Day 11 - Kalgoorlie to Tammin Roadhouse - Friday 19th May 2017

This morning we discovered that the day parking area of Centennial Park is very popular with locals as it hosts a coffee van. It seems as if everyone in Kalgoorlie needs a coffee fix before setting off for work - it was so busy we chose to forgo the pleasure. Instead we headed off and had a drive around town seeing it as a tourist would. There are so many grand old buildings in Kalgoorlie that we wished we could have had more time to explore. Unfortunately we are still trying to catch up with friends who left Melbourne a week or two before us (we had planned to travel together from the outset but we were delayed). The highlight for me was seeing the famous Hay Street brothels - I will have to come back and do the tour some other time. Once on the road we stopped briefly at the nearby town of Coolgardie, also another gold mining center in days gone by as indeed was/is Kalgoorlie. Then it was on down the highway always flanked by the large water main that brings water from the west for these thirsty towns. Lunch was had at the lovely town of Southern Cross at the rotary park. Next stop was Merriden where we scoped out a free overnight stop but for whatever reason I didn't feel comfortable staying there - perhaps it was a little remote and also it was raining heavily - so we continued to Tammin Roadhouse after first getting some essentials at the local IGA. Here we camped at the side of the roadhouse toward the back and settled in for the night. The only strange happening was a small workers truck pulling up nearby and two presumably Muslim workers getting out and attending to their prayers on the gravel apron rather late at night. Once I realised what they were doing I felt relaxed after feeling apprehensive at first.

Day 10 - Baxter Rest Stop to Kalgoorlie - Thursday 18th May 2017

Today was to be another driving all day kind of day. First stop after the end of the Nullarbor was Norseman in Western Australia. Here we found a very welcome information center with toilets and showers so we took advantage of both. We also stopped for lunch at a small Thai cafe as well as visiting the local pharmacy for some decongestant for my cold and the local news-agency for a Telstra pre-paid sim card. One thing we hadn't counted on when setting out was the complete lack of connectivity for both our Optus network mobile phones and also my Aldi (Telstra sometimes only) phone. It seems Telstra has the only true nation-wide network and even then there are serious black spots along some of the more remote highways. Anyway, suitably equipped, our children are now able to contact us most days should the need arise. Then it was on to Boulder near Kalgoorlie to find a public dump point before then heading into Kalgoorlie proper and setting up camp at a free 24 hour stopover at Centennial Park. This a great facility with public toilets nearby and something every town could learn from.

Day 9 - Cliff Camp 2 (Great Australian Bight) to Baxter Rest Stop - Wednesday 17th May 2017

Woke up this morning to the wonderful view of the Bight from our bed. What a magnificent spot. Breakfast comprised lots of fried tomatoes as we continued to try and reduce our vegetable load rather than see it go to waste. Mandarins and bananas were also mandatory fare for the remainder of the journey to the border. Once we reached Border Village and the quarantine station we had gotten rid of most of our fruit and vegetables and the remainder had been turned into potato salad and vegetable stir fry and stored in our fridge. Of the two officials carrying out the inspections I suspect we got the more unpleasant of the two. A middle aged gent of Chinese descent he was unwilling to answer my questions and demanded in quite a rude manner that we move the vehicle and also that he be allowed to inspect everywhere in the motor-home. Frankly I was of a mind to report him but in the end chose not to do so as the bureaucracy that employs these types are generally unsympathetic to complaints against their staff. Shortly after Border Village we stopped at Eucla to refuel and also to try and drive to the old Telegraph Station which in the end we gave up on as the unsealed road was too bumpy for our vehicle. A little further down the road we stopped at Madura Pass Lookout for a view back over the Roe Plains toward Eucla. Then it was on to Cocklebiddy and Caiguna with Sue once again at the wheel including part of the longest section of straight road in Australia (146.6 km). There were many, many kangaroo carcasses on this section and the odd wedge tailed eagle feasting on the road kill also. At one point we stopped to investigate a banging noise that had become louder over the previous day or two. Turns out a rubber strip on the roof of the motor-home had come adrift and was almost completely dislodged. We did the only thing we could and that was to tuck the end of the strip inside the motor-home and close the door on it. This way we reasoned it would last until we got top Perth and have it looked at. Our stop for the night was at the free camp at Baxter Rest Area. There were many vehicles already here and we found a slightly isolated spot near the back to settle in for the night which we did after tucking in to a tasty dinner that included many of the vegetable dishes Sue had prepared.

Day 8 - Penong to Cliff Camp 2 (Great Australian Bight) - Tuesday 16th May 2017

After retrieving our lantern we set off this morning and called in at the service station in Penong first thing. Here I managed to partially deflate one of our front tyres courtesy of a faulty air hose at the service station. Fortunately there is a mechanic in this very small town and we managed to find his workshop down a couple of dirt roads. He kindly re-inflated the tyre with his compressor which was capable of 80 psi and we were on our way again. Sue took the wheel for the first time this trip driving some 150 km on a fairly straight bu also fairly narrow section of highway with the occasional large truck coming in the opposite direction - I suspect she was more nervous than she appeared but she handled it extremely well. Our first stop was at the Head of the Bight lookout, some distance off the highway and as the name suggests, right on the Bight. In season (which was just starting apparently) one can see many whales resting here, many coming here to give birth to their young. They take up residency here for anything up to five months from June to October each year. As luck would have it being the very start of the season we didn't get to see any - apparently there were quite a few in the days preceding our visit. Nevertheless the views of the Bight and the cliffs were superb and we were glad we'd made the detour. We gave away some vegetables and a jar of honey to the lady running the Head of Bight Visitor Center as even honey is not allowed across the border into WA. On the way back to the highway we stopped at Whitewell Tank, a flat gravel area that many campers use as a free overnight stop. We decided against staying as it is very exposed to the strong winds coming off the Bight but we did stay long enough to have lunch here. After lunch we drove on to Cliff Camp 2, a little way short of the border. We were lucky enough to see a dingo cross the road on the way. We were the only ones at Cliff Camp 2 for the night and this was a spectacular location perched as it is on the cliffs overlooking the Bight. For safety's sake we parked a little way back from the edge but we still had fantastic views. It was so windy that we didn't venture outside all that often other than to take photographs  and the initial setup. Sue spent much of the evening once again turning raw vegetables into something that would pass muster at the border checkpoint - in this  case a vegetable stir-fry, as well as a tasty coleslaw from the remaining cabbage and ginger.