Heading West

[AussieMick]

Getting the van ready for a 5ish week trip from Adelaide in South Australia to West Australia across the Nullabor hwy.
Just changed engine oil and filter, added a bm2 monitor to starter battery as I have a bmv712 on my leisure battery and want to keep an eye on both batteries.
Taking my little trailer as we will be self sufficient and sometimes a bit remote so need a little bit more gear.
Have added a bit more recovery gear to hopefully extract ourselves if we get bogged as the weather is wetter than usual at this time of year.
Going in company with our friend in her Toyota high ace camper.
If weather is rainy when we get over near Perth we may head north to warmer places.
I will post a few pictures as we go.

 

[Hothouse]

Very jealous, sounds fantastic.
There is a great little campsite in Pemberton we stayed at. The old loggers natural swimming pool was just next to it and fabulous for cool dip.
We met several travellers who, like you, had done the Nullabora.

 

[bobbybasic]

Life is peaceful there

 

[Bigsidavies]

Sounds amazing. Look forward to the pics.

 

[AussieMick]

Today we head off on our trip. First stop is Whyalla , which is about 400 km away. It has a big steelworks and is part of the Iron Triangle. It once had shipyards but now produces steel for local and export.

The reason we are stopping there is to see the giant cuttlefish. They come in close to shore to breed at this time of year and you can dive with them or take a glass bottom boat if you dont want to get wet. We have heard they are quite spectacular.

Leaving Whyalla we will then head west towards Perth , 2695 km from home across the Nullabor plain. This was once an epic journey on rough dirt roads for a few thousand kms but was sealed in the 1970s making it easier but it is still big distances between services , so it is something most Australians like to do at least once.

Excellent camping on the cliffs of the Great Australian Bight , looking out over the southern ocean towards antartica.
At this time of year whales can be seen close inshore as they come into the shallow , warm water to calve.

As its winter in Southern Australia we have only a rough itinerary as we will allow the weather to dictate where we go, if it is wet or too windy we can head north from Perth and head up the west coast which should get warmer ( he says hopefully)

As distances are vast and price of diesel expensive it helps that the traffic will be light so you can cruise for hundreds of kms without having to stop as service stations or towns are a long way apart. The isolation is part of the appeal to head out there. Night skies should be amazing .

 

[Bav]

Today we head off on our trip. First stop is Whyalla , which is about 400 km away. It has a big steelworks and is part of the Iron Triangle. It once had shipyards but now produces steel for local and export.

The reason we are stopping there is to see the giant cuttlefish. They come in close to shore to breed at this time of year and you can dive with them or take a glass bottom boat if you dont want to get wet. We have heard they are quite spectacular.

Leaving Whyalla we will then head west towards Perth , 2695 km from home across the Nullabor plain. This was once an epic journey on rough dirt roads for a few thousand kms but was sealed in the 1970s making it easier but it is still big distances between services , so it is something most Australians like to do at least once.

Excellent camping on the cliffs of the Great Australian Bight , looking out over the southern ocean towards antartica.
At this time of year whales can be seen close inshore as they come into the shallow , warm water to calve.

As its winter in Southern Australia we have only a rough itinerary as we will allow the weather to dictate where we go, if it is wet or too windy we can head north from Perth and head up the west coast which should get warmer ( he says hopefully)

As distances are vast and price of diesel expensive it helps that the traffic will be light so you can cruise for hundreds of kms without having to stop as service stations or towns are a long way apart. The isolation is part of the appeal to head out there. Night skies should be amazing .

Makes the NC500 sound like a jaunt to the nearest pub! Enjoy.

 

[La Dodgy Vita]

Today we head off on our trip. First stop is Whyalla , which is about 400 km away. It has a big steelworks and is part of the Iron Triangle. It once had shipyards but now produces steel for local and export.

The reason we are stopping there is to see the giant cuttlefish. They come in close to shore to breed at this time of year and you can dive with them or take a glass bottom boat if you dont want to get wet. We have heard they are quite spectacular.

