Our Australia trip

We thought that last night was hot, well we were wrong. Chased inside by midges (miniscule little cretins that leave nasty bite marks) we were sweating most of the night. That surely contributed to Marjo being up at 6 am and capturing the gorgeous sunrise.

I watched it from my bedroom window 🙂

Then we had breakfast and a slow pack up. It already started to warm up and at 9 am it was 35 Celsius. With my 12m kite gone to the repairer, I felt kinda naked. Normally I don’t mind that feeling but while traveling that is not the best. We spoke about it the night before and did some research to the point that Marjo made me turn off the iPad so we could attempt sleep.

While on the road though I rang the kite teacher from Agnes Water and asked whether a used 9m kite that’s on offer in Whyalla would be a right choice. He confirmed in a non committal way and we arranged to meet the seller. Unfortunately he was about to go diving all day and couldn’t meet till after tea (read dinner). We decided to drive to Whyalla and take benefit of the camping there so we could cool down with a shower. By now the temperature had risen to 39 Celsius.

Because it sounds greedy to only buy stuff for Axel, we went to the shopping mall where Marjo went berserk in a $2 store. All she bought was some Christmas presents and some head coverings for my red burned bald patch. So selfless. I decided to treat her for dinner tonight.

For the rest of the day we had a quiet one in the shade. The camping here is right on the beach and this view is our back yard. With low tide the water is far out but later it came not far from where the bus is.

We had our showers and shave and also hosed down the dogs with nice cool fresh water. The first time that they didn’t mind getting wet from a hose.
Marjo went for a walk and collected only three shells while I waited for the arrival of the kite seller.

The setting sun left a nice view and while Marjo captured that, I inspected the kite after the seller turned up. The kite was in good nick and well priced so we had a deal.

Now I have two kites, one for 12-20 knots, the other for 18-25 knots of wind. He also mentioned that my board is kinda small for my muscly build (well that’s not what he said but you get the picture) which contributes to my submarine kiting style. Without strong wind it is hard for me to get it up….uhm that is the board from the top of the water. So that could be the next change (a trainer in Port Douglas said something similar).
He also suggested catching blue swimmer crabs while they are running in with the tide. Although we love crab, the idea of catching a life snapping crab, finding a pot with boiling water to dunk it into and boiling it alive doesn’t make us smile. So instead we went to the soccer club next to the caravan park and I treated Marjo on a sumptuous dinner (polystyrene box with 20 chips, a nice pasta and garden salad and a chicken schnitzel). We both loved eating it while looking out over the water and seeing the sun set.

A beautiful day!

Posted from Whyalla, South Australia, Australia.

This stop was nice but enough for an overnight stop only. After feeding Marjo, the dogs and Pluto we’re on our way.

The little town of Port Neill tries to get on the map and become more attractive, but somehow I don’t think that frequently grading an already reasonably smooth dirt road to the town is going to cut it.

From here on the scenery gets a bit more hilly and from some we suspect they’re man made.

Then we come to the town of Whayalla which is already visible from 25 km up the road.

And loses its attractiveness the closer we get.

We stop for a look at the town beach but turn around when we see that we’ll never make it over the mountain of seaweed on the beach and then go for shopping for rye bread and post the kite. This takes a couple of tries as it doesn’t seem simple to insure the kite during transit. I have too often heard of things getting lost and don’t want my kite getting regrettably lost. When we finally succeed, we decide to indulge in a 50 cent Hungry Jack’s ice cream and then say farewell to Whyalla.

Our next stop is Fitzgerald Bay where a couple of bush campings are located. First we pass Defence training land and we’re glad we have camouflage colours.

Then we stop on the side of the road on the top of a hill with mobile reception to congratulate Joran and Christine with their engagement! Very happy for the two of them.

And we come to the bay.

At the first campground the access to the water is a little hard.

So we decide to go to the next site and camp there with a nice view. Dotti enjoys it too and lets herself out for a walk.

Then a yummie dinner from Marjo and coffee after.

Then Marjo and Nossi explore a bit further.

And come back to the bus where Dotti sits enjoying the sunset.

A day with love in the air….congratulations Joran and Christine!

Posted from Whyalla, South Australia, Australia.

