WA to VIC via the Nullarbor Plains
- jmsrtldg
- Jan 19
- 11 min read
Heading south from Geraldton, my first principal stop was at Jurien Bay. From here I took a boat tour to swim with the sea lions. Swimming in the stunning turquoise waters off Jurien Bay in the sea lions' natural habitat was a brilliant (albeit somewhat expensive) experience - the sea lions were both inquisitive and hugely entertaining. The small islet that was their home was strictly controlled with the use of multiple monitored security cameras limiting both the party size and duration of peoples' interaction (45 mins per group) with these amazingly graceful creatures.
Hopefully, when I get round to the 'top end' of Australia / WA later this year, I will be able to report on swimming with the whale sharks and various other interesting aquatic creatures from Ningaloo and Monkey Mia, too!
Not much further south from Jurien Bay was the Pinnacles Desert, in Nambung NP. While a unique setting, it was a very 'curated' experience with a gated entry and set tracks to follow for vehicles or foot traffic. I think the experience would have been alot more interesting at either dawn or dusk (from a photographic POV, at least).
Cervantes was the closest town to both Nambung NP and Lake Thetis, where there were
Stromatolites (layered sedimentary formations created by photosynthetic microorganisms (esp. cyanobacteria) - the oldest living organisms on the planet (these ones are a mere 3,500 years old, but fossilised ones in the Pilbara are 3,400 million years old!). A bit 'yeah, nah', however, unless you are into that sort of thing! Cervantes has been in the news more recently for having to be evacuated because of bush fires in the area.
As I headed south along the coast towards Perth, I stopped for a couple of nights in a little seaside town called Seabird. While onshore winds and the accumulation of seaweed had rendered the beach an unattractive proposition for swimming, the tavern, nevertheless, provided a nice spot from which to enjoy a surprisingly good meal.
I had previously met John Brennan, a fellow greying nomad, at a campground in Crystal Creek, QLD back in June. He very generously offered me a place to park up in his hometown of Perth, so I took the opportunity to stay for a few nights at his place in Osborne Park. As well as making me feel most welcome at his home (including catching up with the inevitable laundry!), John also took me on a short tour of the city, including stopping at King's Park to admire the view of this very attractive city. As a mechanical engineer of some repute, John also helped me with a couple of minor trailer repairs to help me on my way. We are hoping to meet up again later in the year in the NW of WA.
I spent my last night in Perth staying with Marcuz Lopez and his wife, both from the Philippines/NZ. I had previously worked with Marcuz in Auckland for an RV manufacturer and repairer as part of my resettlement training before I left the Navy... a small world, indeed!
My next stop was just down the road at Fremantle Village Caravan Park, a reasonably-priced and well-situated park close to Fremantle and its harbour. From here I did a day trip to Rottnest Island, which included a four-hour gastronomic cruise. The food was, indeed, delicious (including recovery of craypots to provide one of the lunch main courses), but the portion sizes of the food just too small (....and I am certainly no longer the trencherman that I used to be!). While the weather started off by raining on arrival at Rottnest, it did improve as the day went on (but a cool wind precluded a swim off the back of the boat for me...a couple of guests did and were rewarded with a coctail delivered to them as they lounged on a large floating mat!). The quokkas ashore were typically adorable, but too used to being fed by the tourists.
After Fremantle, I proceeded southwards, stopping at Busselton (including walking the 1.87km long jetty...and, no, I didn't take the train!) and visiting Cape Naturaliste (from whose lighthouse viewing platform I spotted one lonely whale in the distance...with the assistance of binoculars).
I then drove through the well-known Margaret River region, not stopping at any of the numerous vineyards saturating the Caves Road route south - firstly because I could not afford to drink and drive and secondly because I was far too casually dressed to indulge in the uber-expensive degustation menus that most of them seemed to exclusively offer! Fortunately, when I was deployed to WA in HMNZS ENDEAVOUR in 2006, I had been able to indulge in a memorable bus tour of the Margaret River wineries.
On my way to Augusta and Cape Leeuwin I stopped off at Lake Cave near Boranup. Quite an impressive tour of the caves, particularly the floating stalactite / stalagmite formation (LH picture above) caused by the changing water levels eroding the earth from beneath the base of the formation.
