First up was 146 km of the longest straight bit of road in Australia. It certainly was straight but it was not flat no steep hills but undulating.
Astute observers will notice that the wombat has been replaced by a large chicken.
Virtually at the end of the long straight road I stopped at Balladonia Roadhouse for ice and a coffee to fortify me for the task of turning the steering wheel. The coffee wasn’t bad at all, just don’t drink the water.
The drive to Kalgoorlie was uneventful and relatively uninteresting there were no particular sights or points of interest. the trees got more dense as I got further from the Nullarbor so it wasn’t unpleasant countryside. I listened to the new Harper Lee audio book which passed the time nicely.
Am wondering about the Esky – Ice costs at least $4 a day (a day and a half max) a lot more in remote places but all it carries is milk, sliced cheese and marg. I think it would be cheaper to buy fresh and throw it away than keep buying ice. On the downside – no cold beer. I notice most people seem to have a portable fringe in the back of the ute.
Distance: 244km Fuel: 19ltr My camper was in Canberra so leaving home was really just a matter of packing the car with all the stuff the camper couldn’t hold.
There was 30 litres of water and 20 litres of fuel though I cheated with the water taking empty containers and filling them up when I arrived in Canberra. I spent the Friday night at Katie and Geoff’s House, in the morning I had to buy a few things like milk and ice (thank you Katie for taking me) but eventually I set off before noon.
22 April 2017 – Driving to Narrandera .
Distance: 281km Fuel: 34ltr A well travelled route but I let the TomTom take me its variation of the quickest route via Jugiong and the back roads to Cootamundra, Junee and Coolamon. Definitely saw a lot of sheep going this way and not much traffic. Arrived at Narrandera mid afternoon but having visited here only a month or go past did nothing but get fuel and eat. The weather was warm and mostly sunny.
23 April 2017 A change of plan.
Distance: 479km Fuel: 47ltr I had intended to stay the night at Balranald but after setting off at 9.30am was there just after 12pm. As I have said on other occasions the Hay Plain is not the world’s most exciting drive and apart from being buzzed by a crop duster (they are totally mad) this was no exception. Decided to press on to Mildura.
24th April 2017 Port Augusta
Distance: 550km Fuel: 60ltr The weather was fine until the SA border when it started to cloud over. Usual stop at Yamba just inside SA for the state quarantine Service to check for Fruit, veggies etc Stopped at Morgan for ice and I also bought a sausage roll (living the good life). From Bulla on the showers started and by Port Pirie it was a downpour, visibility was poor and when I bought fuel just outside Port Augusta the service station exit was under several inches of water. The caravan park was quite a big one with more vans and motor homes than I had seen in a park but this is the last place on my journey that I have visited before so from tomorrow all is new and progress will be much slower.
Morning
All is forgiven – woke to a beautiful sunny morning. Showered, had breakfast wiped the windows and headlights clean of bugs (an advantage of wet weather). Noticed A frame caravan owners are obsessed with sweeping before they dismantle their camper – a statistic based on an observation of two. No rush this morning might only be only travelling about 155km.
OZ Camper Travels 