5 May 10 – The Nullarbour

By Craig: Ceduna, a diversion to the coast of 20 odd kilometres to Fowlers Bay, Jillah Rockhole and several stops taking in the Great Australian Bight found us across the Nullarbor. After our delay in Port Augusta we were on a fast track to Kalgoolie. Our trip across this vast open plain started in South Australia and ended in Western Australia with a short stop on the boarder for a vehicle inspection. No mate, I said, we don't have any fruit. OK, he said as he lifted the lid to the Waeco fridge. So these oranges are plastic, hey?. Well we did forget to eat them for lunch but thankfully he didn't ask to look in the pantry.
The bight as it suggests was sheer cliffs straight into the sea with the waves crashing into the edge of the Australian coastline with endless ferocity.
In some areas the sheer cliffs receded into a gentle slop but the Southern Ocean did not relent and wind carried salt spray for as far as one could see.







We took a break at the Nullarbour Service Station for fuel and of course an iced coffee (my addiction) and as casual as you like the local dingo paid us a visit.

A quick overnight stop at Jillah Rockhole was due to it being shown in the Camps 5 book as having a toilet. However when we got there I checked out the tin shed signed as ‘Toilet’ and realised I wasn’t seeing things: no door and only 1 & ½ walls with a bowl packed so tight with dunny roll a flee couldn’t get through the gaps.
Yep out with the shovel!!

The final section, or close to it, was the 90 Mile straight. Yep not a bend, literally bloody straight as a dye and by the time you get to the end you’re glad to see a curve in the road.
Finally, we arrived at Norseman, the intersection at the end of the Nullarbor with an easy decision: north, as we were hoping to catch up with some friends in Kalgoorlie.



Getting great family shots is never easy with a 7 year old prankster but thankfully sometimes we’re lucky enough to get one back, thanks Mum!












Norseman also has the unfortunate stigma for me as it provided an opportunity to open an email forwarded to us by the Coroner’s office regarding Kyle’s death. Nothing outside of the norm or different to my original understanding, although the word understanding is a gross overstatement as my status remains in total disbelief. The report did however place a perspective on time lines confirming events leading up to and post incident and provided some insight to Kyle’s state of mind.




By Lou: Although it wasn’t Craig’s preferred route to WA, I was pleased we had the opportunity to travel the Nullarbour, just to tick one more thing off the bucket list. I had anticipated it would be boring and lifeless but again I was mesmerised by the changing landscape. Granted it must get boring for those people who have done upwards of 15 crossings but for a novice it was good. For one night each we stayed at Ceduna, Fowler’s Bay, Jillah Rockhole (roadside stop) and Norseman. By the end of it we were sick and tired of the setting up and packing up each day. Our rig is ideal for a 3 week holiday in one place, but time consuming for the overnight touring.

We stopped in at the whale watching centre at the Head of Bight but knew we were a tad too early for the season and didn’t see any whales but the cliffs were magnificent.

It was at Norseman that we got mobile reception for the first time in days and after Sam was tucked into bed we stood gravely in the chilly night in front of the laptop and opened the preliminary Coroner’s report into Kyle’s death. It provided us with a little more detail about the hours before his death but overall our reaction was incredulity that we should be reading such a document. Despite seeing it in black and white it is impossible to accept that we will never see Kyle again.