Ceduna to Perth (Across the Nallarbor Plain)

Sunday 25th:  Set off west along the Eyre Highway towards the Nullarbor Plain.  We were surprised at how green the countryside was.

Peter’s Humpy

Stopped for a while at Poochera, a small place just off the highway.  We didn’t expect to see very much but it has a historical museum displaying historical artefacts from the area.  But perhaps the most interesting thing was Peter’s Humpy!

Humpy info

Although Nullarbor is the official starting point for the Nullarbor National Park, the terrain east of it is already pretty barren.

Eastern end of the Nallarbor Plain

Nevertheless we liked the drive, especially where the road runs close to the ocean, the sheer cliffs provided magnificent views across the ocean and from one Lookout we could look back eastwards and see the cliffs as far as the horizon.

Looking east along the Nallarbor cliffs

Nullarbor Information

Nullarbor flowers

We passed through Eucla on the West Australian border.

From Eucla to the rest of the world

The Quarantine Inspector made us open the camper trailer to check that we weren’t carrying any fruit, vegetables or honey into Western Australia.  We weren’t carrying any fruit or vegies but he did confiscate the honey that we’d bought in Western Australia (??).

Nallarbor road  west of Eucla

A Nullarbor resident, not too happy when Emily and Oliver tried to get a close look.

We made it to the Cocklebiddy campsite just before dark.

Cocklebiddy

Monday 26th:  Woken up in the night by strong gusts of wind blowing from the north, it blew the fly sheets off the bed ends.  I got out to tie them back down, the sky was very black and it looked like it might rain.  In the morning it still looked threatening but, thankfully,  we were able to pack up in the dry.

Hazards… no not us.  Camels, Wombats and Kangaroos!

We were on the road by 7:30 (a record!) and continued along the Eyre Highway towards Norseman.

Longest straight road in Australia

We travelled along the longest straight section of road in Australia (145 km).

Going straight… for over an hour and a half!

Eventually the road passes through large areas of woodland and past the Fraser Range a few kilometres before Norseman.

The Fraser Range

We arrived in Norseman around lunchtime, we refuelled and bought some food before heading north towards Kalgoorlie and Coolgardie then west to Merredin where we spent the night.  We went to the Commercial Hotel for dinner.

Tuesday 27th:  What a night!  Woken up several times by freight trains trundling through Merredin – the track is just across the road from the camp site.

Managed to pack up the trailer before the drizzle started and head towards Perth.  The heavy rain started just as we reached Northam; it persisted down!

Lunch at Floreat then off to see a couple of houses for short term rental.  Have found one in Subiaco which will do whilst we prepare to go to France to see Charlotte’s parents.