Day 92 – 94
Crossing the Nullarbor (ing).
Esperance to Madura was day 1 – 9 hours in the car. A few stops along the way; petrol, food and Matthew’s unbelievable ability to pee. Drove the longest stretch of straight road in Australia; very boring should have let one of the kids do it – nothing to do but hold the wheel straight. Lots of flat, flat land. It’s the end of spring so still lots of grasses and some green bushes but nothing to write home about. Our deserts are nothing like the ones in the movies – no Sahara here – it’s dry but we still have plants holding the land together. The arrival into Madura was really the highlight. After hours of flat landscape the sign announces Madura Pass and you wonder what that could be and suddenly you are driving down a big hill, surrounded by hills and trees and overlooking another vast plain that stretches seemingly to infinity. Alas, the pass far exceeded the actual roadhouse/motel/caravan park. Lots of flat, dusty ground, no Telstra coverage (don’t even mention Vodafone) and tokens for the showers (timers!!!). Luckily we were there to sleep and leave ASAP and that is what we did.
Day 2 was Madura to Ceduna. We passed along the Great Australian Bight where we managed to lose no children over the edge – quite an achievement. Petrol at Nullabor – very expensive - and not a whole lot more. We lost 2 ½ hours with the time change from WA to SA and so arrived into Ceduna, handing in our fruit and veg at the checkpoint, at around 6.30pm. The caravan park there is on the water with a lovely sunset although the 6ft chain link fence that surrounds it is more reminiscent of low security prisons than holiday destinations. Again it was just a stop over, feed, shower, sleep and gone in the morning.
Day 3 we went from Ceduna to Port Lincoln. Another boring drive and long day in the car. Port Lincoln itself seems like a big country town. There was a huge ship loading at the port when we arrived and lots of activity around town. We have a view over Boston Bay from the van and look forward to a rest day tomorrow and a look around town.
