We left Esperance, weather was fine and we are eager to give the Nullarbor a crack. We were dreading the heat as we had some pretty hot days travelling inland Wave Rock – Kal. We gotta be entering a "Wave Zone", I’m the waver, Darl the driver (he don’t wave). Our first stop was Fraser Range Station, a great stop over, they call it the Oasis in the Outback and they are right. We had a great night chatting and drinking with Ben and Kate an English couple out here to start a new life for themselves in Perth. This used to be a sheep station but now they are getting into cattle to supply the Esperance meat works. We met a few other travelers here, all did big stints across the Nullarbor heading west, doing the drive in 1 to 2 days……. We do a hole of golf here,(wrote in visitor book, "we enjoyed playing the Sheep Back hole" that's not with) we’ve already done 5 holes from Kal to Norseman, from here on across it’s one hole at each roadhouse, ending with two at Ceduna.
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| An island of artefacts and skulls |
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| The golf hole is out here somewhere?? Sheep's Back Par 3 |
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| Not much water in the Billy... |
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| Best camp kitchen yet, a home away from home |
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| Some of the gardens at Fraser Range Station |
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| The old ute seen better days |
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| Things you find out here in the bush, cuppa tea Darl?? |
Keen to get a go on today get a few holes of golf done and some kms down the track. We hit the 90 mile straight, about 260kms east of Norseman, the car shuddered, back fired and stopped….oh great, if it could happen to anyone it was going to happen to us. In the middle of the Nullarbor, why not?? Lucky for us a couple, Ken and Roseanne, we had seen at Fraser Range and Balladonia pulled over when I waved them down, they had a satellite phone, so we tracked down a towie to come get us and take us back to Norseman, our best option at this point. It was a long 3 hour wait and a long 260km ride back to Norseman. Pizza and a few drinks at the pub tonight were in order, we met the local cop, teacher and ambo.
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| Skylab Par 3 at Balladonia - fairway looking a bit rugged |
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| We are not hitting these holes on par yet, beware of snakes! |
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| Yep straight as ! |
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| What does one do while waiting for the towie?? Lucky for the shade of a tree |
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| A sad and sorry state....wasn't the first, won't be the last |
Up early, we got the car fixed – a broken wire on the coil, $100 fix plus a tow that cost a little pot of gold and we were on our way again. The Nullarbor is a stretch of road (Eyre Highway) some 1194kms (+420kms for us) from Norseman to Ceduna, dotted with several roadhouses along the way. We lashed out at Caiguna and got a room for the night, it wasn’t flash but it was magic. We met up with Ken and Roseanne here again, who we thought would be over the border and gone, they had a car problem, waiting for a tow to Eucla.
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| It felt a little like, ground hog day...... |
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| Caiguna - 90 Mile Straight, through trees, follow the signs |
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| That be my ball in there, degree of difficulty - off the scale |
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| This would turn out to be the putt of the series, yes believe it or not Darl sunk it from there |
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| Our chateau at Caiguna roadhouse, old but clean and comfy bed AND TV.. |
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