Nullaboring

Another day at Streaky Bay, and then westward ho! Leaving the cold and wet that was SA, we drove through Ceduna (cold) and lured by the promise of whales, stayed the night at the 133k Peg (cold and wet). Alas, no whales that afternoon, but we camped right on the edge of the Bight so the scenery was spectacular.

Trucky spent a couple of hours of grinding and welding to repair the damaged safety chains and tow hitch. It appears that leaving Penong (famed for the last shop for 1000km) earlier that day we’d scraped the draw bar of the trailer on the road leaving the roadhouse. I guess the sparks kept him warm!

The next day we drove over the SA/WA border (cold) and met the lovely chap at the quarantine station. We donated the rest of our fruit, veg and honey, vacuumed Terry (it seems the little 4WD was carrying some grass) and continued on. We stopped at several roadhouses along the way (cold and wet), to use their facilities (anything to prolong the emptying of the on-board portaloo!!) and buy postcards and icecreams.

The destination for the night was Cocklebiddy (cold and wet), as I was desperately keen to get to the caves, and the Eyre Bird Observatory the next day. Calling into the roadhouse for more icecream (do these kids have no feeling at all?) I found a sign giving directions to the observatory. I knew it was off the beaten track, but not quite how much. Crappy dirt road for 17km (thinking, ok, Terry can handle that) then no road, just serious 4WD country for the next 10km. Unfortunately, the little car would have been completely overwhelmed there, so the side-trip was canned.

Resigned to one disappointment, I read on. Next to this disappointing sign was another. This described all the dangers in the cave system, and the safety requirements for those intending to explore. We’d brought the abseiling gear and rescue equipment with us, but not being able to feel my extremities due to cold dampened my enthusiasm a bit. We all decided to give it a miss. So, rather than a couple of days there, we had another driving day ahead of us… I think we are all keen to get back to the coastline again.