We’re in Broome, WA now, way ahead of where we are on the blog. It’s my turn to try to catch us up.

The last post left us in Ceduna, South Australia, about to cross the Nullabor Plain and make our way into Western Australia.  We decided to spend two nights while crossing to allow us to stop whenever and still not drive in the dark.  You don’t want to drive in the dark in rural Australia because sooner or later you will hit a kangaroo (or a camel, emu, cow, wombat, etc.) and have a bad time.

We set our first stop to be in Eucla, WA, which is 492km from Ceduna.  We stopped at a few view points along the way to take in the Bunda Cliffs and to break up the drive. There were a handful of flies at each stop that incited a bit of fly rage. Little did we know we had no idea what fly rage was just yet.

At the SA/WA border we got a picture of the “Big Roo” and one of the holes of the “Nullabor Links” – a golf course that spans 1,365km.  I thought about playing, but decided against it since the last three holes were north of the route we were planning on taking and you know, snakes.

We made it to Eucla fairly early, but a bit later than we estimated since we learned it was in a weird timezone (UTC +8:45) and not Perth/Western Australia time (UTC +8).  We had planned to use the pool only to find out it was closed. So after setting up camp in the most wind protected place we could find, we made dinner and turned in fairly early.

The next morning we skipped the pay showers ($3 for 5 minutes!), fueled up by the “big whale”  and got on the road with a plan to make it to Balladonia (another 492km day).  The stretch of highway from Caiguna to Balladonia is the “Longest Straight Road” in Australia which seemed hilarious after a whole lot of long straight roads.

We got to Balladonia quite early (~1pm) and it was really hot, and the only thing in there is the roadhouse / caravan park.  We couldn’t think of what we’d do with all that free time, so we decided to keep going.  I had read about a small community run caravan park in Salmon Gums, WA so we decided that would be our target – a further 316km.  We stopped at an underwhelming viewpoint in Norseman, WA (which is considered the end of the “Nullabor” drive). An hour more found us at the caravan park (only $10 for an unpowered  tent site!) in Salmon Gums.  We set up camp, had dinner and then set out to the local hotel to have a beer.

Given the extra ground we covered, we only had an hour of driving left to get to our next stop, which was Esperance.  We planned to stay two nights there and given our string of tent sleeping and the forecast rain, we opted for two nights in a hotel.  We got there before noon, and did a quick loop of a tourist drive to kill time before check-in.  We were not disappointed – except for “Pink Lake” which hasn’t been pink for over 10 years but they haven’t bothered to rename it.

The next day we went for a run and then I played golf while Sara walked around town.  After that we didn’t do much as it was raining most of the day, so we just enjoyed our time in a non-tent structure.

Our next stop was Albany – about 5 hours away, but first we traveled the opposite direction to check out a nearby national park, Cape Le Grande, where roos sometimes lounge on the beach. The weather was pretty iffy, but we went for it anyway.  Sadly no roos, but the beach (Lucky Bay) was beautiful even in the misty rain.

I had to drive the whole day because something was wrong with our seat and it would not go far enough forward for Sara.

In Albany we stayed at a caravan park that was right on the water.

There was a thunderstorm the first night followed by some ridiculous winds that made sleeping in a tent quite challenging. After having our coffee and breakfast, we visited a local Suzuki dealer and they fixed the seat issue quickly and free of charge!  We went and visited a few spots in the local national park, then explored the cute downtown area.  Next we stopped and had a beer at a local craft brewery, Wilson Brewing Company,  before heading back to camp to make dinner.

From Albany it was another 5 hour drive to Perth (the capital of Western Australia), with a stop at another national park, Porongurup National Park, along the way for nice long hike to a neat viewpoint on top of some rocks.

We spent 3 nights in Perth where we explored the town a bit, took in a Women’s Australian Rules Football match at the fancy new stadium, and checked out a few craft breweries, Bright Tank Brewing Co and Blasta Brewing Company, both highly recommended if you find yourself in Perth.

After Perth we were off to Jurien Bay – only about 3 hours away.  On there way there we stopped at a few national parks.  First, one that had koalas.

Next, one that had the pinnacles – they were quite amazing.

Unfortunately, this is where the flies really begin for us.  We thought they were annoying along the Nullabor, but we had no idea. When I say flies, there are a lot of them and they buzz your ears and nose and are really annoying. More on that later.

In Jurien Bay we camped at a caravan park near the beach.  We got set up quickly as we have gotten quite good by now at setting up camp. That night the winds came and made sleeping nearly impossible.  The wind was gusting up to 65kph (40mph) at times shaking the tent and just generally making a lot of noise.  Quite annoying.

We were staying two nights in Jurien bay, so the next day we explored a nearby town, then spend some much needed time on the beach relaxing and swimming in the ocean. It was very hot that day and didn’t cool down that much, which made sleeping a challenge again.

Next stop, Kalbarri, about 4 hours away.  On the way, we stopped at a pink lake that was actually pink.

We hooked up the chromecast and caught up on some new Brooklyn Nine-Nine episodes and got some much needed sleep in a hotel after two nights very poor sleep in Jurien Bay.

