• It would be appreciated if you could spend as little time as possible within these reserves.
• Travel through central reserves must be completed within 3 days.
• The permit is valid for . . . the purpose and transit and refuelling only.

So much for being made welcome in my own country.

I got to Kalgoorlie on Sunday and bright and early the next day visited the Main Roads Department offices there as previously arranged. They could not have been more helpful and systematically phoned the police and rangers at each stage along my planned route. OK, first section clear. OK, next section clear, and so on up to Warburton. From here on the news was not so good. There had been some rain there and the upshot was that undertaking the last stage in anything less than a 4WD would be risky. Since there is only one road, I didn’t want to do 90% of the distance, then get blocked for some reason, and have to come all the way back to Kalgoorlie. So I decided that discretion was the better part of valour and reluctantly decided to take the long way round. This meant travelling across the Nullarbor Plain to the south, which would add about 1100 Km (690 miles) distance to Ayers Rock. So I drove back to Coolgardie, then turned south to Norseman where I started the long trek east along Eyre Highway and across the Nullarbor Plain.

I am deliberately including a lot of detailed explanation in my description of this part of the trip for the benefit of those people who do not live in Australia and who may be curious to know what it is like to drive long distances across unpopulated areas.

The only time I have previously driven this route was in January 1989 in a Holden Camira (Vauxhall Cavalier). On that trip there was a strong southerly wind that made my arms ache just holding the steering wheel to the right to correct for the crosswind. This time I was fortunate for there was virtually no wind at all in any direction. My reason this time for not wanting a crosswind was because my camping trailer folds up small for travelling to keep wind resistance, and therefore fuel consumption, to a minimum. It works by having the trailer height and width only very slightly larger than the corresponding car dimensions so that the trailer travels within the slipstream envelope created by the car. This is highly successful and I am able to travel at speeds of up to 110 kph (70 mph) while towing without any significant increase in fuel consumption. However, there is one snag – it doesn’t work if there is a strong crosswind. My theory is that crosswinds push the car’s slipstream envelope sideways so that at least part of the trailer has to part the air so increasing the drag and fuel consumption. To give you an idea of the difference, at 110 kph (70 mph) fuel consumption is about 13 Litres per 100 Km (18 mpg) but with a crosswind I have had it go up to 17 L/100Km (14 mpg). [I’m using US gallons, by the way.]

I usually stop at about 3:00 pm for afternoon tea. There are plenty of rest areas – but the difference between rest stops in say America and Australia is that there are no buildings with coffee and Coke machines and other facilities! In fact there is usually only a rubbish bin and if you are lucky a picnic table. If there is a pit toilet you will be very lucky indeed, as you normally have to retire into the shrubbery to attend to your business. It only takes about 2 minutes to deploy my camping trailer, so usually I have the kettle on quickly and will be sitting inside drinking tea 10 minutes later.

My rule is never to drive at night because of the kangaroos. These mainly sleep during the day and are active at night. Roos have absolutely no road sense and can jump into or across the road without warning. They come in various sizes and if you hit a medium or big one it can do substantial damage to your car. Radiators are particularly vulnerable. Some cars have "roo bars" fitted to minimize such damage, but I just restrict my driving to daylight hours and even then keep alert to the possibility of an encounter with an occasional insomniac kangaroo. As soon as the sun goes over the horizon I start to look for a place to camp. At this time of the year it is winter in Australia, so it gets dark by about 5:30. This cuts down the available driving time, which is a nuisance, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.

I deploy my camping trailer and make a cup of tea. Then I cook and eat my evening meal and perhaps afterwards go for a short stroll to stretch my legs. The stars are wonderful away from towns and cities. There is no light to interfere, clear air to look through. Every few minutes or so a meteorite ends its million-year journey through space in a brief streaking flash into our atmosphere. Are there more shooting stars in the Southern Hemisphere than the north, I wonder? Or is it just that you can see more clearly here?

In the distance I see the headlights of a road train approaching. Closer it comes. Now I can here it. Now it roars past. I count the three trailers. How many wheels? An array of amber lights down the sides. Now the red tail lights. Now I can’t hear it any more. Now it’s gone. The trucks are so big that a kangaroo strike has no effect on them. Just a dead kangaroo left in the road for the crows to eat next day. You can see them in the road picking at the body as you approach. They leave it until the last moment to fly off as you drive past.

