Day 8 (18 May) – Port Lincoln (fair weather and 19o in Port Lincoln)
Another fairly early start, this time at the Marina by 07:00. We left the marina for a 1.5 hour trip to Grindal Island where the sea lions swim and play in the shallows. A fair day with only about an hour in the water. We saw around 4 sea lions, one was fairly interactive but nothing like we have seen on other tours.
Back into the harbour by 12:00. Then back to the holiday park I went up and introduced myself to the owners of another Iluka – Denise and Michael. We meant to catch up later in the day but Lyn and I headed over to Coffin Bay for the Oyster Farm tour where we learned how to Shuck oysters. We also saw the only oyster vending machine in the world!
Back to Port Lincoln where we had dinner at Del Giorno’s – supposed to be the best restaurant in town and we had the Seafood basket for 2.
Then to the motorhome where I watched the replay of Melbourne beating the Lions! A great win after the disappointment of the Storm being beaten by Cronulla the previous night.
Day 9 (19 May) – Port Lincoln to Ceduna [Shelly Beach Caravan Park] (good weather and 21o in Ceduna; 436 km)
A trip to Streaky Bay first where we had lunch, then on to Smoky Bay and finally Ceduna. We checked in for the Nullarbor Links round, had a walk down the pier where we had a facetime call with James, Charlotte, Wren and Luna, then dinner at the foreshore hotel.
Day 10 (20 May) – Ceduna (1o early in the morning, good weather – a bit windy and 17o in Ceduna)
A day for completing chores such as laundry and preparing the vehicles for the Nullarbor trip – I changed the batteries in the TPMS for the Jimny and the Gas Level monitors for Elsie. We took a walk along the beach where we were amazed at the clarity of the water. Lyn still won’t swim there though after the stories about the sharks along the coast.
Next into town and the golf club to start our Nullarbor Links round – two holes at Ceduna Golf Club (#1 [Oyster Beds was the name for the Nullarbor Links Golf Hole] and #18 [Denial Bay] for their course).
Back to the motorhome to tidy up and then to the pub for dinner again.
Day 11 (21 May) – Ceduna to Nullarbor Roadhouse (fair weather, low cloud and a bit of rain and 18o at the Nullarbor Roadhouse; 310 km)
First into town to get the cheapest fuel – it’s expensive across the SA part of the Nullarbor. Then to Foodland for some last minute supplies.
Heading West, we drove to Penong for the third Nullarbor Links hole [Windmills]. A quick look at the windmills dispaly near the golf hole, then off again.
Next, Nundoo [Wombat Hole] for the fourth Nullarbor Links hole.
On the way, I had a call from Taylor in Canada who is providing some spare parts for our Cessna 310. A really nice guy who has been very helpful. He found a discrepancy in the brake pads I’d requested and gave me some options regarding shipping.
Finally, we arrived at Nullarbor Roadhouse, refuelled (at $2.75 per litre) and played the fifth Nullarbor Links hole [Dingo’s Den].
Not much to do here so blogging and repairing the VELSIE.COM site. We had dinner in the motorhome despite the great art inside the roadhouse.
What was interesting was a Tesla that had a trailer fitted out with around 18 solar panels to charge their vehicle. We noticed that they were also plugged in to the camp ground power and then first thing the next morning they pulled into the NRMA charging station (clearly their car hadn’t been able to be fully charged overnight).
Day 12 (22 May) – Nullarbor Roadhouse to Mundrabilla Roadhouse (good weather, low cloud and 20o towards the Mundrabilla Roadhouse; 277 km)
We decided to visit the Head of the Bight for a while. We had a good sighting of 2 whales around 600m offshore. There were a couple more much further oout. Not bad as we were there ahead of the main sighting season. Great views of the Bunda Cliffs to the West of us also.
We tried to get to the Murrawijinie Caves but the road in was really suitable for a serious 4WD (without bikes on the roof). So after about 5Km we headed back to the Nullarbor Roadhouse and decided to move on as we had seen enough in the area (we had planned to stay 2 nights at the Nullarbor Roadhouse).
On to the Border Village Nullarbor Links hole [Border Roo], then across the SA/WA border where our prawns were confiscated. No mention of outlawed frozen prawns on any of the notices we’d seen. At least we weren’t fined.
We then played the next hole [Nullarbor Nymph] at the Eucla Golf Club and, after getting our cards stamped, headed to Mundrabilla Roadhouse for the night.
We checked in, played the Nullarbor Links hole there [Watering Hole], had a meal in the roadhouse then retired for the night whilst trying to plan our next few days. They have clippings of the UFO sightings by the Wales family in 1988 up on the wall. I was asked to assist with setting up an LED set in Melbourne for a film crew but I think the funding collapsed.
Day 13 (23 May) – Mundrabilla Roadhouse to Fraser Range Station (fair weather, high cloud and 23o in the middle of the day and very light rain later; 461 km)
Off around 08:15 after refuelling at Mundrabilla. First stop was Madura where we played the 9th Hole of the Nullarbor Links [Brumby;s Run]. Next on to Cocklebiddy where we refuelled and played hole 10 [Eagle’s Nest].
Heading West, we travelled to Caiguna where we played the next hole [90 Mile Straight]. Caiguna is the start of the longest straight stretch of road in Australia – 146.6 km.
Finally, we refuelled at Belladonia and played the last hole for the day [Skylab]. Another 90 km and we arrived at Fraser Range Station around 15:30. Just as well, as all the good sites had gone but we managed a reasonable one near the office. An interesting take on ‘When the office isn’t manned’ – we had to use a CB radio to call up rather than a phone number or bell!
Day 14 (24 May) – Fraser Range Station to Kalgoorlie (Kalgoorlie Big4 Prospector Caravan Park )(brilliant weather, no cloud and 18o in the middle of the day; 405 km)
We drove to Norseman Golf Course to play the next 2 holes on the Nullarbor Links Course – [Ngadju and Golden Horse]. No one around so, into town to the Information centre to get stamped.
Next, on to Widgiemooltha where the hole [Golden Eagle] is hidden well back behind the Widgiemooltha Roadhouse.
Our final hole for the day was [Silver Lake] at the Kambalda Golf Course. We had a few people finish their golf as we arrived and then one guy appeared and played with us – a bit of a potty mouth though. We were glad he was heading in the opposite direction.
We then drove to Kalgoorlie Golf Course where we had booked to play 18 holes the next day. We confirmed that we get a discount due to playing the Nullarbor Links. There was an interesting frame at the golf club that looked as though it had been used for a wedding?
We then left and checked in to the caravan park.
After settling in, we went to the public viewing area of the Kalgoorlie Mines Company to have a look at the vast open cut mine. It is enormous.
On to Coles for supplies after we had removed all the fruit and vegetables to cross the border.
Finally, dinner at The Cray restaurant in Hannan St – a really great meal. Back to the motorhome for an evening doing more financial work.
The end of our second week on the road.
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