Nullabor.

3rd hole of the NL's

Not sure why I posted this!

Lies, lies and more bloody lies. The only thing we saw was "road kill".

Hmm, I think this is a sunset. Vania will kill me if I get this wrong.

Definetly sunset on the busy Eyre Highway.

Our FREE hideaway campsite. Lots of these campsites all along the Nullabor.

Arty farty sunset from our campsite.

Self explainatory

Take note of the tee you golfers. Yep, it's the top off a plastic bottle. Use this on every hit. Almost use it when putting as well!

There she blows Captain. It is Moby Dick. This is the very, very FIRST whale sighting at the head of the bight and guess who spotted it. Yep, hawk eyes Vania.

Day 93 Wednesday 16^th May 2012

Up and at it again fairly early this morning.  No real destination apart from stopping between 4.00-5.00PM.  Along the way we went into several lookouts to the Southern Ocean. At one of the look outs Vania managed to spot some whales. Trust Vania with her hawk eyes. Too far for my camera even with telephoto lens.

We arrived at Border Town, where there is a very large border quarantine checkpoint. Fresh fruit, vegetables and honey had to be confiscated.  Fortunately we had been warned earlier and thus did not have too much to confiscate. The funny thing about this is that travelling from east to west the checkpoint is right on the border between SA and WA. However, going from west to east there is a much smaller checkpoint in Ceduna SA. This checkpoint is about 400-500 kilometres from the WA border. It is almost like a “token” gesture by the SA’s to get even with WA.

Another hectic day on the Nullarbor links course; Border village (Border Kangaroo), Eucla (Nullarbor Nymph) and Mundrabilla (Watering hole).  Our score cards are not looking terribly flash. Maybe the back nine will be better score wise.  The beauty about this is simply getting out there and having fun and exercise. Boy are we getting plenty of exercise, nine hits, ten, eleven, etc…. Get the idea!  We also meet the same people along the way that play as well. There is a chap from Wheelers Hill, Vic. who we keep running into; he plays golf while his wife / partner sits in the car stitching a quilt.

When we arrived in Mundrabilla, after playing golf, we paid to have a shower at the roadhouse. Although we have shower and toilet facilities in the caravan it is always nice to have more space and indulge ourselves in a “little bit more water”. Plus, we managed to get a shower for both of us at half price (i.e. $4.00). Don’t ask any questions and you be told no lies!

Onwards to our next free camp spot.  Another rest area, this one with toilet facility, about 90K’s west of Mundrabilla. Set up camp about 4.30PM (SA time) 3.00PM (WA time). Had few drinks and mixed with the other campers.

This is such a hard life but I suppose somebody has to do it. Cheers for now.

PS Vania had a short stint of pulling the caravan today. She was extremely nervous but did a fantastic job for her very first effort.

Ho hum, yawn, another beautiful sunrise.

Are you still awake. More to come.

The natural light is amazing!

Oops, forgot to say we had 6 raindrops over night.

Vania, we are still on the bloody wrong road!

Well maybe more than just 6 raindrops in the distance.

4th hole of NL's. They all have names.

Crossing from USA to Mexico. Not really SA to WA.WA is very, very strict on what is allowed in.

Houdini's first visit to WA

Can you see the razor wire seperating the 2 states? Just joshing!

I've been everywhere man! Still long way to go.

Rear of the Caiguna roadhouse. Hmm, somebody has good taste.

5th hole of NL's. Unfortunately I didn'r see the Nymph!

6th hole of the NL's. The Waico fridge always comes in handy.

Vania, just hit the ball somewher over that hill!

Slow back swing and then whosh forward. Yep does it all the time. At least 20 metres at a time.

This "generator" has been fantastic. Unfortunately it is getting heavier and heavier.

Arty farty close up.

Very civilised out here!

These cliffs can be between 40 to 90 metres in height. Great coastline

Day 94 Thursday 17^th May 2012 

We left a free campsite around 8.00AM. Still adjusting to the time difference between SA and WA time. Poor Vania hasn’t been able to adjust her time on her phone as she hasn’t had any reception from friendly Optus.

First stop Madura. Another roadhouse but more importantly another hole for the Nullarbor Links course. Went to the lookout at Madura Pass and was disappointed at the lack of signage once we turned off the highway. Dirt road could have gone on forever. We did a loop, stopped at what we thought was the lookout and back onto the bitumen Eyre highway.

Next stop Cocklebiddy. Yep, another hole of golf. I’m sure that both Vania and I look forward to getting our card stamped. The scores are terrible. Ho hum, all fun.

