SA Caravan holiday July 25th to Aug 23rd 2024.
Day 1 – Thursday 25/7/2024 - Some where along the Great Eastern Highway
We set off from Geraldton around 6.30 AM, the rain had settled just at the right time for us to hitch up the van.
We travelled via the back roads through the wheat belt, following the road via – Three Springs where we stopped to kick the tyres, make everything was travelling well, and brought morning tea and lunch at the bakery.
The next places we passed through were Coorow, Buntine, Wubin, Dalwallinu, Kalanie, Koorda, Bencubbin, Mukinbudin, Bull finch, to Southern Cross. It was nice and green with the crops about 6-8” high, some canola crops starting to flower, and passed through a couple of showers of rain.
We were pushing the car to see how many Km we could get out of full tank of fuel. The low fuel lamp came on at 60Km out of Southern Cross. So we know on a good day with little wind @90km/hr we could get 660km out of a tank. Full at Southern Cross $191c/L ($228.99).
We left Southern Cross looking for a place to camp for the night. Pulled into “Boondi Reserve” about 80km west of Coolgardie. We had the spot to ourselves ☹, a couple of showers of rain overnight. A good days travelling making 784 km today.
Day 2 – Friday 26/7/2024 – on the Eyre Highway
Setting off from camp about 7.40am, we stopped at Coolgardie to buy a coffee and drop into the information centre. They were still shut at 9.00am, don’t trust google who said they opened at 8.30am!
So off we headed to Norseman, we fuelled here to try to minimise the expensive fuel stops across the long stretch $209c/L ($135.70).
From Norseman it felt like the holiday had begun as you turn and head east. Road conditions were amazing, not as much traffic as we imagined, trucks overtaking us with ease. We came across a couple of small showers of rain, but had to pull into Balladonia roadhouse as it pelted for a couple of minutes, and headed into the 90 mile of straight road – the longest straight stretch of road in Australia.
We carried on to a camp site 21km passed Caiguna, there was one other van, I went and said hello but Rob kept to himself! A tad cold overnight, luckily the 12V electric blanket worked a treat, making it a little cosier to sleep to the sound of rolling trucks on the highway. We had travelled 642 km today.
Day 3 – Saturday 27/7/2024 – on the Nullarbor
With our watched on central Australian time we woke around 7.30am. No rain overnight but a couple of trucks that stopped and revved their engine for a time then took off again!
On heading off after a quick breakfast, we soon arrived at Madura where we fuelled again as it was the last of the cheaper options $248c/L ($228.48). Was able to get a good coffee at the motel shop in the Yeti cups for a little down the track.
Driving through the Madura pass was a scenic sight compared to 90 mile straight stretch. 😊. We passed Mundrabilla, stopping just before Eucla for lunch, and eat our last bits of fruit and vege before the Quarantine, which I thought was at Border Village, but no need to stop. It was so quick I missed the “welcome to SA” sign. It was very small! I’m sure the last time I crossed the border (20Yrs ago) it was a massive steel structure with SA /WA on it? I will have to get one on the way back and pretend I took it earlier 😊.
We stopped at the first couple of bight lookouts for photos – not much to write home about. We pulled into “Scenic Lookout” about 3.30pm, there were nice cliff views if you jumped the fence! SA tourism could build a better viewing experience to prevent this.
As we headed back to the vehicle, we met an older couple who asked if we planned to stay the night. Our plan was to travel further onto Bundi cliffs that everyone including wiki camps recommended for the best view. However, the older couple who had come from the east said they were all closed. This has been in the last couple of days, and when I looked on W-camps it stated the sites will be removed within 14 days. 
Google says - Camping along the Bunda Cliffs is not permitted due to the unstable cliff edge, constantly collapsing into the ocean. 
So, we decided to camp the night. We tried to use the inverter for power last night, but nothing! I asked the old guy if he knew much about them – he said he was an electrical engineer – I believed him 😊, he had a look and we decided it was quite low power, but there also didn’t seem to be any power coming through, at least we were not missing something silly, and at we had the generator anyway.
We have come across a couple of van issues over the past couple of days – one gas bottle hose has cracked, lucky we could just move over to the other bottle until we can replace the hose, with drinking water filter has started leaking – not sure why, maybe too old and full. We were able to remove it and just not use the tap until we replaced it. Starting the fridge on gas is temperamental, taking quite a few goes.