Back in the caravan I tune the radio on medium wave, straining to pick up the distant stations. Life in the cities is going on as before. Out here I don’t care. I settle down for the night, turn out the light, and go to sleep. Occasionally I awake to the sound of a passing truck. The roar of the engine, the light on the windows, the rushing of the air over the rig, a rattle, the lights pass, the sound dies away. Back to sleep.

I awake at dawn (about 6:00 am at this time of the year) and usually try to get going as quickly as possible. I found it cold in the early morning so far south at this time of the year. A thermometer on the towbar registered O° C (32° F). I make coffee and boil plenty of water to wash up last night’s dishes, then fold up the caravan. I like to be on the road about an hour after dawn when most of the Roos seem to have retired. Usually I drive until about 10:00 am then stop at a rest area for brunch. A stroll into the bushes with shovel and toilet paper. I boil up water to wash and shave. When I’m driving all day I often don’t need anything more to eat until I stop for my next overnight camp. Brunch stops often take an hour, then back on the road and drive along the endless highway stopping only for fuel and tea or coffee breaks. Following this routine I am able in theory to average about 800 Km (500 miles) a day. In practice, however, I rarely keep this up for more than a day at a time. There is always something along the way to attract my attention and keep me occupied for several hours.

There are plenty of roadhouses along the Eyre Highway. Usually every 160 Km (100 miles) or so. They mostly have to have their own generator and you can get food, rooms for the night, and fuel. Petrol is very expensive away from the towns. On this trip the highest I paid was $1.33 per Litre ($2.84 per gallon). As you will have worked out, with the long distances and high cost of petrol, fuel is going to be the highest cost on this trip. I can get 450 Km (280 miles) on a tank full. I once did 525 Km (328 miles) while towing the caravan, but I wouldn’t like to repeat that. I zeroed the trip meter when I fill up. When I get past 300 km (188 miles) I start thinking about fuel, and try to avoid going over 400 Km (250 miles). This leaves a factor of safety for emergencies.

The Eyre Highway is typical of Australian inter-city roads. A sealed pavement wide enough for two trucks to pass and a good wide gravel shoulder on both sides. The speed limit is 110 kph (70 mph) for most vehicles in most states. In Western Australia I’m limited to 100 kph (63 mph) when towing my caravan. Bigger caravans are limited to 90 kph (55 mph). In South Australia and New South Wales everything goes at 110 kph (70 mph). I’m in favour of everything going the same speed because in minimizes overtaking. Driving across the Nullarbor Plain at this time of the year I passed about one vehicle every 10 minutes going the opposite way. I was not aware of any other traffic going my way, presumably because everybody was "in a time slot" doing approximately the same speed. So, the driving is easy. I have been warned that things may be very different (bad) in Queensland! I keep an open mind.

"Before the highway was sealed?" I asked.

"Yes. That’s right – the road was just dust in those days. We had our 3 children and were travelling in an Austin 1800 with the windows taped up to keep the dust out. Have you ever seen an Austin 1800?"

Casting my mind back I recalled the scaled-up version of the mini – not very good cars I seemed to remember. She went on to tell me how it had taken a week to cross the Nullarbor (I was doing it this time on the sealed road in 2 days). No air conditioner. Just water to drink kept in old wine containers that just happened to fit the car’s map-pockets in the doors. We compared "then and now" notes and laughed at how people managed to achieve so much with so little in times past. Her anecdotes were better than mine, but then she was older than me. We said goodbye and I walked across the dunes to where I recalled an old wooden pier used to be on the beach. Yes! That was there too. It was old in 1989, now it was antique.

Crossing state lines can be a challenge in Australia. Quarantine stations are strategically placed where innocent travellers like me are robbed of their food (specifically fruit and vegies) by government agents in the interests of "fruit fly control". For reasons understood only by the SA government, the quarantine inspection station for eastbound travellers has been relocated to Ceduna 1000 Km (625 miles) east of the state line. This gave me longer to eat my food! So I would have less for them to steal. By the time I arrived at Ceduna I had my story ready. I let him "find" a bunch of contraband garlic in the back of the car and came up with a long story of having everything else cooked and in the fridge ready for inspection. So convincing was I that he let me through without even inspecting the caravan! Later that evening I enjoyed a large bunch of the most delicious WA grapes that I had ever smuggled in my life!

