Well, it's been a dusty few days crossing one section of the 'treeless plain' and then enduring up to 38 degree heat as we neared the end of the Nullarbor at Balladonia. We left Ceduna and drove the bitumen Eyre Highway to the 'dot' of Nullarbor, stopping at the 'Head of the Bight' to view the amazing coastline of the Great Australian Bight! It would be great to come here in the whale migration season as this is where the Southern Right Whale comes to birth and play - the waters are turquoise and the views spectacular.

After Nullarbor, we drove off the bitumen to join the 'old Eyre Highway' for the next 150km, stopping to camp overnight at the old, deserted Koonalda Homestead. No-one else was there, except for some dingoes and rabbits which joined us later, but it did have a bit of an eerie feeling as everything is still mostly intact and you can just imagine the place when it was teeming with shearers and family members as well as all the animals - a hard life. The homestead closed down in 1989 and is now heritage listed. All of the buildings are made of interlocking railway sleepers as this was the only material they could salvage for building in this harsh treeless landscape. Lots of old rusty cars to admire and reminisce about too The sunrise was amazing!

The following morning, we drove out to the Koonalda Cave where the homestead piped its water from. We weren't sure what we were expecting to see as there are no hills or rocky outcrops, but as we came over a slight crest, there in front of us was a huge hole in the ground - with a dingo guarding it!! Just amazing! We then continued driving west on the track (chasing the dingo in front of us) and saw quite a few shingle-back lizards warming themselves up on the road in the sun, as well as a big wombat 'warren' - but none were awake yet.

Then back on the bitumen for another great view of the cliff edges, passing through the WA quarantine checkpoint and on to Eucla for a look at the white sand dunes and the old telegraph station which has almost been swallowed up by the sand now. Also have to adjust again to the time differences - now we're 2 and half hours behind!

We had a very hot and windy (38 degrees) overnight stop at a freecamp with lots of flies, but enjoyed a nice roast chicken!! Yum. No baked beans out here for us We even had a nice thunderstorm overnight to clear the air. At Balladonia, we checked out the skylab debris from 1979 and then continued on to Norseman, as the dirt road we had planned to take to Cape Arid was closed due to the overnight rain.