Before heading to my next stay in Denmark, I headed in to check out Elephant Rocks and Green Bay. From some angles Elephant Rocks did, indeed, appear like a herd of elephants at a waterhole. I had a swim in the adjacent Green Bay...which was to be my last swim in the sea for a while! The price to enter the National Park for a couple of hours to achieve these activities was, I felt, a bit steep at $17. Filling up at a petrol station in Denmark, however, resulted in a caravan driving past me, cutting a corner and hitting my e-bike and bike rack - yet further damage caused to items that had already incurred expensive repair costs since their purchase! The caravan owner was very apologetic and did pay me some damages towards fixing both the rack and the bike cover.
The weather became both wet and windy over the next few days, putting a dampener on my travels via Hopetoun Beach to Esperance and nearby Lucky Bay. While the sun was out for the photo above, what you can't see is the wind gusting around 30 knots and the beautiful white sand acting like a sandblasting machine on your legs .... a stunning beach, notwithstanding!
My next stop was a small town called Norseman which marked the Western start/finish point of the Nullarbor Plains crossing. I took advantage of a handy Free Camp near the centre of 'town' for an overnight stop and to stock up on food items. Perhaps it was the persistent drizzle, but Norseman was otherwise most unremarkable.
The Eyre Highway / Nullarbor Plains crossing reputation has been built up over the years as a challenging trip where the advice was that you stopped at roadhouses to stock up on fuel and for accommodation/food. While this may very well have been the case when it was a dirt road, the highway was, in fact, one of the better-quality roads I had travelled on in Australia, with plenty of stops along the way (albeit that the road was in places very boring and often very straight). Following a break at a Free Camp at Woorlaba for my first night, I subsequently stopped briefly to check out the Caiguna Air Blowhole (mainly because it was very close to the highway!). Despite being a fair distance from the coast, the air in these tunnels can attain speeds of up to 70km/h as a result of differences in pressure. The blowhole pictured above was about 1.5m in diameter and around 4 feet in depth, but there was nary a breath of wind when I visited, so a bit underwhelming! I made overnight stops at the Madura Roadhouse (WA side) and the Border Village Roadhouse (WA/SA border), both of which were well set up (ie had a monopoly!) for accommodation, RV camping and providing classic Aussie pub fare and a bar, but you could rough it at roadside stops if you felt so inclined.
It is also a Facebook/Instagrammable 'thing' to take an aerial shot of your RV parked up beside the edge of Bunda Cliffs ( pic above right), however, access to vehicles had been blocked off when I passed through (...and it was still too windy to launch the drone, in any event!).
The final roadhouse stop on this crossing was the Nullarbor Roadhouse on the SA side of the crossing. You can see the original (and tiny) roadhouse in the background of the first picture, which has now been superceded by a much larger roadhouse with reasonably extensive facilities for those crossing the Nullarbor. The picture in the centre at the roadhouse is an iconic one representing the crossing. The facilities at Nullarbor include a par 3 hole that forms part of the 18-hole, 72-par golf course that extends along 1,364km of the Eyre Highway (said to be the world's longest course). Apart from parking up for the night beside the green, I did not partake of this challenge, having not wielded a club since shoulder rotator cuff surgery in 2016!
The most challenging / 🫤 aspect of the Nullarbor Plains crossing, however, had to be the three timezone changes in the space of a short section of the highway: Western Australia time at the western end, but the 340 km stretch from Cocklebiddy via Madura to Border Village was 45 minutes ahead of WA (Central Western Time Zone....a time zone that is not officially recognised by the state governments of either WA or SA!), and then changes to South Australia time after Border Village which is 2.5 hours ahead of WA...add in the complication of daylight savings (recognised/implemented by SA - but not WA) and you can quickly appreciate just how confusing it can all be!
Ceduna marks the Eastern end of the Nullarbor Plains crossing and was my final stop for a couple of nights. It was a picturesque spot by the sea. The picture above was taken on the night I arrived, as the following day it turned grey, wet, windy and cool!
I scooted across the top of the Eyre Peninsula (saving a more detailed exploration for another year), stopping at the 'Pantry' (pan tree) in Penong, followed by more impressive Silo Art in Kimba and coffee in a kooky cafe in Ki Ki (try saying that in a hurry!). I passed through Whyalla and Port Augusta enroute to my next destination: Port Pirie. I then looped around the bottom of York Peninsula via Wallaroo and lunch by the beach in Hardwicke Bay, where it was still blowing a bast**d. I stopped in a peaceful seaside caravan park in Coobowie...just a shame about the continuing indifferent weather!
The following (sunny and warm!) day, I drove through the city of Adelaide, via the Adelaide Hills, to stop over in a low-cost campground in a pretty little village called Balhannah, close to Hahndorf.
