Esperance to Steaky Bay




Unfortunately we didn't spend too long in Esperance. It seemed like a nice place and we had heard plenty of good things about it but we needed to make a mile and start chipping away at the Nullarbor. The first night we free camped in a rest area 15kms east of Balladonia Roadhouse. Having fuelled up in Norseman (start of the Eyre Hwy) I had figured that if I "splashed and dashed" to borrow a motor racing term at Balladonia I would only have to get 1 proper re-fuel on the Nullarbor in an attempt to avoid the high remote area fuel prices. Our one major fuel stop was Border Village Roadhouse before reaching "civilization" at Ceduna. The " " might be a touch harsh on Ceduna, it seems like a really nice spot. The roadhouse has everything you would need after a long drive across the Nullarbor like Hungry Jacks, Subway and a HUGE array of deep fried goodness in the bain-marie, oh they also sell fuel and have showers. 

Be kind rewind - This leg of the journey had barely even began before a nasty stone chip cracked the windscreen of the 2 hunj. Hello insurance. At this stage the 5 month old 200 series Landcruiser more closely resembles something that has survived a nuclear holocaust then the highly polished gleaming  mechanical masterpiece we picked up in Sydney not too long ago...  It's all only superficial though, 23,500km down and not one complaint about the car itself, only the damage I have inflicted on it. It will need a touch up on the rear bumper and lower tailgate as well as the new windscreen under insurance. Our insurance would cover the stone damage to the rear but the quote I got to repair it was cheaper then the insurance excess. The factory fitted Dunlop GrandTrek tyres are holding up well. This really surprised me, I expected to see them chop out really badly on the rears with the weight of the trailer and the rough dirt roads we took through the Pilbara. It also did a trip Port Hedland to Kununurra before this one with the camper trailer on hot roads doing 1700kms in one sitting, I really thought the tyres would be showing signs of real wear by now but they are holding up well.

90 Mile Straight, WA. Australia's longest straight road. Definitely not the most exciting bit of road. 

The "Big" whale at Eucla, WA. Considerably smaller then a real whale but I guess it would be a fair undertaking to construct a proper BIG whale.
The Big Kangaroo at Border Village. Holding a jar of vegemite, as kangaroos do.

Nullarbor Cliffs, SA 

Free camping along the Eyre Hwy. Between Nullarbor roadhouse and Yalata, SA. Lovely quiet spot with the exception of the swarms of mosquitos.


The big wombat. we visited the Aboriginal community of Scotdesco.
They have a 10000 hectare farm which they are trying to rehabilitate by growing saltbush. There was a small art gallery with paintings from a local artist.

We arrived in Streaky Bay and checked into the Streaky Bay Foreshore Tourist Park. After setting up camp we went for a walk along the town jetty and stopped in at the Streaky Bay Hotel for a quick beer. For a small town it was very busy (the Friday night chook raffle may have had something to do with that). We stayed 2 nights at Streaky Bay before a spur of the moment decision to change our plans for the next week...


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