Day 23: 26/9/2014   Norseman, WA   to Eucla, WA (Crossing the Nullarbor)    Distance travelled:  750km

This was going to be another long day at the wheel.  The drive itself was not hard, but was taxing in that you had to really concentrate as the roads were straight and boring. Pat and I got to a stage that when a bend appeared we cheered. There was a section that was sign posted as the longest straight road in Australia of around 146.6km. We had frequent stops and managed to arrive in Eucla, WA after 9:30hrs on the road.

One of the interesting things we saw of the road was the number of designated RFDS landing strips on the highway itself. During the tour of RFDS they explained what the process for this was.

In Eucla, WA which in itself is a glorified roadhouse with accommodation we freshened up and then went exploring. We drove about 4km along a dirt track to see a Telegraph Station which was in operations between 1877 and 1927. From there we had to walk about 3km (round trip) to see the sand dunes and beach. 

The walk itself was not long, but what made it difficult was the soft sand and the hundreds of flies wanting to get into your mouth, nose, eyes, etc.. We got back to our Motel and I hit the showers to cool down. Oh yeah, the temp was around 34C.

We got something to eat at the restaurant/pub here and took it to our room. I was getting ready to watch the Rugby League (Rabbits vs Roosters), only to find out that they can’t pick up GEM here. Oh well, just have to listen online.

Tomorrow we are off to Ceduna, SA. There will be another time zone change.

 Typical road sign. We did see an Emu with her 8 chicks walking near the road. Other than that nothing.

 Long straight road.

 We stopped for lunch here. Cockklebiddy is a roadhouse/town?

 We are getting closer to Sydney, only 2522km to go. A little more for us as we are making another detour to Adelaide.

 The start of the sand dunes near Eucla Telegraph Station

 This is whats left of the Telegraph Station

The beaches. Very fine white sand. brilliant blue water.

Day 22: 25/9/2014  Perth, WA to Norseman, WA       Distance traveled:  830km

Today we got a reasonably early start, leaving Perth at 7:30 AM. Pat was sorry to leave the City Stay Hotel, as she claims it had the most comfortable bed on the whole trip.  Luckily, as we were heading out of the city, we were going against peak hour traffic and it didn't take too long to get out of Perth.  We made good progress until we got past a small town called Southern Cross, then I got a friendly reminder from the WA Police to stick to the speed limit. Luckily, the nice officer did just give me a warning.

We were planning to make it to Kalgoorlie by 2PM, so that we could do a tour of the Royal Flying Doctors Service station there, but we ran into a lot of road work along the way, and weren't sure that we would make it in time. Stopping in Kalgoorlie meant about a 100 km detour off the shortest route, and we almost passed it up, but made a last minute choice to go anyway. Luckily, we did make it just in time for the tour, and it was well worth the time! I would highly recommend taking the tour at any of their stations - it was really interesting and inspiring.

After the tour, it was a quick lunch, then back on the road again for the last 185 km run to Norseman. Like Kalgoorlie, Norseman was settled and grew due to the gold rush era. This is where gold was first discovered in the region. The story goes that in 1894 a prospector, Lawrence Sinclair, was looking for gold... when  his horse wandered off. When he managed to find him he noticed that the horse had scraped up some rocks that looked distinctive. Yep, it was gold! The horse's name - Hardy Norseman. Today, Norseman has a population of approximately 860, but at one time was the biggest gold mining centre in Western Australia. Tomorrow is the start of the Gold Fever Festival, but sadly we need to get on the road early to start across the Nullarbor.

Next stop border town Eucla, WA 

 RFDS in Kalgoorlie, WA  They cover nearly as large as the UK. There are a total of 17 RFDS centres around Australia. RFDS is the 4th largest airline in Australia and the largest Medical services provider in the world.

 Inside the RFDS  PC-12 Pilatus. Very versatile plane, that can land on a 500 meter strip on very rough ground.