Leaving Whyalla we will then head west towards Perth , 2695 km from home across the Nullabor plain. This was once an epic journey on rough dirt roads for a few thousand kms but was sealed in the 1970s making it easier but it is still big distances between services , so it is something most Australians like to do at least once.

Excellent camping on the cliffs of the Great Australian Bight , looking out over the southern ocean towards antartica.
At this time of year whales can be seen close inshore as they come into the shallow , warm water to calve.

As its winter in Southern Australia we have only a rough itinerary as we will allow the weather to dictate where we go, if it is wet or too windy we can head north from Perth and head up the west coast which should get warmer ( he says hopefully)

As distances are vast and price of diesel expensive it helps that the traffic will be light so you can cruise for hundreds of kms without having to stop as service stations or towns are a long way apart. The isolation is part of the appeal to head out there. Night skies should be amazing .View attachment 161502View attachment 161503

Did you go through Peterborough? I lived there for a short time in the 1960s.
Will be back in Australia for 3 months at the end of this year and am considering a drive from my brother's place in Canberra to Peterborough (via rental car) for old times sake while I'm there.

 

[AussieMick]

Peterborough is a bit inland from our direction but my wife's parents used to live there so we know it well. Used to be a big railway repair town as a few long distance lines went through there
A bit of a dying town now.

 

[JOG]

Yay! Another @AussieMick epic begins! Enjoy your trip

 

[Ricardo T]

Good luck @AussieMick on your travels.

When we did Western Oz in our T2 it took us 3 or 4 days to cross the Nullarbor...epic trip though.

Loved the west coast up through the Pinnacles Desert, Monkey Mia and Bungle Bungles up to Broome.
The highlight though was into the Kimberleys with some Aussies we met en route...croc spotting.!

Fresh Yabby's weren't to shabby either.

Safe travels mate.

 

[AussieMick]

Have just spent 2 days at Whyalla in a caravan park. Whyalla is an industrial city built around the steel works. I used to come here to service the elevators in the various buildings around the steel works site.
Yesterday saw the southern giant cuttlefish from a glass bottom boat.
There were lots of them around so it was really interesting. They come here for about 3 months each year into shallow water to breed and hatch.
Today we will start our journey west across the Nullabor as it will get more arid and only a few small towns/ service stations for about 2000 kms.
Nullabor is Latin for no trees , Null - No
abor - tree.
Weather seems ok for next week so should be able to camp on the cliffs as we head across. Looking forward to this as there is plenty of room to be away from others and great views of the stars and southern ocean crashing away below.
Fuel prices will be much dearer going across but it has to be trucked a long way so is understandably high. As we get nearer to Perth prices should get better.
Expecting to loose phone coverage for a large part of the trip as phone service is only good about 20 km from towns and they are a long way apart.
We are traveling with another couple in a Toyota high ace camper so will use uhf radios to keep in touch.
We are fully provisioned with food, water and drinks so that should last us for a week or so.
I have a second fridge in the trailer which is a freezer at the moment so we have meats and soups etc. ready to cook each night.
I ran a 12v feed from my lithium leisure battery to the trailer to run the fridge and have 2 permanent solar panels mounted feeding into the leisure battery to keep it charged when we arnt driving. Using this system we have been out before for 6 weeks or so without power problems , and the weather is mild at the moment so that keeps power usage down.

 

[AussieMick]

Day 4
Left Whyalla 2 days ago and spent last night at a small camping area 2 km off the main road at a little fishing shack town.
Watching the sunset with a drink or two.
Today heading across the Nullabor, 2000 km to Perth WA.
Australia likes big things like the big banana, pineapple etc. These often represent something local to the area.
A few pictures of big things.

Found a windmill park , these used to be all over rural Australia but now solar pumps are used so they are disappearing.
Across the Nullabor there are trees decorated with different things, bras, hats, thongs, undies , all sorts of weird things, here is a picture of a tree with pots and frying pans hanging.