With the little issues sorted we went for a short (illegal) walk along the cliff tops, we didn’t go close! We braved the cold to try some nighttime photos over the cliffs – probably not worth the effort.
We tucked up in the van with the gene on to power the heater for some warmth. We had travelled 407km today.
Day 4 – Sunday 28/7/2024 – Last leg of the Nullarbor
Bloody cold last night and the sun seems to rise late on central Australian time, it is still very dark at 7.30am. Again, a quick breaky and headed off on the road, we wanted to make Streaky Bay today.
Now we have crossed into SA the roads are a little more narrow, with passing road trains feeling really close sometimes. Along the way we stopped at what scenic lookouts we could, but sadly nothing spectacular.
We stopped at the Nullarbor roadhouse for a coffee avoiding the fuel that 297c/L. A little down the road we pulled into “Head of the bight” visitors centre, $18.00 each to walk along the boardwalk to maybe see some whales. We hesitate about going in, but others said there were lots of whales. We got in a seniors 😊 $15.00 each, and there were many whales, lots of mothers with calves just lolling around, and the view of the cliffs was worth it also. This seems to be the only place where to see the cliffs well.
We continued on the long straight roads, fuelling at Yalata managing the card system and helping a tourist. 199c/L ($198.98). Met the quarantine border at Ceduna, nothing to declare, so we thought, a couple of weeks ago they changed the honey rule, and now you can’t take it out or into WA.
Got into Streaky Bay about 5pm. We were told about a caravan park just before the town – Island Caravan Park, nice place on a hill next to the beach. Although it’s nice to have the mod cons when off grid but its also very nice to hook up to power and water. 
Travelled 546 km today
Day 5 – Monday 29/7/2024  - Streaky Bay (West side Eyre Peninsula)
Nice sleep in this morning, didn’t seem quite as cold last night, maybe cause we could use the heater for longer last night. Woke up a to a clear blue sky and a slight breeze. After 4 days of driving we relaxed a little, and waiting until after morning coffee before doing some touring.
We headed off to drive the Cape Bauer loop just on the other side of Streaky Bay town site. Cape Bauer is named after the Austrian artist of natural history Ferdinand Bauer who recorded the fauna and flora encountered on Flinders expedition. This drive took us around farmland that looked for just grazing, no crops. The coastline consisted there were blow holes and whistling rocks to see. No whistling today and saw very small active blow holes.
Drove back through town for lunch at the bakery, dropped int mitre 10 for the repairs, and IGA to stock up food supplies – seem a lot more expensive than home.
A lovely cooked tea tonight with the new air fryer and settle in to watch some of the Olympic games.
Day 6 – Tuesday 30/7/2024 -  Streaky Bay (West side Eyre Peninsula) 
Did the tourist thing today. Packed a lunch and headed off to look at some sights. The first one we came across is – Murphys Haystacks, thinking they would be just a couple of granite rocks in a paddock, they did impress. Looking like unusual rocky islands jutting out from the land called “inselbergs” in the middle of nowhere, called Murphys stacks because that’s whose property they are on. We continued on around to a coastal place called Point Labatt where you could look down on a sea lion colony. Lots of fat babies playing, with fat mothers chilling in the sun. Next place was Sceale Bay (pronounced Scale), just a little fishing place with a couple of houses. Because it was sooo windy and cold, we ate lunch in the car while watching the water. The last stop was Smooth Pool, and the Granites on the Westall Way loop. Interesting coastline, very rocky and granite out crops with a few small accessible beaches in between. You can see it would be a nice place to visit in summer if you were keen on water sports or fishing.
We treated ourselves to dinner at the Streaky Bay due to many recommendations, I can hear everyone yelling “did you try the oysters?” No, I didn’t ☹, but had a lovely fillet of grilled fish, I was warned it was small, but did think I would get more than 3 mouthfuls!
If you are heading this way and looking for a place to stay, Island Caravan park, just before getting into town is perfect. Really nice ablution blocks with ensuit showers, rather than cubicles, nice beach views & walks.
Off to Tumby Bay tomorrow.