It’s difficult to say goodbye from a place with such good memories. Here it was I made friends with Randy (when he introduced himself to Marjo, she replied with “sometimes”) who then came over every time with a liter of home brewed beer and kept feeding me more. And also where the kite decided it was time to split.
Well the decision is made for us. There’s no bread and no water anymore, so it’s time to hit the road again.

The first stop is Port Neill for fresh water and dumping the toilet. Most towns here can be found by looking for a big grain silo.

Also we need some bread and see if we can send the kite for repair. The first shop is a derelict petrol station that seems boarded up.

Luckily there’s an alternative. The only shop open in Port Neill with hardware, fuel, pharmacy, groceries and post office. The bread is limited to white only and they have no clue how to send and register / insure the kite to send to Tweed Heads in NSW. So we get some necessities, leave the kite till we get to Whyalla and continue onto a nearby camp site.

We come past Arno Bay (Arno is a good Dutch friend in Sydney) and we’re now going to be on the lookout for Marjo Bay and Axel Cove.

And we continue the road, now more inland with less wheat fields. A snapshot of our state-of-the-art cockpit with electronics and communication in suitable stands, our happy bird and a lucky travel hangy thingy that I mistook for a voodoo figure.

We arrive at the Port Gibbon camping where you can camp for whatever you think it’s worth. Apparently many people like this idea as it is quite busy and almost mimics a commercial camping with caravans in a neatly ordered row. Not everyone fits though.

We park somewhere on the side (we don’t like orderly rows) and make a beeline for the beach. Very different this time.

And we all want to pose with such a stunning background.

We all take a short cut but Marjo seems hesitant.

There are also interesting things in the water.

Before we head back Marjo convinces Dotti to take a bath and Nossi contemplates rock climbing.

Later that afternoon Marjo and Nossi check out the other side of the beach and find a jelly, tiny and prickly.

Posted from Whyalla, South Australia, Australia.

From Louth Bay we want to try the next bush camping along this coast which seems to be Lipson Cove. First we have an opportunity to stock up on water at Tumby Bay, a nice but sleepy town where we take the dogs for a stroll along the town beach.

Then we drive another 20km before turning off a dirt road towards the coast. The first glimpse of Lipson Cove is promising.

And it only gets better. We’re not alone but to say it’s quiet is an understatement.

We find our spot and settle in.

Then our hectic life starts, breakfast, walking, coffee, watching dolphins, kiting, lunch, read a book, art, kiting, walking, and it’s time already for a wine / beer and a snack. Then it’s time for dinner, a coffee and either talking, reading or a movie. Added to this busy schedule we have some social visits of other campers, general bus maintenance. In short…..we love this life of leisure!

To give you a little taste of our nice stay here:

Our walks

The wildlife:

(A little birdie collecting Dotti fur for her nest).

Some passing dolphins.

Some art:

(Marjo artistically trying to hide her hurt toe from the camera).

Some kiting:

And an unfortunate ending…..a sudden gust made the kite flip up and do some pirouette. After landing it showed a tear in the canopy…..off to the repairer.

Might as well repair some smaller tear in a strut as well.

Some flowers:

Another beautiful stay.

Posted from Lipson, South Australia, Australia.

It was nice to freshen up again and feel solid grass under your feet instead of the dirt of most free camp sites. While Marjo and Nossi drop off the key for the ablution block, Dotti and I drive the limousine (bus) to pick them up.

Then we drive to see where we could have kited if there was wind and high tide, Dotti and Nossi made a new friend, we pick up some new fresh oysters, post the mail and move on.

Next stop is Port Lincoln to stock up a little, buy some Dotti medicine and get tyre levers to do our own tyre fixing in future.
We saw on the map that I have a first-name-brother who got himself a museum. Unfortunately it was closed today.

After that we continue to Louth Bay where we have seen a campground near the beach. The camp ground nor the beach are great but the people are nice and we decide to stay for the night.

There is not enough wind to go kiting so Marjo and Nossi go for a walk and find some jelly fish and nice clouds.

Then it’s dinner time (yummie rice cooked by Marjo) and for Dotti a nice after-dinner snack.

After so many carrots, no wonder she’s hopping like a rabbit.

