Tues. 16th Oct., 2012 - Norseman into the Nullarbor Desert

As we left Norseman, our American friends came to say goodbye & to wish us a safe journey.  I left with some trepidation, as I thought of all the hazards that could crop up.  However, I decided to be positive & trusted that all would be well.  A road sign warned of straying emus, kangaroos & camels, so I hoped that we would manage to avoid all of those!  The Eyre Highway would take us 1,215kms across the Nullarbor from Norseman, in WA to Ceduna, in SA.

After approximately 100km., we reached the turn-off to Fraser Range Station, where Bob stopped to play another hole of the golf course.  Once again, it was dry!  The hole was called "Sheep's Back" & was surrounded by emus that wandered all around it as we approached.  A mum, dad & two chicks strolled past, totally unconcerned by our presence.  Two little wallabies watched from the rocks nearby as Bob prepared to tee off.  The tee & the green were both made from astro-turf, as no natural grass appeared to grow anywhere, despite the fact that we were on a sheep station (didn't see any sheep, either!)



Fancy a coffee?





 We rejoined the main highway & were saddened to see numerous dead kangaroos on the verges.  We were surprised at the thickly wooded areas on either side of our route, since the Nullarbor's Latin name suggested that there would "no trees".  Bushes & scrub provided some undergrowth but there were also large areas of bare, red earth.

Bob  parred the "SkyLab" hole at Balladonia in three, which pleased him.  The hole is so named because it is where part of the American SkyLab Space Station fell to earth.  Now, I knew what was meant by "flies in the outback" - the place was alive with them & they all seemed to be fighting for access to my eyes, nose & ears!  What objectionable things they are - they definitely constitute a plague on the earth.



We had 183km to drive to our next stop, Caiguna, & crossed a Royal Flying Doctor airstrip, in the road, soon after setting off.  Amazingly, we also passed a cyclist, who was either very brave, or extremely foolhardy, depending upon how you look at it! 



We were now driving on one of the longest straight stretches of road in the world - not even a kink in it for 146km!  At this stage, the landscape became more as we'd expected it to be - trees were scarcer, their place taken by low, scrubby bushes that were almost grey, rather than green.

We had lunch at Caiguna, then Bob played another hole - he's crossing them off almost more quickly than he does on his home course, in Bury St Edmunds!

 The sky had been overcast but was almost cloudless by this time.  A snake crossed the road - we hoped it would have more luck than the numerous dead kangaroos that we'd seen.  The Eyre Highway certainly was the road of death - it was littered with the corpses of hundreds of animals.  The crows must be the best fed creatures in Australia - they never have to wait long for a meal!

At Cocklebiddy, Bob played his last but one hole for the day.  I accompanied him for a little bit of exercise, as it was quite a pleasant spot & the breeze was deterring the flies.

Last hole of the day was "Brumby's Run", at Madura, where we arrived at 4.50pm.  The sun was low, casting a lovely soft light over the landscape & two enormous eagles hovered overhead, probably looking for roadkill.  Some cheerful galahs arrived on the scene & I felt it was time to join them - we'd been on the road for over 8 hours & had covered 539kms.

 However, Bob wanted to free camp & so we drove another 26kms to an overnight parking area.  After cooking a vegetable & egg curry, we went to bed at 8.30pm & slept like babies - total darkness & fresh air sure do the trick!  Just before retiring, we looked at the night sky, which was ablaze with a myriad of stars - lack of light pollution makes such a difference.