Cockpit of a PC-12 Pilatus. RFDS only use 1 pilot per plane.

The only Camels I saw in Norseman.

Day 21: 24/9/2014  Perth, WA    Rest and sightseeing day

We had a bright and early start to the day. We took the car in for service at RAC service centre (like NRMA in NSW). I told them what special oils I wanted for the car, to change the oil filter and clean the air filter, plus other normal checks like, brakes and tyres. I asked for special attention to the tyres as I knew that the rear tyres may need replacing. I also asked that they reset the “Service Due” light. This I told them can only be done with a computer and not by just pushing a few buttons. "No problems," they said,"we have the computer." I gave them my number and asked them to call me ASAP if any additional thing was required because we were leaving the next day. I got the "all OK, no problems."

We then went to Murray st. Mall for breakfast and Pat for some retail therapy. After a few hours we went back to the hotel, well at least I did, and Pat went to another mall, just across the street from our hotel. Pat does not buy much, but does like to window shop.

Around noon, the RAC service centre called and said the car was ready. The guy (Peter) said that everything was done, but the rear tyres needed to be changed now. I said why didn't you call me so I could arrange it? Sorry was his statement. I got in the car and saw the “Service Due” light go on. I asked Peter to reset it. Sorry we forgot. My confidence in RAC was now at an all-time low.

I managed to locate a Bob Jane T Mart and asked if they could help me? After some research he said yes but they would need to locate were they could find these special tyres and replace them sometime tomorrow. I said, we would be leaving Perth early in the morning. He was very nice and traced a place to get the tyres and then sent someone to get them. They did a great job and the car was ready by 4pm. I might add at a very high premium. Each tyre cost over $750. At least now we have a fully serviced car with good tyres.

I needed to get the day into a positive mode again. Pat and I went to Kings Park to watch sunset over Perth. Very nice. For dinner we went to Burswood Crown Casino (no gambling). We had a good time. The day did end in a positive note.

Tomorrow we are off to Norseman, WA

 Veterans Memorial at Kings Park

 Pat and Perth skyline

Burswood Crown Casino is in this complex.  Nice Casino, probably best in Australia.

Day 20: 23/9/2014  Geraldton, WA to Perth, WA       Distance traveled:  463km

Today’s was one of our shorter drives. We left the lovely beach-side area around Geraldton and quickly found ourselves in really picturesque farmland.   It was a very pleasant drive; through it was quite a shock coming back into city traffic as we got closer to Perth.  We haven’t really had that since we left Sydney. 

We got to Perth early this afternoon – we are staying at the ‘City Stay Apartment Hotel’ which is conveniently located and has everything we need.  After setting into our unit, we went to nearby Northbridge, both to confirm where/when we need to take the car tomorrow morning for its service, and also to grab some lunch.  We have both been to Perth a number of times before, but are hoping to see a few favourite sites again while we are here.    

Day 19: 22/9/2014  Carnarvon, WA to Geraldton, WA       Distance travelled:  485km

It was a pleasant drive down to Geraldton, unlike yesterday’s drive to Carnarvon.

I must say Pat and I were very impressed with Geraldton. It reminds me of Port Macquarie in NSW, but nicer.  We stayed in a nice hotel called Abrolhos Reef Motel. We did a tour of the town and had a late lunch at the Freemason Tavern, also nice.

Geraldton is the capital of Western Australia's Mid West region and the gateway to the amazing Abrolhos Islands. Only 424km north of Perth. It has a population of around 36,000. Geraldton is the hub of the Mid West region, with a world leading rock lobster fishery, farming and agriculture and the production of iron ore, making it a truly thriving and sustainable regional city.

World renowned for an extensive host of water sports, Geraldton lends itself to some of the most spectacular kitesurfing, windsurfing, fishing and diving conditions. The surfing here is also a big attraction.

We looked at real estate and joked about getting a holiday home here. Yeah just a short drive from Sydney, only 4,300km.