Caiguna was our next stop. Yes golf again. This time we treated ourselves to some ice creams as well.  Pretty hard work going long distances between teeing off for the next hole. By the way Vania drove all the way from Caiguna to Balladonia which is the longest straight road in Australia. It is 146.6 K’s long. I simply relaxed reading about future attractions. At one stage Vania scared the “sh*t” out of me, I had my head down reading and she spotted a magnificent eagle on the side of the road. Must admit the eagle was superb. We were both surprised to see it on the Nullarbor as we thought they lived in more mountainous areas.

Last golf hole for today was at Balladonia. We were going to pay and have a shower at the roadhouse before finding our next campsite. The rotten little sod, refused us showers saying that he was saving his water for his guests at the motel. Honestly, this little stocky gut was very rude and you could tell he was not really enjoying what he was doing. 

Arrived at a 24hour rest area about 24k’s west of Balladonia. Pulled in about 4ish. The rest area was starting to fill up quick with “grey nomads”. The other golfer that we keep bumping into from Wheelers Hill also pulled in here for the night.

We had our usual compulsory drinks. Vania prepared tea and with great pleasure had a hot shower in our little caravan. I’m sure she would have loved to have told that little rotten sod in Balladonia what he could have done with his shower.

Tomorrow we should have finished our Nullarbor experience at Norseman. Keep you posted. Cheers from Vania and Oscar.

7th hole of NL's

How's the loft? Not bad with a putter!

Obvious some view from somewhere. I know this is the "lookout" we nearly got lost at.

8th hole of NL's

We actually manually placed our balls on the green. Just joshing!

This is probably very true. However, they forgot to count the "road kill"

When we were there they didn't have any paddles

9th hole of NL's. Thank God for that. It's a long way between these holes.

Deon, this is for you from Auntie Vania.

Yes folks Vania drove the whole distance. Pity she forgot to hitch up the caravan. Just joshing!

One of many "blow holes" on the Nullabor. These act like ventililation spots for the underground cave system.

10th hole of NL's.

Day 95 Friday 18^th May

Up early with the other “Grey Nomads” on our way up the Eyre highway to our next Nullarbor Links hole. Fraser Range was the next stop. This is a privately run sheep station and they have a fantastic caravan park as well. Vania and I took full advantage of the facilities and indulged in showers. $1 for 5 minutes. Hot, strong pressure exactly what the doctor ordered. For those thinking of going on the road round Oz, put this place on your spots to visit. Really.

Next stop Norseman.  Another round of golf. If it was the “highest” score then Vania and I would be PROS. Norseman is officially the end of the Nullarbor. Since we have three more holes to play we are committed to heading towards Kalgoorlie.  Had coffee and lunch at Norseman and took in some of the sights. Norseman got its name from a horse that was going lame and when the owner checked the hoof he found some gold bearing quartz. . Norseman still has a very large gold producing mine. Filled up WDU564, as well as gas for the caravan and then onwards to Kambalda.

As I said earlier we keep meeting this chap from Wheelers Hill, Vic; who is doing the same trip as us and also plays golf. Well we finally introduced each ourselves to each other. His name is “Mal”. We chatted and spoke about where we may camp for the night. Low and behold he pulled into the same “free” campsite that we had just pulled into. We both set up camp and then it was more serious stuff of having drinks with our new travelling friends (Mal & Lois).

We finally managed to get communication. Haven’t had it for 3-4 days. Vania had a text from her sister in law in Perth. Vania hasn’t seen her brother Lester for about seven years. Annie, Vania’s sister in law, informed Vania that Lester was home for 10 days and then possibly away again for up to 6 months. We need to rethink our planned route. Possibly head into Perth so that Vania can catch up with her brother. Must admit it will be great to get some R&R as well and do the odd jobs on the caravan and have the car serviced as well.

So once again, to all our followers in “blog” land take care. Till next time Vania & Oscar

11th hole of NL's

Vania thought it wpould be easier to hit a "paddy melon" instead of a golf ball!

This actually dropped. Hmm, 9 on a par 3. Doing great!

Inside the shearers mess at Fraser Range. Great spot, seriously.

Bouganvilla flowers. Every colour in the rainbow. Beautiful.

Cup of coffee any one? Need to cool yourself off? The power point in the tree is somebodies great sense of humour. Terrific, I like it!

Spotted these fantastic "oi;y" trees coming into Norseman. Fantastic during sunrise / sunset.

12th hole on gthe NL's

13th hole on NL's. Vania's favourite number. I think from memory she got a great score of 13.

OK, these are the camels we were warned about on the signs! Looked pretty harmless to me!

And this is "Norseman" with the gold bearing quartz in his hoof. TRUE.

Mine dumpings at Norseman. Still very much an active mine.

Hole 14 (I think) of NL's

Smile for the birdie!

No this is not a flag or rubbish blowing in the wind. This believe it or not is an Eagle.