Another great day.

Posted from Louth Bay, South Australia, Australia.

Sheringa Beach didn’t feel right; the ocean was too strong to swim, the camping didn’t feel safe with locals coming and going and we didn’t want to leave the bus alone while being on the beach. I think Marjo and the dogs have enough of traveling so we are looking for a spot where we all can be happy and stay a while. This is not it.

First we look at other roads around Sheringa Beach and take some nice shots on and from the cliffs.

The weather is not great when we take the road back to the pub.

We stop at the pub for a dozen of $6 fresh oysters for Marjo and then head onto Coles Point.

Then the road leads us past filled and empty lakes and big and small trees.

Marjo gets inspired by the shapes of the big gums.

And I by hers.

While Nossi watches it all enfold.

Then a turn off on another dirt road towards Coles Point. The road is overall not too bad allowing us to do 60 kph with some corrugated parts where we are shaken to bits and slow down to 14 kph.

We come past farmers who seem to be more productive then we are.

And keep following the road to nice views but no camp ground.

We stop for some lunch and walk to the beach with wild waves.

After checking out Greenly beach, which works out inaccessible for the bus, we decide to head to Coffin Bay.

In Coffin Bay we do the proper thing and go full out, meaning showers, laundry, cleaning the bus, finished by beer & wine, Marjo’s oysters and on the bike for some takeaway.

That evening Nossi got all exited by our late visitors and then we went to bed.

A beautiful day.

Posted from Coffin Bay, South Australia, Australia.

As promised we went first to the beach in Sceale Bay. The water was really fresh and Marjo only marginally succeeded in luring the dogs in with her.

But then they decided that it was too cold before midday and let her go by herself.

For us the dip was nicely refreshing, certainly now the sun was already quite hot. Today is forecasted to be 31 degrees.
Then we drove back to the main road and further south towards Sheringa Beach.

We stop at Murphy’s Haystack for lunch and some pictures.

Then the road takes us past some nice spots where we stop for some pictures.

And we even have the opportunity to give Nossi some Grid therapy.

We come to the pub near the Sheringa turnoff where we need to get a camping permit.

Then we decide that we want to go nowhere else but Sheringa Beach.

When we arrive after 9 km of excellent smooth dirt road we again find that the campsite is deserted.

And stay for a night. I am tired after driving and can’t even make it up the beach.

Before we turn in though we get rewarded by a nice sunset.

And an equally stunning moon rise.

A beautiful day.

Posted from Sheringa, South Australia, Australia.

Marjo had a sleepless night and we are wondering if it was the caffeine in the late coffee she had or the sheep that loudly bleating roamed the camping in the middle of the night.

It was our last stay on the Nullarbor and looking back we do not have the best memories. Crossing the Nullarbor for a lot of people seems a special event and you can buy a $20 certificate saying you crossed it. There are also all kinds of memorabilia such as stubby holders, fridge magnets, caps, etc. etc. to remember the fact.
When we started the crossing we expected
– red dunes – there was only brush
– hot weather – it was cold and wet
– wild camels, emus and other wildlife – we only saw dead kangaroos and these camels

– availability of food and fuel – there is not much out there and fuel was at a premium of $1.90+ (compared to $1.50 in Ceduna and Norseman).
Ok, enough complained, it’s the only bitumen way from south WA to SA and overall was a nice part of the trip.

Soon after leaving Nundroo we see a change in scenery.

And when we come close to Ceduna we see another difference between WA and SA. For roadwork in WA you are slowed down to 40 kph, in SA this is 25 kph and they are serious about their roadwork.

Then we come to Ceduna, have a look at the ocean.

And do the stock up of food and exchange of fluids (we get water, they get our toilet cassette contents). Getting water was not easy and we ended up going for confession for some holy water (the only tap we could find was at a church just outside of Ceduna).

We pass nice water views and wheat fields.

Then we see the dunes of Streaky Bay and go on to Sceale Bay Caravan park.

The road to Sceale is dirt and horribly corrugated and over most of the 16 km (we expected it to be 9km) we could not drive faster than 14 kph without getting rattled to bits. The caravan park is empty and somewhat strangely located. To get to the beach you either have to walk 2 km or take the car. Considering it was past 5 pm when we got to Scealy Bay, we decided to set up camp for the night and go to the beach the day after.

