I'm pleased to report that we survived the Nullarbor! Whilst driving the 1200kms from Ceduna to Norseman, a few things became apparent pretty quickly. Firstly, there is a lot more traffic on this route than you are led to believe. And all sorts of traffic... road trains (effectively double or even triple lorries!), caravans, loads of motorbikes, bicycles and even some pedestrians!! Also, despite what happened to us within 5 minutes of leaving Ceduna, everyone is really friendly. Drivers were all waving at each other and Alex adopted this habit with gusto! The only people who weren't always waving back were the truckers, but then it was probably the 5th time in a week that they had done the journey, so the sight of a happy camper waving at them was probably not what they needed! Secondly, there really is nothing on this 1200kms route, other than the odd roadhouse at the side of the highway. These consist of little more than a petrol station, with a cafe inside and a motel/caravan park out back. And there are only a handful of these along the entire route! There are no houses at all either - workers at the roadhouses must do on/off shifts - a bit like working on an oil rig!! Finally... it is terrifying to experience a thunderstorm whilst in the middle of this vast plain!! It was a great experience though and one we're glad we took on!

We spent last Monday (15th) pottering in Ceduna, starting to plan our travels up the west coast on the greyhound coach and getting supplies for the big trip across the Nullarbor! That evening we were using the BBQs in the campsite to cook our tea when some guys staying there took pity on us and threw a load of their freshly caught fish on the barbie for us too! We had a feast, because we also had to eat up all our fresh fruit and veg before crossing the border into West Australia the next day!

We set off early on Tuesday to start the journey west. We decided to tackle just under 500kms on this first day. Within about 5 minutes of leaving Ceduna, we approached two Aboriginees walking in the road. The guy had a plastic bottle in his hand and he jumped in front of the van as we got closer, making us swerve across to the other side - luckily there was no other traffic around! He was only after water as far as we could tell, but suffice to say, Alex put his foot down and continued! After another few minutes, we passed 2 people walking at the side of the road with a wheelbarrow full of their stuff - they appeared to be walking the Nullarbor!! We were wondering what else we might see, but this proved to be 10 of the most eventful minutes of the whole journey! We stopped at Cactus Beach for lunch, this is a 20km detour from the main road at Penong along a dirt track. It's a famous surf spot which has apparently dwindled in popularity over the last 10 years due to a fatal shark attack that occured there in 2000! There were some huge waves and some very brave surfers tackling them! The place was riddled with flies - a common feature of the Nullarbor we soon realised! We also saw huge black crows all along the route - often feeding on the abundance of road kill! At one point, we also spotted a dingo in the middle of the road tucking in - our first sighting of one of them in the wild! Just before reaching the West Australia border, we pulled into a rest area to spend the night, after first checking that there were other caravans there - we didn't want to risk being alone! It was a great spot at the edge of a cliff overlooking the sea. That night at around 10pm, we could see something lighting up the sky around us. The sky above where we were was clear - we could see millions of stars, and we couldn't hear any thunder, but we assumed that what we were seeing must be lightening as there was no other explanation. It was just so far away and we were on a very flat plain that meant we could see flashing but couldn't hear the storm - it was incredible. However, a few hours later, we were woken by torrential rain, huge flashes of lightening all around us and gust of wind that were rocking the van! We couldn't believe it - the Nullarbor plain is supposed to be one of the driest areas in Australia!! It was pretty scary being so exposed to the elements and we were glad that we hadn't parked closer to the cliff edge, but eventually we fell asleep...

The weather on Wednesday morning was very different to the day before - it was much cooler, so on with the 600km journey that we had ahead of us! Our first stop just a few kms down the road was "Border Village" - again nothing more than a roadhouse, although this one also had a signpost showing the distances to various international cities (we were 17,517kms from London!) and a kangaroo statue called Rooey II - see pics! On leaving the roadhouse, we had to go through a quarantine checkpoint. A very serious woman checked the whole van for any fresh fruit and veg, which you are prohibited from taking across the border because of the risk of transferring fruit fly. We then had to put our clocks back 1hr 45 mins - we were now in Western Australia - our fourth and final state of this trip! A few kms down the road, we detoured from the main road at Eucla to the ruins of the telegraph station. Sand dunes have engulfed the original settlement down by the sea, but the ruins of the old telegraph station remain visible above the sand - it was quite eerie! On route back to the main road, we saw a load of kangaroos making the most of the rain that had fallen the night before - they were drinking from the puddles in the dirt track! Back on the main road, we had only got a few kms further when we reached a police road block!! They were stopping all vehicles and breathalising every driver! Alex was quite chuffed as it was the first time he'd been breathalised (and he knew he would be ok!!) After about 300kms, we reached Caiguna roadhouse and a road sign telling us to put our clocks back another 45 minutes! We had crossed 2 timezones and had to alter our clocks by a total of 2hrs and 30 minutes in one day! On from Caiguna, we travelled along what is officially Australia's longest straight road (as proved by the sign - see pics) - 90 miles or 146.6kms, towards Balladonia. After this, we continued so we were only about 100kms away from Norseman and found a rest area for the night again. It got dark at 6.30pm!! Apparently in WA, they don't have daylight saving!

We were jet-lagged on Thursday morning - we were both wide awake at 6.30am - unheard of so far on this trip!! So we set off early and reached Norseman... and civilisation... after only an hour on the road. We collected our certificates from the Visitor Centre which commemorate our crossing of the Nullarbor! We then continued south towards the coast, and Esperance. We had heard a lot about the beaches here and their white sand and turquoise water... and we weren't disappointed! After checking in at a campsite, we headed slightly west of town to Picnic Beach, where we spent an hour or so surfing, before heading to the beach on the other side of the car park - Twilight Beach - to relax and sunbathe.

On Friday, we drove 60kms or so east of Esperance to the Cape Le Grand National Park, renowned for its beaches. We headed straight to Lucky Bay, where there is a campsite right next to the beach. And it was on this beach that we spent the day - sunbathing and surfing. Back at the van later that afternoon, we spotted kangaroos milling around scavenging for food!

Thick grey cloud covered the sky on Saturday morning - boo! We decided to head to the beach anyway, with a camper chair in tow for the person who wasn't surfing to be able to watch from the shoreline (we took it in turns!) Alex finally managed to get 2 feet on the board, so he was chuffed to bits!

The weather was still poor on Sunday, so we left Lucky Bay and headed to Hellfire Bay and Le Grand Beach for a quick look before leaving the National Park. Despite the weather, all the beaches looked amazing with their dazzling white sand and gorgeous clear blue water . We then headed west back to Esperance and drove the coastal route stopping to admire more beaches around the area before continuing west to Hopetoun. From there, we drove along the coast to a place called Mason Bay, where there was a bush-camp beside the beach - our stop for the evening. On route, we took a wrong turn and bumped into two emus on the road (not literally thank goodness!) I managed to take a pic of one as it ran away!

On Monday, we decided to continue west to Albany - a larger town than any of the ones we have been in lately. It's here that we've been for the last few days. We've been staying just outside of town at a free-camp called Cosy Corner, which is right beside a lovely beach. We managed a couple of hours on the beach yesterday morning before the cloud once again rolled in! Last night we had to endure a horrendous thunderstorm that went on for most of the night and seemed to circle continuously around the van! But, on the positive side, it seems to have cleared the air (at least for now!) - the sky is bright blue today and the temperature in the late 20s! So we're off to the beach now - yay! :-)