Day 8 - Wednesday 19 August

Went to Ceduna Health Centre today and saw a very nice nurse, Elise, who dressed and packed the wound on my neck.  On the way back to the caravan park we decided to fill up at the Caltex service station.  When I tried to fill it just came out in fits and spurts.  Didn't think that was too good so stopped at less than a litre and went to the Shell station across the road.  It was cheaper there too.

The road is very undulating and reasonably straight.  There is a bit of a side wind and it is putting a little pressure on the cars.  I am spending most of my time in 5th gear (I have 6 gears). I thought that I may have been putting a bit of strain on the car but after talking to Bernie he has spent most of his time in 4th gear (he has 5 gears), looks like we just have to make allowances for the wind.

We had our morning tea in a little town called Penong where we planned our trip for the rest of the day. On our last trip across this way we visited a little settlement on the coast called Fowlers Bay so we decided to visit it again to have lunch. It is about 25 km off the main highway and is dirt for about 50% of the way.  The way back to the highway is about 30 km, this time all dirt.  Needless to say the 'van got a bit dirty because there was quite a bit of mud around after rain.

View of Fowlers Bay - South Australia

It was beautiful at Fowlers Bay, just a slight breeze and about 24 degrees.  It has changed a little bit since our last visit 4 years ago, however it is still in the middle of nowhere. Road transport has taken away its reason for being which was shipping for the surrounding areas.

We headed for Head of Bight after lunch.  There are a couple of free camps nearby, one is actually at the gates of the reserve.  We went down to the visitors centre and they told us where the free camps actually were as there was a little confusion on the camps listed in Wiki Camps. 

Camping at Head of Bight

Caravans Side by Side

We were the first to arrive but within about an hour we had about 8 neighbours. We have the caravans parked side by side with the Donchi's awning over the gap between the vans.  Very cosy. Dinner that night was fritters made from the left over pork roast from last night, peas and corn, followed by baked apple and custard.  The apple was cooked in Jan's vacuum cooker.  Simmer whatever you want on the stove for 15 minutes and then put it in an insulated container.  It keeps cooking for the rest of the day.

Whale watching tomorrow.

Day 9 - Thursday 20 August

As mentioned previously we camped at the entrance to Head of Bight ready for the off this morning. Big problem, it rained all night and is still raining.  Low visibility so have decided not to visit the whales this time round.  It would be very uncomfortable and I didn't want to get my camera wet.

We stopped at Nullarbor Roadhouse for a cuppa and fuel.  The roadhouse is a motel, bar, cafe, shop and fuel station all rolled into one.  There is a roadhouse about every 200 km's across the Nullarbor so there is no excuse to run out of fuel.  From here we proceeded to Border Village on the border of South Australia and Western Australia. We fuelled up and had another cuppa.  We decided to have one at the roadhouse because there is a lot of mud around after the rain and we didn't want to traipse mud into the carpet in the Donchi's caravan.

  

Great Australian Bight - Southern Ocean

We had made plans over drinks and nibbles last night regarding the places to stop for the next couple of nights.  Jan has a free camping book and we decided on site number 6 in WA tonight which is about 180 km away from Border Village and then site number 15 tomorrow, Friday night.

The Edge of Australia

These plans came unstuck as we crossed the border.  We had no trouble with quarantine, but as we left the quarantine area we were met by police and transport inspectors who were checking all vehicles and caravans.  They had a good look at us, checked Deb's licence and the registration of the car.  On the Donchi's van they checked the breakaway system which failed.  A defect notice was placed on the van which had to be rectified by the 23rd which was Sunday.  The defect notice was placed on Thursday about 1.00 pm and had to be rectified by Sunday.  The caravan could not be repaired until Norseman which was nearly 700 km away, it then had to be inspected and the closest inspection station was either Coolgardie or Esperance.

We headed for Norseman and went to site 15 for the night which will gain us some time. There is about 332 kilometres to go from our overnight stop to Norseman. Jan has been in touch with an auto electrician in Norseman and will have a look when we get there.

Have got word from Port Augusta about the infection in my neck. It looks like it is Golden Staph.  Have to be careful when the wound is dressed.

Day 10 - Friday 21 August

Our race to Norseman began to at 7.30 am as we left our overnight campsite.  The trip to Norseman has been quite different to the last couple of days, no wind.  The car is purring along in top gear at 1750 RPM.  Climbed most of the hills without changing down.

Got to Norseman at about 11.00 am and went to the auto electrician who suggested we have some lunch and come back in the afternoon.  Nice fish and chips at the local cafe and not a bad price.  While waiting for the food I called Raymond for his birthday.  He was in Dalby for a festival of some kind.  I told him about Bernie's problem so he has checked his van which is OK.

 Corrugated Iron Sculptures of Camels - Noseman

Spent most of the afternoon parked outside the auto electricians waiting for the repairs to take place.  It appears that the battery for the breakaway is not being charged.  There appears to be a problem with the auxiliary connection on the 12 pin plug between the car and caravan.  We are now on our way to Esperance to go to an authorised inspection station.

  

Camel Sculptures - Norseman

Jan went to the police station to see what could be done if it wasn't inspected on time and the Constable there was very surprised because defects normally get 10 days grace, she wondered why Bernie was only given 3, including a weekend.

We are at another free camp tonight about 42 km south of Norseman.  Large area and we had our 'vans pulled up so that the doors were opposite. Fried rice for tea tonight.

It has started to rain again.  Doesn't bother us too much, however there are a group of women who have started to set up tents and is is raining rather heavily.  They are on their way to the Birdsville races and have about 10 days to go.  I would be staying in a motel tomorrow night just to get a few things dry.

Will complete our journey to Esperance tomorrow and see if we can get the caravan inspected there.