Just to show that also the people in the small village of Scealy Bay still believe in Santa.

We slept like babies that night.

Posted from Sheringa, South Australia, Australia.

That morning we left well rested, healthy like two rabbits (after all those carrots) and eager to conquer South Australia. The border is near Eucla and we were quite surprised to see that the quarantine inspection here is only for travelers from SA to WA. The inspection for WA to SA travelers is 500 km down the road near Ceduna. Bummer.

We stopped at Eucla for petrol and to admire the view from the pass.

(we were a bit stumped by this display. How do you mean Sunny Eucla? It was overcast and cold. Do they know what an Emu looks like in Eucla? I could swear that this is a whale……)

The coastline is not very accessible here and has high cliffs and 4 wheel drive access roads only. Also the weather is, instead of 40 degrees every day, in the low 20’s with a strong south east wind. That means that our fuel consumption on this 1,200 km trip has increased from 7.5 km on a liter to 6.5 km. Ah well.

We stop near a lookout point and although not very well visible on the picture, the beach and ocean are about 100 meters lower from where we sit.

Then we’re on the road again, this time in South Australia though.

And I can hear you ask: “Marjo and Axel, what is different in South Australia”. Well. There you got us. We hadn’t thought of that question. But now you ask:
– no road kill. Where the number of foo’s on the road since Norseman has been substantial, since Eucla we have only seen live animals
– more playful sign writers. This is a WA sign

and this one from SA

– two hours and 30 minutes (they like to confuse travelers though as already 250 km from the border we had to change our clocks for 45 minutes and then again at Eucla 1 hour and 45 minutes) so that we now are 30 minutes after NSW and 2.5 hours before WA
– no empty bottles along the side of the road. In WA they have a refund of 10 cents per bottle and can so people are more hesitant to throw their bottles and cans out of the window
– more people wave when we drive past. In WA you only see that in remote areas, in SA this is consistent for towns and roads
– they are less generous with 1080 poison 🙂

We made another stop to admire the cliffs.

And Nossi found this setting the right background for his photo profile.

Meanwhile Dotti and Marjo were guarding the bus.

Then we were back on the road again. This stretch of road is what gives the Nullarbor it’s name.

The large limestone shelf doesn’t allow deep roots which means: No trees. Null Arbor.

When it gets later we start looking for a place to stay for the night. We pass several rest areas but they are invariably dirty and desolate. Not nice to stand there by yourself. So we continue on till we reach the campground of Nundroo where everyone else seems to stay overnight.

Considering we have finished all the vegetables, we order take out and over dinner watch the galas make noise in a nearby tree and fly off in the sunset.

A beautiful day.

Posted from Sheringa, South Australia, Australia.

Sunday morning at 8 am we were packed and ready. Overnight it had rained and was cold (so much for 40 degrees in the Nullarbor). I got the flat spare and rolled it to the mechanic. He was already briefed and told me that they couldn’t do split rims, so sorry and goodbye. I asked him if I could do it myself, considering they had the required tube and I was not going to leave with a flat spare. He told me that it was too dangerous as the rim splits in two and when reassembling both halves, the pressure of the tube was known to kill people. They were not supposed to help or instruct. I talked a bit more and ended up taking the rim apart, fitted a new tube and with some care assemble the thing again. By 10.30 we were on the road with a good spare tyre and an extra spare tube for re-occurrence.

The road is monotone with similar vegetation so one looks for other distractions and we find it in the many big eagles that feast on the abundance of road kill.

Some of the bicycle riders that have to go close to 1,200 km between towns. Crazy.

Luckily they have the homesteads and roadhouses that are located between 100 and 200 km apart.

And the oversize trucks.

We were not far from the border with South Australia and we know that again we need to have consumed or binned all our fruit and vegetables so we select a camp ground before Eucla and decide on Hearder Hill. It is somewhat strange that hardly any of the many rest stops along the Nullarbor have anyone staying. We had a nice and healthy stay with loads of fruit and vegetables.

Posted from Sheringa, South Australia, Australia.