Saturday 3^rd May Walpeup

We drove off at 9.30am this morning, and got here at ~5pm. The van all packed, and I was very happy that it started easily when I turned it on; it's been nearly 3 months since it was last used.

We have left everything in good order; the west wall of Castlemaine house needed repainting, and we've done it; the trees around the house needed trimming, and we've done it (partly ourselves, but then with the aid of an arborist when I got too scared / too cautious to remove a large branch over the house without damaging either myself or the house); and after years of trying to find someone to do it, have installed handrails on the stairs of the flat in North Melbourne. This involved a lot of work from us; spackling, sanding, and repainting the walls the rails were attached to. It meant living in a flat full of plaster dust for a couple of weeks, which we were very happy to finally have cleaned up.

This morning, we headed off through Maldon, Dunolly, and had our first stop in St. Arnaud for a coffee in the park there. It was cold when we left home; the car said it was 7 degrees; but it was sunny and we both moved into shorts when we had lunch, at Watchem Lake.

Then driving again. We both did two sessions of driving today. Through Ouyen and we stopped at a council rest area at Walpeup, which we looked at and noted when we were up here a year or two ago. About 8 other vans here. A short walk around the tiny town and through the dryland garden, where Alison collected some seeds.

The house voltage is a bit lower than it used to be; not a big issue, but I should have a look at the battery tomorrow.

Alison worked out that it is 2,700km from Castlemaine to Norseman.

Sunday 4^th May End Of The World Gorge, near Burra

Last night? We cooked on the barbecue next to the van, and then ate on the tables there. That was the good part of being next to the barbecue area; the bad part was that the light, quite bright, stayed on all night. It was very hard to block it out, and we couldn't find any way of switching it off.

At least we had the place to ourselves, I suppose.

Then – everyone appeared to go to bed! By 8pm there were very few lights on in any of the other vans, and not a whisper of noise. So we didn't feel we could put on a DVD to watch. We ended up going over for a shower at 9pm, then going to bed. Much earlier than we are used to. Oh well.

This morning we got up and shared two apples and an orange for breakfast; we are going into South Australia and they're not allowed through quarantine. And at 7.45 am we set off.

It was really nice light, driving with the early morning sun behind us; I thought that we should do this (get going early) all the way west. Through the Quarantine Station at Pinaroo, then north-west to Loxton in the “Riverland”. Here, we stopped for a walk; and a coffee; and a trip to the supermarket. I'd thought that we could replace the fruit we couldn't bring, but I couldn't bring myself to buy what they had in the only supermarket open on a Sunday morning. We did buy some supermarket bread rolls for lunch. And after being unable to buy more fuel where I intended (not enough clearance under their roof for our tall van) I had to buy it at an unmanned petrol station using Mastercard. Not as easy as I'd hoped but I hope it all ends up OK.

On towards Kingston. We stopped on the way at Moorook, where there's a walking track to a game reserve. At least, we think there is. We walked along it for ½ hour or so return, but it was not very interesting; it went between backyards and the river. We did see a better spot to spend the night than the “official” campground where we'd parked, but it was far too early to think about it. So we ate lunch at a table by the river, in the sun; very pleasant.

Back on the road. Up to the Sturt Highway, along through Waikerie, along the river road till we crossed the river on a ferry at Cadell. Into Morgan, a walk around the lookout, and we left the river and continued north-west to Burra.

There was a strong northerly wind which meant poor fuel consumption. Oh well. We turned south 10km short of Burra (much better fuel consumption) to the End Of The World camping area, where we'd stayed two years ago. It was a nice a spot as we had remembered; quite a few vans, but very spread out, unlike last night.

We've propped down at one end, in almost the same spot we were in before; and walked along to the far end, past lots of magnificent huge trees.

We're going to use the barbecue plate outside, on the butane stove, for the first time tonight.

And we've both decided that we can slow down our travel now.

Monday 5^th May Appila Springs

The barbecue plate worked beautifully, and we had a yummy dinner and a good evening; we had a shower in the van before bed; and both slept well without last night's extraneous light or silly early bedtime.

In the morning, there was nearly as much bird noise as there is at home in Castlemaine; but we slept in. I put on shorts – it was not really cold at all. A “normal” breakfast, and then we drove into Burra. We've been here before, but today we gave it a lot more time. We parked, walked around the centre of town, and looked for Tourist Info. It took quite a while to find, as the usual building was being renovated; eventually we found it, in the Shire Offices. After a little chat, we went to the library, did Brain Drain, and rewarded ourselves with a coffee; then decided to return and buy a key to let us into various historical places around the town. This is not a usual thing for us, but I think it was very worthwhile here.

We began by driving up to the mine, using the key to drive through the locked gate, and up to the Cornish Engine House – the site of an enormous steam engine used to pump water from the mine, when they got down to below the water table. Quite amazing. Then around to the powder magazine, the mine lookout; and then down to the Bon Accord Museum, where we had lunch.

Here, I noticed that the van's television aerial was no longer there! I thought maybe a branch on the way in had knocked it off, but no; there was no sign of it. So I tidied up the loose wire and am not too concerned; it never worked very well anyway, and the plastic base, still present, is very weathered and brittle.

