Outback Trip–Part 2

At the end of each day a suitable quiet bush campsite would be found and the vehicles circled around a central campfire.  For some reason food cooked over an open fire is particularly delicious.

The next morning we drove on exiting the Old Telegraph Track at the Balladonia Roadhouse.  After refuelling we continued east on the blacktop to the next roadhouse, Cocklebiddy.

It was here I noticed the electric vehicle recharging station powered by a generator using old cooking oil as fuel.

We left the blacktop at Cocklebiddy heading onto the unsealed Old Coach Road.  More fun driving! 

All the recent rain meant the vehicles were starting to get very dirty.

A day later we reached Madura Roadhouse, which was another refuelling stop.

A short drive on the Eyre Highway (blacktop) saw us reach the top of the Madura Escarpment with panoramic views of the coastal plain to the south.

This is where we left the blacktop and headed further east on the Old Eyre Highway.  The highway is the original section of east-west road across Australia.  It’s received no maintenance since the new Eyre Highway was constructed in the early 1980’s.  Interesting driving!

The geology during this part of the trip was sandstone and the route took us near many caves.  The entrances to most of them are sinkholes.

 

The area is popular for cave diving. 

We left the Old Eyre Highway at Eucla Roadhouse and headed down to the coast to visit the Old Telegraph Station.  This was the location where the telegrams were exchanged between South and West Australia.

Continuing east we crossed the border into South Australia.  There is a quarantine station here, however it’s operated by the West Australian State Government and only vehicles heading west are checked.  The South Australian quarantine station is further east at Ceduna.

I was carrying five 20L jerrycans of diesel on the trailer because I knew the price of fuel at the next roadhouse (Nullabor) would be the most expensive on the trip.

For a small fee it’s possible to get a shower at most of the roadhouses.  Water is precious out here and filling the trailer water tank would have cost me $1 for 25 litres.

 

Not much grass here! 

Two EV’s were using the charging station

The old roadhouse has been retained providing an indication of what the remoteness of the highway would have been like when transiting the area 40 years ago.

 

We left the main sealed highway continuing on the unsealed Old Eyre Highway until we again re-joined the main highway near Yalata.

The plan was to head north up Googs Track, which is just before Ceduna.  This would have avoided the South Australian quarantine station.  However some in the group needed fuel and food so we passed through the quarantine station where most people had to surrender any fruit and vegetables they still possessed.  I imagine the staff at the quarantine station eat well; and cheaply; on all the fresh food that is surrendered.

After replenishing our supplies we headed back through the quarantine station; where we weren’t stopped and searched as we were heading west; reaching the southern end of Googs Track.  This would be a test of my driving skills towing a trailer.