Category: Desert Trek 2005

Long drive today past Ceduna, then to the Head of the Bight near Nullabor Roadhouse were we saw many whales. There were at least fifty we could see and they splashed and blew right in front of us at the bottom on the cliff.
We had booked into a motel unit at Border village so pushed on into dusk to get there.

We had wanted to have some shorter days with not so much time in the car but Dad found leaflets about the Fraser Range Station, so we booked in from Caiguna roadhouse and set off, arriving just before dark. It is half way between Balladonia and Norseman. We stayed in nice rooms that used to be the shearers quarters and used the big kitchen.

Shorter travelling day at last. Bought bread in Norseman. Took a picture of Cassidy in front of her shop, then drove west along the new road to Hyden. Great road, NO corrugations but a few potholes.
Stopped off at a rock and walked all over it, learning about rocks and weathering and the forces of nature.
The lady at the Norseman information centre had recommended camping at the Breakaways campsite which we found to be a lovely spot off the road in a secret hideaway with colourful rocks.
Cassidy cooked tea and we had rain developing overnight.

Rained a little overnight but tent was dry enough to roll up.
We were still on the Granite Discovery trail and stopped off at a few special sites along way that had interesting information about the changing landscape.
Found Wave Rock and a dog that had found an echidna.

 
Drove home through lovely green farmland in the wheatbelt. We were very excited to arrive at last.

Dropped Mum and Jacob at 4.15am at train station so they could go to Adelaide to catch their plane back to Perth.
Christopher and Cassidy and Dad packed up and headed back to Perth. We stopped in Whyalla and spent an hour touring the Navy ship ‘Whyalla’. It was built in Whyalla and is being restored. There was a different Navy number on either side and the lady told us one number was from when it was with the Royal Navy and the other number from the Australian Navy.
Went to Cowell and bought nice pies for lunch, then across the Eyre Peninsular via Cleve and arrived at Streaky Bay late in the day. Chistopher and Cassidy played with the pelicans and on the mud flats and playground as it was getting dark

Dad had the oil changed in the Landcruiser and we spent several hours at the tourist display in Port Augusta.
The next day was Saturday, and our last together for a while. We’d run out of things to do so walked through the one shopping street in Port Augusta and bought the latest Harry Potter book which had only just been released.
That night we had dinner out at a hotel and saw Pokie machines and the people playing them looked very dull and bored.

Yes, it rained today too as we headed north to Wilpena pound in the Flinders Ranges. Very very cold at 5° during the day and we couldn’t see much of the views.
We drove in a big circle around the Flinders enjoying being in mountains for a change, and drove back through a station track which showed us lots of wildlife close to the track and old station things. It was very muddy and we discovered the road had been closed after we started on it.

We woke to a very foggy Coober Pedy, then found some nice Opals to buy.
Most of the day we travelled in rain and it stayed very cold. Any roads off the bitumen were closed by the Police and were very very slippery.
We couldn’t find anywhere to stay in Woomera where there is a rocket range, and phoned ahead to book in a Caravan Park in Port Augusta where we arrived after dark.