We continued around town to the lock-up, and the jail – later a “reformatory” for girls. The good thing (one of the good things) about the key was that usually we had the site to ourselves – despite them sometimes lending out 70 keys at a time! By 3.30pm we'd done enough; we had another coffee in a nice cafe, returned our key, and headed out of town.

Alison was driving this bit. (At one point she pulled over to let following traffic pass; this is the first time this trip there's been a need to do it.) Up north to Hallett, across to Jamestown, then up to Appila. Here, we ran into a problem; the Appila bridge was being re-done and the road to Terownie (and Appila Springs, where we were headed) was closed. But – where was the bridge? As it turned out, not far along the road. Alternatives? None obvious. But using the phone map we went on 5km of rough dirt roads and managed to bypass the bridge, and came to Appila Springs. A big camp area, only two other vehicles; and the springs much drier than when we were here years ago. But a fine place for the night.

We had a little walk, said hullo to the two French brothers in the other vehicle in the upper area here; had dinner, and then the brothers (Raf & Sasha) came over after dinner for a chat. They're heading for Flinders Ranges, Coober Pedy, Alice Springs, and back to the east coast in two weeks!

It's still warm, and I'm still in shorts.

Tuesday 6^th May Whyalla

I am a bit out of sorts this evening. Perhaps being in a biggish town after a fair amount of uninteresting driving. I don't know.

It is still warm. The long pants remain away in the cupboard.

The day began well; a good sleep (disturbed only by a flock of noisy parrots (?) at 11.30pm, who all should have been asleep); but good overall. A relaxed morning, with a walk around the very dry Appila Springs before driving out, north to Orroroo.

We have fond memories of Orroroo from 2 years ago. It's still a very nice little town; we went to the library and did Brain Drain, then went to the Two Farmer's Daughters cafe for a reward. While we were sitting there, in walked Rod & Larraine Millard from Castlemaine! (Alison often has coffee on Tuesday mornings with Larraine after gym, and I often have coffee on tuesday mornings with Rod after cycling.) So we stayed longer chatting.

Then, time to set off. Westwards now, to Port Augusta. To (not) aid our fuel consumption, the north wind of the last couple of days has swung around to a westerly. A drive through the usual, now, dry brown dusty paddocks, through Horrock's Pass (a more interesting section) and down past nearly 100 wind turbines and a huge solar farm into Port Augusta.

We didn't have such fond memories of Port Augusta, and we still don't. A big town at the head of the gulf with big-town services, but not a nice feel. We went to the supermarket, bought icecreams and fruit for lunch, ate them on the foreshore, and drove down another hour to Whyalla.

We got there after 4pm. Tourist Info was closed. We really need to stock up here, and work out where to go, so we need to stay. We headed 8km further (it is a very spread-out town) to the Weroona Football Club grounds at Stuart Park, where you can stay. We got there to find a “no vacancy” sign. What to do? We drove in anyway and met the (very nice) caretaker, who told us there actually was one spot left. So here we're staying. It's very basic, but away from busy roads and – the best option for staying in town, I think.

Just very different from the lovely isolated country spots of the last two nights.

As I was out of sorts, we went for a walk at dusk around the area. Suburban, large blocks, very dry sandy soil, and a surprising number of houses with no lights on.

Wednesday 7^th May Iron Knob

This morning, despite not hurrying, we were one of the first to leave the campground. This is often the way. We drove down to the showgrounds nearby, and filled up with water. Water which has come from the Murray River at Morgan, and then to Whyalla in a pipeline! It seems a pity mixing it with our nice Castlemaine water, but there's no other option.

Then into the old historic part of Whyalla, where we parked the van (very easily) and went for a walk around the historic town centre. Historic, but also quite deserted and depressed-looking, with quite a few empty shops. There was one cafe, but we looked and thought we'd find better. (We were wrong, and it was a mistake – we failed to find a half-reasonable cafe in Whyalla.)

We continued on the the harbour and out the breakwater (which a pair of dolphins were swimming around) and then out to the circular pier.

Then to Tourist Info. We didn't know which way to go from here; we'd thought about going across the middle of the Eyre Peninsula, through Cleve, but were told it is mostly uninteresting farming country. So we'll go up to Iron Knob and then across the direct road to Ceduna. We found they have mine tours, done by volunteers, at Iron Knob so we rang and booked in to a tour tomorrow morning.Back to the van and we drove to the “big” shopping centre in the middle of town, and parked at Aldi.

The caretaker at the campground said there were showers at the Recreation centre nearby; we needed to wash our hair. We went looking, found it, and had a shower. Nice. Back across to the shopping centre. Aldi, then into the shopping centre proper. Let's have a coffee! Alas, nothing half reasonable there. More supermarket, and we left – back to the harbour to eat lunch. We were both getting quite hungry. We ate lunch inside (a cold wind had developed) and made ourselves, at last, a coffee.

Today has been a one-coffee day.