After a robust sleep, we were off to Carnarvon, 4 and a half hours up the coast. On the way out of town, we stopped at a few coastal spots of the local national park.

We planned to stop at some of the cool-sounding inland gorges of this park, only to find out it was closed for the week for feral goat eradication – I did not anticipate that as a reason for a park closure.  It was a bit rainy, and this seemed to bring all the roos out of the bush and into the road.  I had to stop and honk at a lot of roos as they didn’t bound off when the heard me coming.

I now understand why there are so many dead kangaroos on the side of the road, as the big trucks don’t stop, they just mow them down.

Back to the flies, for anyone doubting how bad they are, here’s a taste:

Well, now we are only two stops away from being caught up – that’ll have to be in the next installment!

We originally planned on camping either at Diamond Head or Myall Lakes to camp on/near a beach after Coffs Harbour. However, the forecast looked ominous and while the forecasts in Australia are rarely accurate a 90% chance thunderstorms with 20 – 40 mm usually means there will be rain. Instead, Jon found us a great, cheap motel to stay in Bulahdelah, New South Wales (NSW) close enough to Myall Lakes that if the forecast changed we could still camp there the following night.

This was our second time packing up camp and it didn’t go smoothly. Nothing fit where it used to fit and I broke the only coffee mug I brought, a free to me KeepCup from Altis (my former employer). Sigh. A quick stop for coffee and scones in Nambucca Heads cured those blues. Back on the road we made stops at the Big Axe and Big Oyster after stopping for an amazing Thai food lunch in Port Macquarie and taking the scenic route through Forster.

The first thing anyone asks about with our trip is the impact of the bushfires. The recent focus has been on massive fires further down the coast in NSW, but earlier in 2019 some major fires went through the area south of Coffs Harbour among many other areas unfortunately. We saw a lot of the aftermath along the highway which had been closed during those fires including melted highway signs where the letters looked like they were dripping off the sign. It’s surreal to think of massive flames being right along a major (for Australia) road. Fortunately, that fire and many others are now out and people are starting to get a chance to grieve and begin the process of recovery.

So back to the trip, we spent the night in Buladelah where some storms did come through and break the heat on a very hot day.

The next day we set off to see Myall Lakes, but not to stay since the forecast remained unsettled at best. The trip to Myall Lakes requires driving on an unsealed road and taking a teeny ferry across.

We checked out the camping areas in case we want to stop on the trip back and took in views of the lovely lake and beach. We couldn’t do any hikes as the trails were still closed due to fires. The fires were out, but the park service still needed to check the trees after to make sure they didn’t just topple on walkers.

We stopped in the very cute beach town of Hawks Nest and made PB&Js for lunch and drove on to Newcastle. We arrived at a local brewery, Foghorn, just in time for the Superbowl to be over. We caught the post-game nonsense and were reminded of the time honored Aussie tradition of wearing whatever NFL gear from whatever team to watch the Superbowl.

We enjoyed a beer and walked around the city a bit and headed off for more big things. The Big Kookaburra in fact.

Then on to Cessnock for a night at another not bad budget motel. We ignored the budget for dinner and went to a local place, Vincent Street, where we unexpectedly had an amazing dinner, possibly the world’s best salad (rocket and feta and pumpkin AND bacon, oh my!) for me and a pork sandwich topped with a jalapeno popper (wow) for Jon.

It was smokey when we woke up the next day in Cessnock as the fires in southern NSW and near Canberra were still going strong at the time. It cleared up as we got out of town and into the proper outback. We stopped to make PB&Js at the botanic gardens in Dubbo.

We also stopped to see the famous Big Bogan which, perhaps unsurprisingly, is located near the Bogan River.

Then it was off to Cobar for the night.  We setup camp at the local caravan park, ate dinner and headed into down for a beer before trying to get to sleep. It turned out to be a VERY WINDY night and the noise kept us up. Another unfortunate side effect of the wind was that everything was coated in the red dust of the outback.

We made oatmeal for brekkie in the no frills camp kitchen and hit the road again. We drove through some interesting changes in scenery and stopped to check out the view and make PB&Js at a park in Broken HIll.

We stopped at a big gum tree (not sure if it counts or not) by Orroroo (one of my favorite town names yet) and made it to yet another not bad cheap motel in Port Augusta. We got Chinese takeaway for dinner and researched our next stop.

We decided to head to Ceduna, a coastal town, and stay 2 nights for a change of pace. We, of course, stopped at The Big Galah and celebrated making it halfway across Australia!

We camped for 2 nights at a place called Shelly Beach. Jon managed to secure our tent in some very hard ground with the help of water and much hammering leading to the purchase of better tent pegs the following day. We relaxed and enjoyed our time in Ceduna with some beach time and general sitting around. Ceduna is known as an oyster town and we indulged in the local specialty while there.

The 2 night stay gave us time to regroup and prepare for our trip across the Nullabor. I was going to make this post go all the way to Esperance where we were when I wrote the last one, but I’ve babbled so much I think I’ll stop here. We’re in Kalbari, Western Australia for the night and moving up the coast quickly so hopefully I’ll get up to that point in the trip soon!