Follow Charlie and Jane on their trip around Australia

Tuesday 3 April 2012

Across the Nullabor to Adelaide

One of the buildings at Fraser Range Sheep Station on the Nullabor

A little oasis

The communal campfire

No explanation needed!!

Signs along the Nullabor

They grow weird trees here

Goes for miles, and miles, and miles .......

Storm clouds gathering

Bunda Cliffs on the Nullabor

Head of the Bight whale watching centre - unfortunately not whale season

The coastline is spectacular

Somewhere over the rainbows

Back in SA - Sturt Desert Peas growing on the side of the road

Granite statue at Wudinna

Huge gum trees - so South Australian

Southern Flinders Ranges

Southern Flinders Ranges

Old jetty at Port Pirie

Oh no - not the Toyota!!!!!

Foreshore at Port Pirie

Paxton Square cottages at Burra - so quaint (old miner's cottages)

Duck pond in Paxton Square Burra

Main street Burra - so pretty

The dunny at the end of the garden

A huge cactus with fruit

The fruit of the cactus

Another pretty cottage in Burra

A ruin in a field - again so South Australian

Our sleepy neighbour

He's awake - welcome to Adelaide!!!

Across the Nullabor to Adelaide - that was our next adventure.  One very long straight, boring road particularly as the weather was not that good as we copped the end of the cyclone which hit Port Hedland in WA a few days before we set off but we made the best of it.

Our first stop was at a place called Fraser Range Station which is at the beginning of the Nullabor on the WA side.  People said we must stay there so we did.  Unfortunately it was not the best experience because it was raining heavily and there were no tours of the sheep station running and of course no communal campfire at night so we felt a little cheated but couldn't be helped.  It certainly is a lovely place and would have been great under the right conditions.  Maybe next time.

After the night there, the weather still hadn't improved that much so we just ploughed on along the endless kilometres of road with not a lot to look at although some people obviously with quirky senses of humour decorated some of the few trees dotted alongside the road.  The Nullabor is the largest flattest piece of limestone in the world and there are hundreds of kilometres of just scrubby land with very few trees.  However it is a very heavily used highway and should be renamed "caravan highway".  We came across this escarpment named "modini Bluff" and we free camped there overlooking the sea but it was very windy and exposed but we were nice and snug in the caravan.  Next morning we awoke to the sounds of vehicles and looked out the window and there were council workers and trucks getting ready to close this free camp which was a shame.  We were parked on this concrete slab and they were waiting for us to move before they could dig it up.

From there we travelled on and visited the Head of the Bight whale watching centre.  Absolutely spectacular rugged scenery but not whale watching season.  We saw lots of dingos on the roadside and a huge golden eagle. 

After another free camp just outside of Ceduna we crossed the border and were in SA.  We didn't spend any time on the Eyre Peninsula as it was still cold and rainy and our son had arrived from the UK so we wanted to get to Adelaide to catch up with him.  We will have to go back and do the Eyre Peninsula at a later date. 

Heading down to Port Augusta Charlie noticed that the battery in the car wasn't charging properly so when we called in for diesel he found the problem and replaced the fuses.  However he found that the battery still wasn't charging, so at Mambray Creek we had to call the RAA who thought it could be the alternator so he gave us a jump start and followed us into Port Pirie where we had to wait 2 days to get to an auto electrician,.  Luckily it wasn't the alternator - it was the bush mechanic who had put the fuses back in the wrong place!!!

After sorting this out we didn't have far to go to get to Adelaide so stopped at the lovely little town of Burra for lunch and a look around.  Its a heritage town with copper mining origins.  From there it was straight down to Adelaide to catch up with the family where we will be for a while.

We will be tourists in Adelaide and do a few trips from here in the caravan but for now its Adieu from The Wandering 2s.