Alison got out maps. We'd planned our trip as far as this, but no further; so we now have a vague plan for the next week. Influenced by the quarantine station at the WA border, beyond which we can take neither fruit nor vegies – and can't buy more till Norseman, two days drive further on.

Organised! So we drove back the the historic town centre (the only place we'd found a Commonwealth Bank ATM), the to the “real” middle of town, to the library, and did Brain Drain. And after a final supermarket visit, and donning long pants again, we drove out of town. We've driven over 30km around Whyalla today!

The road to Iron Knob, 50 km away, was dead straight. We looked for a place to prop for the night but nothing appeared, so we're in a campground in town, better than last night's, and donation instead of $10. We went for a walk around town at dusk (again!). It is almost a ghost town now.

Thursday 8^th May Kimba

Long pants, this morning; it was sunny but quite cold. Today began with a walk up to Tourist Info for our mine tour at 9.15. The walk took ~10 minutes; everyone else drove. The whole place is run by volunteers; it has a lot of information about Iron Knob and its history. We piled into a minibus – driver / guide + eleven passengers. The driver had lived here for eleven years; he wasn't the best guide I've ever listened to. But the mine was enormous; it is now run by OneSteel, and has 200 employees – who live in Whyalla and come by bus every day. So the town has a population of ~140, now; it used to be much bigger.

Despite the 200 employees, we saw no evidence of anything happening at the mine.

We walked back home, past the prickly pears withering from lack of water – something I've never seen before - and had our morning coffee, then got onto the road to Kimba, all of 85km away. There was, at last, no headwind; and the van's fuel consumption returned to its usual level (~10l/100km). We drove into the recreation reserve at Kimba, a similar donation-camping area to Iron Knob, but much bigger. And had lunch.

Change into shorts, and we walked into town, ~10 minutes walk away. Went to their Op Shop, saw the very good silo art; down to the highway to see the “Big Galah” and the sign saying we are halfway across Australia (though we began a long way west of its easterly point); went to an artist's collective shop, and went home.

The recreation reserve was much fuller now.

After afternoon tea, we went on the 6km return Roora Walk, through bush up to White's Knob, the local high point with a microwave tower. It was a pleasant walk; various sculptures along the way (it is difficult to get some animal anatomy accurately), and a view over town at the end.

I guessed that we would meet six other walkers on the track; Alison said three. She won – we saw a man and his dog near the end, who maybe counted as ½.

The recreation reserve was fuller still.

Evening chill had begun. Back into long pants, and we went over to the good camp kitchen to cook on their barbecue. As well as our dinner, Alison made a yummy eggplant / potato / haloumi mixture to eat later. We ate dinner over there but then returned to the van, where it is much warmer.

It's been a good day.

Friday 9^th May Pildappa Rock, near Minippa

Last night, and this morning, were cold. I had to get out my down parka. After watching a Harrison Ford thriller film last night, sleeping was not as good as often; there was also a surprising amount of road noise, considering we're well away from the highway.

At 8.45 am we were away again. After an hour we stopped and made a coffee at Koongawa (a tiny spot, with nothing open); drove through Wudinna, a bigger town but nothing tempting us to stop; on to Minippa, where we turned of the highway for the 15km drive to Pildappa Rock.

The first km was bitumen, but then it turned into a rough gravel road; average speed ~15km/hour, in 2^nd gear all the way. But the rock was worth it; a huge rock you can walk around and over, with a picnic ground being made near the entrance. After a quick walk up the rock, we returned and drove around it. At the far end was a campground; privately run, a large dry dusty area with a toilet, one other camper, and a $20 “donation”. Not for us.

Further around we found a flat cleared area near a long-drop toilet; no sign to preclude us staying here, so we stopped and had lunch. The morning's cold had been replaced by the opposite, and we both had to change into shorts. Siesta time. We wrote some website.

Then, after putting on head nets – the bush flies are abysmal here - a walk up the rock, and around; it would be spectacular with rain, but it is so dry. We found 2 rockholes on the top with a little water in them, a few empty, dry, dams; and at the bottom of the rock there is an extensive water-collection system leading to a huge underground tank.

Back for afternoon tea, another walk up the rock at sunset. Dinner. We are all on our own here for the first time this trip, and it is really nice.

Saturday 10^th May Ceduna

A lovely quiet place for the night. But we woke quite early and drove out before 8am, for the 40-minute or so slow trip back to the highway. Then it was a straight 170km drive into Ceduna, with 2 stops on the way to change drivers.

We got to Ceduna late morning, went past the first caravan park (dreadful reviews!), into the Big 4 (unimpressive) and out again, then on to the Top 10 Foreshore Park, which seems fine. They had a spot, so in we moved. We even have power!

This is a re-stock sort of day. We put on the washing, and went out for a coffee – just making it in time before they closed, at midday. Hang out the washing, go to the supermarket, have lunch – and the gas finally ran out. We've been expecting it for a few days.

It was the usual fine sunny afternoon. We walked out the pier, along the beach, back inland across grass. Grass is in short supply in this part of the country. Brought in the ironing and packed things up for continuing on tomorrow.