April 5 - Weeks 1-3

Dear Fam & Friends, here goes my first attempt at 'blogging'.  I hope this is the best way to let you know of our travels - you can jump in and out whenever you have a spare minute for updates.

My first confession is that I was secretly worried I would be a bit bored in stretches and not have a lot to do - myth No.1 dispelled!  We have been on the road for 3 weeks now and today have made the conscious effort to sit for the afternoon and bring you up to date, and a lot has happened in this time.  Have your map of South and Western Australia out ready if you so choose!

Noel is the main driver and I the navigator/trip planner.  To quote Noel "All places are new and interesting, so I'm happy to go anywhere"; that makes for easy planning.  The van, an 18' New Age Manta Ray is well kitted out with most things we think we will need/want to make our travel comfortable and practical, I suppose not a cheap exercise but after a few weeks on the road, well worth every cent.

Departure date was April 5th (Easter Monday) and we made it to Benalla (lol, 80kms) to have our first Covid shot and stay the night with Jim and Trish.  Tuesday morning we drove across Victoria to Naracoorte, SA, staying 3 nights in a caravan park (CP).  We spent a day exploring the limestone caves and then a day in Mount Gambier to a sinkhole with 'hanging gardens'.  Both days were fantastic and we have realised that we were at the start of a huge knowledge curve with our travels.

Umpherston Sinkhole, Mount Gambier

Naracoorte Caves

Leaving Naracoorte, we continued west to stay on the Fleurieu Peninsula at Goolwa and caught up with friends Carol & Tony; far too much red wine to speak of really.

Through Adelaide to picked up Riley (Tom and Jessi's niece) and headed to Balgowan on the west coast of the Yorke Peninsula through Port Wakefield.  We were greeted by Tom & Jessi, kids (Eli & Sierra) and Jessi's folks (Vicki & Gary). Balgowan was a beautiful place to park up for the week and enjoy family, friends and the scenery.  Lots to do here on the Peninsula and we recommend a visit.  We don't have a clue how to catch a fish, fortunately others do!  Fresh squid and whiting is always a feast.  Although we spent Christmas here, we headed off for a touring day southwards to Marion Bay and had lunch at Point Turton.  We had a fab visit to Malcolm Kinloch's daughter Michelle & Al, who live on a farm very near Balgowan, at Ardrossan. 

Walking path at Balgowan

The week passed quickly and we were ready to move on to our next destination, Cowell, SA.  Travelling through Port Pirie, Port Augusta and Whyalla, we made a mental note to revisit Whyalla and do a tour of the steel mill.  It was quite a long drive to Cowell, 436km, staying overnight at the CP, we enjoyed a great meal at the local Commercial Hotel.  The town is small and was very busy with travellers like us and school holidays.  Everywhere business traders were flat stick - no-one wants to work in hospitality after Jobkeeper was the comment made by many.

We headed west from Cowell, making the decision to come back to the southern Eyre Peninsula on the way back when the whales were about and we could spend plenty of time around Coffin Bay/Port Lincoln.  Driving through Lock to Elliston was a terrific drive - dry, sandy limestone country but a huge food bowl providing cereal crops to the country.  Great to talk to the farmers.  Two nights in Elliston were wonderful - great little seaside town with lots of walks, surfing (and sharks apparently) and community input.  The meal at the pub was very entertaining with a mix of locals and travellers.....we have been a bit challenged by the wine lists (?), but all part of the fun. A 2 day stop means the domestic chores are caught up on - washing, etc. and a quick whip around with the dustbuster!

Elliston

A short drive of 126km to Streaky Bay through Venus Bay was pleasant, although the weather had not been very warm for about 10 days, so no beach visits, although nice walking weather.  

Although we only stayed one night at Streaky Bay, it was lovely, very relaxing, awesome CP (6km out of town), nice shops and GREAT COFFEE!!!  It's the small things we learn to love, even though I have a machine in the van, Noel has to start the generator for me if we aren't on power....what a man! 