I had been saying for the last 19 days that I was going to enjoy a nice Cigar and a drink at the next place that I felt relaxed and refreshed. Yep, Geraldton got the nod on that. I really enjoyed my cigar.

I must say that the morning did not shape up to meet those conditions. The temperature dropped to 15C and overcast. But, as the day progressed it got warmer and cleared up.

We went to see the HMAS Sydney memorial. The memorial overlooks Geraldton. HMAS Sydney was involved in a mutually destructive engagement with the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran, and was lost with all 645 aboard. The wrecks of both ships were lost until 2008

Tomorrow we are off to Perth, WA. We are staying there 2 days. I also have booked my car in for service at a RAC service centre. They are like NRMA in NSW or AAA in the USA.

 A scene from one of the lookout on route to Geraldton. Absolutely flat.

One of the beaches in Geraldton

one of the views in Geraldton. Some really nice houses.

At the HMAS Sydney memorial

 Looking out to see during the battle

Memorial of HMAS Sydney

Day 18: 21/9/2014   Karratha, WA to Carnarvon, WA       Distance traveled:  650km

We left Karratha around 7:30am. Weather perfect, around 29C, not a cloud in the sky.   The drive south to Carnarvon was pleasant, with little traffic. All that changed around 100km before Carnarvon. We hit a large dust storm, reducing visibility to about  100 meters and heavy winds. This went on for around 60km. Then it turned into rain. Well at least it washed the car of all the red dust.

The temperature went down to 20C and windy. We heard on the news that Perth and the surrounding areas were expecting heavy rain with winds in excess of 100km. Also, the temperatures to mid-teens. I looked at Pat and said let’s turn round and go North again. Pat was ready to agree.

We did have a look round Carnarvon and were pleasantly surprised at the size of the town, it has a population of about 10,000. As we came close, we left the mining region of the Pilbara and moved into the Gascoyne region.  Here, the western dessert comes close to ocean and the fertile delta along the Gascoyne River means this area is ideal for growing a variety of fruits and vegetables we saw a number of plantations as we came into town.

No photos for today.  The most memorable sight was the dust storm, but we were too busy focussing on seeing the road to think about taking pictures of it.

Tomorrow it’s off to Geraldton, WA

Day 17: 20/9/2014   Broome, WA to Karratha WA   Distance traveled:  855km

Today we were back on the road, with an 8 hour drive from Broome, down to the Pilbara, staying in Karratha.  Originally we were going to stop at Port Hedland, but along our travels, we had been told that  Point Samson was definitely worth a stop.  So, we decided to go a bit further, and Karratha is the nearest big town.  We did detour to see Point Samson; It is a holiday spot for people in other parts of the Pilbara, and has nice beaches and we understand there is great snorkeling.  But, after 7 hours in the car, we weren’t really in the mood to hit the water. 

It was an interesting landscape as we drove down…. Once we got near Port Hedland, there were some rolling hills, but for most of the trip, it was just flat as far as you could see.   We were also at low altitude, ranging from just 10 to 20m above sea level the whole way.  Also the number of Road Trains between Port Head and Karratha was the most we have seen all trip. Most were 4 trailers.

We are staying at the Cattrall Park Motel – which looked a bit disappointing as we pulled in – just rooms behind the bottle shop and restaurant, but the room is actually nice enough, and most importantly, we will be able to watch Manly in the NRL finals on TV tonight. 

We went to the restaurant right near were we are staying (the Bali Garden) and had dinner. The place looked nice inside, was full, and the food was pretty good.  

Before that we did watch the Manly Sea Eagles game. It was painful for the first 30 mins. Then they started playing. By the end it was tied at 17 – 17 and went into extra time. Canterbury Bulldogs won with a field goal, and so the end of the season for the Eagles. Tomorrow we head off to Carnarvon, WA

Someone had a lot of time on thier hands. Two converted shopping trollies made into deck chairs.