From Adelaide I then struck out southwards to a beachside Caravan Park in Robe, a very attractive port town and part of the 'Limestone Coast' in eastern SA - I was much taken by the proliferation of beautiful limestone buildings, such as the pub pictured to the left, as well as the multitude of coves and beaches.
My last stop in SA was at Mt Gambier (close to border with VIC). Finally the hot and sunny weather had returned. I took the opportunity to stretch my legs and walk to the Blue Lake on the edge of town. This was a picturesque crater lake of remarkable cobalt blue (that turns to a dull grey in winter). Only later did I find out that there was another smaller version of the Blue Lake nearby where one could swim!
Travelling through the coastal towns of Nelson and Portland, my next stopover was in Port Fairy, VIC, which sort of marks the W end of the Great Ocean Road. It was a beautiful and very popular coast-side spot, but turned grey and windy - raining hard overnight and the following morning. The weather can make such a difference to the impression one gains of any particular place, and I am sure I would have been much more enamoured of Port Fairy if it had been warmer with blue skies and sunshine!
From Port Fairy, I tackled the Great Ocean Road via the Bay of Islands, the Bay of Martyrs, the 12 Apostles, Apollo Bay, and Torquay. The weather had improved, but was still quite windy.
I had previously 'done' most of the the Great Ocean Road in both the 80's and again in the 00's. I think the photo in the middle was taken around 18-20 years ago...how grey I have since become!
I stopped in Geelong for a couple of nights and caught up with Karl and Emma Gill, who I hadn't seen for at least 15 years - they seemed to have aged much better than me in the intervening years, but I can assure you that I do have a right forearm, even though it appears to have been amputated in the picture above! It was great to spend some quality time with the Gill family.
Continuing Eastwards from Geelong and having survived the madness of travelling across Melbourne, I stopped for a couple of nights at Ventnor Beach on Phillip Island . This was to observe the famous 'Penguin Parade' of Little Blue penguins (they used to be called 'Fairy penguins' until some self-righteous twat complained that it was inappropriate and they found it offensive) nearby. Despite a number of enthusiastic recommendations to observe this activity, I found it was an underwhelming and exceedingly heavily-curated experience for the price paid. I am sure that, had there been a reasonable number of penguins on the move that evening near my viewing area (there were many at a more expensive seating area further up the beach!), my opinion would have been markedly different. As it was, there were several hundred visitors and tourists competing with a comparatively small number of penguins, the former completely obscuring the tracks that the penguins took to their nesting sites as they reached over the barriers on the walkways to take photos (not permitted) and try to touch the creatures (definitely not permitted!) - overwhelming any attempts by the small number of staff to prevent them from doing it.
...this is what I should have seen....
With short stays at Toorah and Paynesville (the latter being the waterfront town on the Gippsland Lakes from where the ferry crosses to Raymond Island), I arrived at my good friends Henri and Kate Nord-Thomson's place following 9 months of travelling some 22,000km. They live on a 15-acre property on Raymond Island with their son, Gus; Kate's parents Graham and Sandra; and four adorable kelpies (any one of the latter I would be happy to abscond with!).
It was a much appreciated opportunity to recharge my batteries, which had suffered a little from the 'decision fatigue' towards the end induced by full-time travelling and constantly worrying about where to stop and whether early booking was required. During this past month I have reconfigured 'Snailspace' in anticipation of travelling around Tasmania without the pod trailer. My initial set-up certainly enabled me to travel 'off-grid' for extended periods of time carrying both an inflatable boat, electric outboard motor, an off-road electric bike and 175L of extra fresh water. I found that, in reality, however, I was spending no more than 6 days in one spot and used my boat on only 4 occasions throughout the year (...and catching no fish from it, either!) I solely used the bike to go for simple bike rides, do my shopping runs or transport me to the pub from where I was parked up.
To this end, I sold my boat and engine in the New Year and left the trailer and e-bike at Henri and Kates' place. I have subsequently acquired an e-scooter as my transport option, which can be safely stowed inside the moho when driving. I am hoping that I get a bit more adventurous without the trailer behind me....we shall see.
I am also hoping that I become: better at posting regular blog update; more proficient in using technology to assist; and less of a procrastinator (at which I am a master!)....especially the latter, given that I had intended for this post to go out before Christmas!
Anyway, a belated Merry Chrimbo (I trust it was a restful one) and a happy and prosperous 2025 to one and all.
Hooroo for now,
Jimmo (James)
+61 400 068 257
Loved the latest update James. Are you going to publish a book on the good and bad of Australia? 🤣