016 - Eucla to Fraser Range

Like Donkey in Shrek, I should not have doubted our trusty steed…

Starting at the end for today’s post it was 600km+ of faultless performance today as we continued and depending on which map or book you read, completed our crossing of the Nullabor.

Click here to see the journey's path

In what was more of an uneventful day, we did what we hoped to do and made it to Fraser Range Station and found a spot available for us.

Our morning started at god knows what time… It seems the region in and around Eucla and the WA border keep their “own” time. It’s unofficial but everyone around those parts use it because, well Perth is still light years away and it’d be pointless being on their time zone. After driving a fair chunk of it today, I can confirm, it’s a freakin big state.

So when I fired up The Rock Truck this morning and found no engine light, I was cautiously optimistic. The kids were fantastic getting in the car with little to no fuss. We left at what we were treating 7.15am, SA time. This was actually 5.45am WA time…

The Faithful Duo... Up and ready to roll out of Eucla.

We rolled down the spectacular Eucla Pass as dawn broke and headed off across the plain.

So much for being flat...

Geez... lucky we had the GPS to tell us where to head. And for those interested, yes I do sit on 90-95kmh with the van. Speed limit towing over here is 100kmh, and whilst the Rock Truck does it fine, fuel economy is much better (relatively speaking) at 90. And when it's $1.73 per litre, every bit helps. Bloody caravaners.

And…. That’s about it. The required fuel stops, a bazillion bits of road kill (more than I’ve ever seen) and admiration of quite a few wedge tail eagles (taking full advantage of aforementioned roadkill) filled most of the day.

There was quite a bit of anticipation when we set off from Caiguna after lunch (at 10.30am!) and took off on conquering Australia’s longest stretch of straight road, all 146km of it. For those wondering that’s about the same distance from Bacchus Marsh to Bendigo, with a small detour at a supermarket to three. Dead straight. Was quite the unique experience, and Evie and I developed a short impromptu game where we’d ask each other every 5min if there was a bend coming up.

How picturesque the Caiguna Roadhouse is for lunch.... 

James pointing out "this playground has no steps and a huge hole in it!" A career in OHS beckons with his safety first mentality.

These swings reminded me of the scene with Steve Buscemi (sp?) in Con Air where he talks to the little girl in the playground. Obviously not something I relayed to the kids.

And away we go. Australia's longest illegal drag strip.

And after nearly two hours of dead straight... here's the bend. Hold on!

Apparently we had a third child in the car today, but you wouldn't know it. He assumed this pose for most of the time, reading and devoted to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

But really, that’s about it. Was funny catching up with a guy from Gordon, near Bacchus Marsh just before setting off from Eucla. We were just pulling out whilst he was on the way to the shower. He was on his way to Perth in his old-school Ford GT, and he managed to catch us up at Balladonia, some 500km down the track. Whilst his fuel bill might have been similar, I think he was doing quite the different speed…

So we’re camped now at the lovely Fraser Range, due here for two nights before we embark on the next leg before Easter to Kalgoorlie. Not sure if we’ll do it in one hit, or whether or not we might free camp just before it, but like everything else, we’ll make that call when we have to.

For now, it’s about adjusting to this whacked out WA time and exploring the lovely Fraser Range Station tomorrow.

Time to let Sam have the precious highlighter to update the book. Lots to highlight today!!

And giving The Rock Truck a well-earned day off. Well done girl, you did very well today.