 

[Ricardo T]

Day 4
Left Whyalla 2 days ago and spent last night at a small camping area 2 km off the main road at a little fishing shack town.
Watching the sunset with a drink or two.
Today heading across the Nullabor, 2000 km to Perth WA.
Australia likes big things like the big banana, pineapple etc. These often represent something local to the area.
A few pictures of big things.View attachment 162011View attachment 162012

Found a windmill park , these used to be all over rural Australia but now solar pumps are used so they are disappearing. View attachment 162013View attachment 162014
Across the Nullabor there are trees decorated with different things, bras, hats, thongs, undies , all sorts of weird things, here is a picture of a tree with pots and frying pans hanging.

By 'thongs' i guess you mean flip flops..

 

[JOG]

Day 4
Left Whyalla 2 days ago and spent last night at a small camping area 2 km off the main road at a little fishing shack town.
Watching the sunset with a drink or two.
Today heading across the Nullabor, 2000 km to Perth WA.
Australia likes big things like the big banana, pineapple etc. These often represent something local to the area.
A few pictures of big things.View attachment 162011View attachment 162012

Found a windmill park , these used to be all over rural Australia but now solar pumps are used so they are disappearing. View attachment 162013View attachment 162014
Across the Nullabor there are trees decorated with different things, bras, hats, thongs, undies , all sorts of weird things, here is a picture of a tree with pots and frying pans hanging.

Fantastic update as ever @AussieMick

Love the little touches of Australian history and context.

Safe travels

 

[AussieMick]

Yes Ricardo T I do mean footwear , as you know Australians call flip flops thongs
The other type of thong will be hanging from the undies tree.
Not this type

 

[AussieMick]

I have phone coverage again.
Thursday night we camped at the free camp just before the Whale watching centre at the head of the bight.
The female southern right whales feed up in Antarctic waters then come to the cliffs at the bottom of Australia to calve and raise their young.
Next day heading west again we spent the night on top of the bunda cliffs overlooking the southern ocean.
We headed about 1km along the cliffs on a dirt track and found a good open area out of the prevailing wind.
Camped in an offroad area for the night and we are about 2 km from the main road so we can't hear the all night trucks. These are road trains pulling 2 to 4 trailers.
Cliff top camp over the cliffs.
Views across the Nullabor, no trees.
In outback Australia the Royal Flying Doctor will fly to remote areas to treat and evacuate serious medical conditions.
The road is marked like a runway in a few places so the can land on the road.

 

[JOG]

As ever, great posts @AussieMick

 

[AussieMick]

A few things about the van.

We are cruising along at about 100kmh
( 60 mph ) . You can drive for several hours between any type of stop, be it a service station or small town.

This is good for fuel economy and I drive 95% of the time on cruise control.
I could drive faster, up to the state limit of 110 kmh but this uses more fuel and we aren't in a hurry and we can relax more.
Fuel is about 30% dearer than in the cities but has to be trucked in from either Adelaide or Perth both about 1500 km away . It gets cheaper the closer to the city.
Oil temperature of van is about 102 to 105 degrees but I am pulling a small trailer.
I have a diesel parking heater and its been great as last night was 2 degrees Celsius. Daytime temperatures are around 20c to 28c.
My van is a T6 140 hp T30 with a full camper conversion. It is a 2wd and has gone ok offroad but if it rains 4 motion would be better.
I'm carrying recovery tracks and a 1400kg tow strap but not a snatch strap as there is nowhere strong enough to attach it to. I have an air compressor if I have to let tyres down to cross sand or mud but I try to avoid it if I can.

I changed the oil just before the trip as it would need doing before we could get home so easier to do before.

 

[AussieMick]

First off a couple of pictures.
This sign is at the start of a very long straight stretch of road, no bends or corners.
We have to pull off the road every so often to allow oversized trucks or farm equipment to pass.

I have tested positive to covid19 so I have to stop our journey and isolate for 7 days from my test, 4 days to go.
So far my wife is still negative so we are trying to keep her that way.
Because we have been out staying in remote areas the last 5 days we were isolating from other people anyway.
Anyway hopefully travel can resume next week.

 

[JOG]

Wishing you a speedy recovery @AussieMick