From Ceduna the Eyre Highway winds a long, tortuous path southeast, then northeast to Port Augusta. From here I would have to take the Stuart Highway northwest past Woomera just to get a few hundred kilometers north. But by taking a shortcut along some unsealed roads I could cut several hundred Km off this distance, cross the Gawler Ranges, and pass some beautiful lakes on the way. The Ceduna Police told me to drive another 90 Km (56 miles) east to Wirrulla and ask there about the condition and driveability of my proposed route. I did this and was told at the general store that the road was open for 2WD. He said not to expect to be able to get petrol at Kingoona since this was now a ghost town. Head for Glendambo on the Stuart highway. I checked distances and calculated that this would be within my 400 Km range, filled up at Wirrulla and set off. This scenic shortcut proved to be quite eventful – 3 events in fact.

The road was a wide, stony gravel track with lots of curves and hills to negotiate. In Western Australia the unsealed roads are made mainly of round gravel and red dust, but here in South Australia the gravel had a lot of sharp, irregularly-shaped and –sized rocks in it. The red dust seems to be ubiquitous to all states because there was plenty of that here. Apart from some minor rattles and squeaks, the car and trailer handled the road without difficulty. Small trees and shrubs gave way to open spaces periodically. I did not have to go far before I passed some lakes. The undulating terrain was very attractive. In the distance I could see a line of low hills which I worked out would be the Gawler Range.

In spite of it being early afternoon, kangaroos were leaping about. I kept my speed down and my eyes wide open. Even with ABS braking, it is difficult to pull up quickly on gravel and the trailer weighs about 750 Kg (1650 lbs) which adds a lot to the stopping distance on unsealed roads. Apart from speed, I think one reason why many people hit Roos is because they are too focussed on the road ahead to the exclusion of the terrain at the sides. Roos come at you from the sides so that’s where you need to look as well as every which way. Normal highway and city driving requires intense concentration about 45° either side of straight ahead, but I try to take in 90° each side – that’s 180° overall – under such conditions. Even so there were a few tense moments when the ABS was tested to full capacity. Roos seem to be totally oblivious to the danger of a vehicle coming at about 80 kph (50 mph) even when you are right on them. But then, as I said earlier, they have absolutely no road sense.

The second event occurred about an hour later. I was bumping along a quite badly corrugated section when I heard the exhaust starting to blow. I stopped and looked but couldn’t see much, so I carried on. The next biggish bump in the road and it was roaring. I pulled over for a second look and could now see the pipe from the catalyzer had broken off where it joined on to the first expansion box. The box was hanging down, but fortunately it was easy to do a temporary repair with some wire. I carried on with acceptable noise and reached the ghost town of Kingoonya, where I had a late lunch.

Kingoonya turned out to be all that a ghost town should be. Banging doors, piles of junk in the streets, fallen signs. I went into the garage in search of wire to replenish my emergency kit. There was an old Hudson over the pit still waiting for the mechanic to come back from lunch and finish the job. A mechanic who was long gone! I walked along the main street. Outside the pub was a payphone. This reminded me that I must check my voice mail at the next opportunity. The payphone looked in surprisingly good condition. I picked it up – it worked! Here was a ghost town looking like the USA president had panicked and pushed the big red one, and the phone worked! I had one message.

I drove on. Only 42 Km (26 miles) to the Glendambo roadhouse on the Stuart Highway. I looked in the rear view mirror to check that nothing else had gone wrong like the trailer no longer there. To my surprise there appeared to be snow on the rear windshield. I pulled over and looked again. Oh no! The windshield was crazed over – it was busted. Three things in 24 hours – what else could go wrong?

I refuelled at Glendambo and drove north along Stuart Highway to Coober Pedy. I had always wanted to visit this town and here I was. They say that every cloud has a silver lining, and the cloud of not being able to take the direct route to Ayers Rock across the Gibson Desert had led to the silver lining of taking me right past Coober Pedy. Well, not really a silver lining – more an Opal lining, because it’s Opals that this town is famous for. In Perth, this town has the reputation of being a bit wild. Wild? What sort of wild? Well, it’s rumoured that being a mining town you will naturally need explosives. Where do you get them? Well, the story goes that in this town you can get dynamite at the supermarket!

So here I am in Coober Pedy and I must say I do like it here. All the people I have met are either quietly crazy or totally eccentric, or both. They are certainly friendly. The place looks like a cross between Mars and a wreckers yard with drilling rigs thrown in for good measure. You have to be careful to look where you’re going or you might fall down a mineshaft. For all the chaos Coober has everything you could ever want – except water and grass. Repairs to the caravan, bike, and car are in progress, and in the meantime I am able to write up trip notes, check things out above and below ground, and so on. If the repair bills get too heavy I may peg out a claim, get along to the supermarket for some dynamite, and do some Opal mining. Who knows? Maybe I’ll make a fortune here.

To be continued.......................