Streaky Bay Islands CP

Streaky Bay jetty

Most meals we have at 'home'.  I usually make lunch to eat at a picnic spot on the road, we buy a coffee if available and evenings the Weber cooks anything we want.  If we have a long travelling day, we might go to a local pub.  Our shower and loo work perfectly, TV reception is pretty dodgy but we have Chromecast to iView (nearly watched the 4 series of The Durrells..lol).  I have missed the footy, but there's always next season, and the 'Pies aren't doing so well.

Our next stop, Ceduna for 2 nights was quite relaxing. I think it has taken this long for us to adapt to our new way of life.  Major learnings are: No Fixed Address is liberating, 99.9% of people are wonderful and have something to offer you, I rarely know what day it is, I can live without TV and a mobile phone (almost), there is nothing you can't cook on a Weber BBQ, if you don't stop and look you'll miss something you didn't know.

Ceduna is quite a busy town and has a deep port that ships grain, gypsum and salt.  We had a terrific day sitting at the lookout watching a freighter come in through the narrow channel.  I had walked quite a way with my camera to take photos and was chatting to a girl on the shore...she said her Staffie dog had swum out into the shipping lane and the Pilot Boat had to catch it before they could dock the ship.....a great story to tell at the pub I thought (and true!). The dog owner also had a laugh when I said we don't fish, and replied, "why are we in Ceduna then?" We found a shed that had the most awesome oysters from Smoky Bay (a little south), so Noel was in heaven.  Oh, and Gary, their whiting was almost as good as yours. 

Dinner 2 nights in a row!

He was a diehard Richmond supporter... 

We were starting to get a little bit excited about reaching the WA border - filling out the Covid requirements was more difficult that applying for entry into USA and I needed a National Parks Pass, which had to be printed out .....mmmm, off to the Information Centre at Ceduna who were so very helpful.

We left Ceduna and had a stop at Penong to fuel up, coffee up and look at the windmills...whow, they were so interesting and the tiny community had put it all together...Google it to read up the story.  They have the biggest windmill in Australia, all in working order.

Noel, car/van in the background of this photo...thought you would like this one Duncan.  The story of it's restoration is wonderful.  Travelling on, we passed the Top of the Bight and will stop on the way back when the whales are passing.

We free camped our next spot - the Bunda Cliffs on the Great Australian Bight.  I thought when thinking of a title for our blog, that the one I chose was a bit kitch, but having free camped at this location, which has truly been on my bucket list forever, I feel it is appropriate.  I have seen photos over the years, but to stand on the very edge of the Bite with the ocean crashing below you is breathtaking.  We went for a long walk along the edge and took it all in.  Noel was also blown away by the experience. The other excitement for me was that we were heading due west, across the Nullabour.

Our free camping experience was wonderful - lot to be said for being 'off grid' and Wikicamps is a great app with a mountain of information to find free camping spots and points of interest.

Our next stop was the border stop WA/SA, which was very busy with police monitoring covid requirements and quarantine officers, this all took about an hour as we didn't have the correct Covid permit...god knows how people manage all this if you are not mobile phone/internet savvy.  We pressed on to Madura and free camped on a ridge.  Again, a great sense of freedom and we lit a little camp fire.

We exhausted our water with 2 days free camping, so needed to move on.  A good exercise for future reference, and now need to be much more frugal with with this resource so that we can free camp for longer periods.  We have 160litres on board the van and as a back up another 105 litres in a bladder that sits on the car floor behind the front seats (not used as yet).  We travelled a short distance today to Cocklebiddy and are parked up for the night at the service station/cafe.  We purchased water - $2/10litres to get us through Monday night/Tuesday morning when we are due in Kalgoolie.

Cocklebiddy CP....cafe/truckstop

Well, hope you have found some of this interesting.  Probably a bit short on detail, but no doubt I will get better at this job.  We are so loving our trip and pinch ourselves that, after last year's setbacks, we are finally on the road.  Comments and questions most welcome. 

Keep safe and happy, Mum & Dad (Maz & Noel)