Friday 21st April

We left Eucla about 7.30am for the next leg to Caiguna.

An absolutely stunning drive today. A mountain range to the West and very heavily wooded areas We thought the word "Nullarbor" meant "treeless plain" so we have been very surprised at the wonderful vegetation on either side of us. We have also sighted lots of majestic eagles on the leg of the trip.

Morning tea at a rest stop, and a lunch stop at Balladonia. We then headed on to Caiguna, (which is aboriginal for "long stretch") as tomorrow we drive the 90 mile straight stretch of road, the longest in Australia.

Now we thought the last couple of places were bad - but this one was terrible. Of course, hot, dry and dusty, a few trees dotted here and there and it was very run down. But a really big surprise was the amenities.

Behind a very rusty, old tin door I was dreading what I would find But inside had been totally renovated, gleaming, white tiles, and big rain showerheads no less! So a lovely hot shower was a bonus.

To add insult to injury though, I have forgotten to mention that there is no water to the van at all along the Nullarbor so we are constantly carrying water for washing up, cups of tea, etc.

We do have a water tank in the van, (as yet unused) and it will definitely be filled up from now on. I felt like Gunga Din ferrying water back and forth. But we then had a brain wave - let's fill the collapsible bucket with water and put it in the van. A really good idea until the collapsible bucket spontaneously collapsed and we had a wave of 7 litres of water in the van. We were mopping up water with towels, there was water, water everywhere.

What a mess, but two positives - we had a clean floor -and I didn't have to cook dinner - we put the heater on in the van and dined at the "salubrious" restaurant and enjoyed rissoles and veg. Chef did look a bit dodgy, but the meal was just delicious.

Van was dry when we got back, thank goodness.