Week 17 | Harry Potter and the Great Nullarbor Plain

SNAPSHOT

We launched into Week 18 with a feeling of curiosity for, what lay ahead was the infamous Nullarbor - we imagined long boring days of dry barren land, screaming fighting kids and us gaining a few grey hairs and we couldn't have been any more wrong if we had tried! 

Of course there were patches of what seemed to be endless highway but it was broken up by spectacular coastal vistas and a variety of landscapes and the most sensational sunrises and sunsets......

And all of this with barely a whingy mcwhine from the skiddies......how you ask?? Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone via audio book!! If only we had thought of this 10,000km ago - hindsight is a wonderful thing however we are too relieved to have made it across the Great Australian Bight that we just don't care 😂

On a personal level we are all aware that our travelling time is swiftly coming to an end....if we chose to get in the car right now we would be home in 10 hours!! does it feel like we left yesterday? We can't believe it! Determined to make the most of the time we have left we have decided that in once we leave Coffin Bay we will slow down considerably and spend our last week up on the Mighty Murray!

WHERE ON EARTH ARE WE?

Norseman/Harms Lake Rest Area

Western Australia

We left the coastal beauty of Esperance moving inland to Norseman and stopped for a quick morning tea break - we officially meet Norseman the horse - a fantastic statue of a horse the town was named after albeit he looked a bit like a "bag of bones" 😊......unfortunately Norseman (the town not the actual horse) is a wee bit the same - I'm surprised given it's the only thoroughfare through to Esperance/WA from the Nullarbor? I actually saw a tumbleweed rolling down the Main Street ......I guess all we can do as travelers is try and support these towns as much as possible!

Home for tonight is the Harms Lake Rest Area - don't be fooled - there is no lake BUT we were allowed a fire and the sunset/vino was lovely.....funny how these things can turn a dried up little patch of dirt into a pretty paradise 😜

Caiguna Blowholes/ Bunda Scenic Lookout

Yalata East Rest Area 

Pulling out of Harms Lake we had a big day planned - so we woke up Harry Potter and set on our way - switching between the magical world of wizards to the expanse of the Nullarbor National Park! First stop was the Caiguna Blowholes and boy was I excited!! Because blowholes are big cavernous holes in rocks by the ocean that blow water upwards right??? Wrong!!! This one was actually air movement through deep caves that normally blow cold air out of the hole  at 72km per hour. Just not the day we were there. So basically we just stopped to look at a hole in the ground. The girls (upon seeing there was no ocean) refused to get out to look at it 😂

Next stop along the way had to be the Bunda Cliffs Scenic Lookout ...... Maggie has been asking "how long until the Bight" since we left in May! It was AWESOME! Impossible to capture it on camera but I did my best 😂

Today we just drove until the girls started antagonizing each other then pulled over into the nearest Rest Area!  

It was movie night at Yalata Rest Area and time to cook up all our veges before crossing border control tomorrow! Hullloooo gigantic potato bake 😊

Ceduna | South Australia

Crossing the border today was bittersweet, South Australia is already impressing however we didn't realize that the border checkpoint into S.A was actually in Ceduna so we had scoffed ourselves sick on bananas for no good reason 😂 No brownie points for Mum lol - I gave them a bag of lollies to apologise!

Taking our chances in Ceduna, we pulled into Shelly Beach Caravan Park without a booking and met some lovely people from Ballarat! (Poppy B - these people are Granny's neighbors! 😂).....i don't think showers have ever felt so delicious, now we were warm and clean, we slept like logs!

Streaky Bay | South Australia

Some lovely people in Esperance gave us  DVD's on caravanning in S.A and the Streaky Bay Foreshore park had us all exclaiming over the beachfront sites and aquamarine water....we HAD to have one and despite Leigh's grumblings about the pitfalls of windy beachfront locations and how we would blow away in the night - he caved at the puppy dog eyes the girls have perfected and battened down the hatches 😂 we visited Streaky Bay's famous white pointer statue which took 5 hours for 4 men to catch in 1998.....it's illegal now but at 5 metres long she was carrying 1000's of eggs - lucky it was too cold for swimming! I could have fitted all of Maggie into her mouth - except Mags wouldn't have a bar of it so the photo is SUPER boring 😂

Coffin Bay | South Australia

Anyone remember wayyyy back at Bitter Springs N.T when we met some wonderful people called Paul and Julie from Coffin Bay who (after spending some quality wine time with us) came to the conclusion that  we weren't axe murderers and kindly invited us to come and stay with them once we got to Coffin Bay.......we kept in contact and were thrilled to pull in to their house and unload for a few days! Paul and Julie are keen caravanners so was awesome to debrief over vino's and beautiful food - such generous hosts they were, that Leigh got to try his hand at lawn bowls and (drum roll please) FISHING!!! 

Yup you guessed it - we all headed out to their secret fishing spot and reeled in a bumper crop of salmon and whiting for our dinner - Maggie caught 12 fish alone and Leigh broke his fishing drought - it was a brilliant morning but for me the highlight had to be the pod of dolphins that followed us - so beautiful to see these creatures free and healthy in their natural habitat....

We dined on Coffin Bay oysters and our freshly caught fish and I was introduced to "Apero" ..... anyone who visits me at happy hour when we get home will get one hah hah

So a special thank you to Paul and Julie,  very generous and kind people and lucky for us, our new friends - our door is always open and we hope to see you in Ballarat very soon!

BEST PART vs WORST PART

🐣Liv

Best part:   Streaky Bay had the most beautiful lush green grass I've ever seen! Plus there was free wifi! I loved fishing in Coffin Bay and I got to hold the fish although it was creepy feeling its heartbeat! They were so yummy!!

Worst Part: Finding out that Nana and Poppy can't come to Mildura 😫 I can't wait to see them when I get home though!

🐴 Maggie

Best Part: Going to Coffin Bay and getting to stay in a REAL house and then fishing - I caught 12 fish, a flat head and a crab! Plus we saw dolphins and they were so cute!

Worst part: Mum didn't take a photo of the dolphins because she couldn't find her phone then didn't want to miss seeing them - grrrr

🏌️Leigh

Best part:  I.....caught......a .......fish!!! Actually 10

But whose counting 😂😂 Thanks Paul - we kept you busy on that boat hah hah

Definitely Coffin Bay - fishing, bowling, oysters and terrific company - what more could you want!! Driving across the Nulla was easier than driving across the top end for sure - no where near as bad as people make it out to be! 

Worst part: The closer we get to Adelaide I am blown away by the dangerous driving I am seeing - speeding and overtaking, pulling out in front of others - need my wits about me this week for sure!!

🌺 Rana

Best part: I have enjoyed everything about this week - from coast to coast, plains as far as the eye can see....inlets and wildflowers......but by far our time in Coffin Bay was the highlight - we took a drive to Port Lincoln and through to Coffin Bay National Park which is worth every cent of the $10 it costs to get in!

Worst part:   I had to really think about this but probably the wind!!! I really wish Leigh hadn't eaten so many oysters 😂😂

LESSONS LEARNT:

📝  Audio Books are the best. The end.

NEXT DESTINATION:

Fitzgerald Bay, Laurie Park, Saint Kilda, Adelaide, Mannum/Murray Bridge

 

The road thus travelled for Week 17!

 

Well prepped for free camping across Nullarbor except it wasn't cold after all! 

 

Norseman the Horse!

 

Nothing Harry Potter can't fix 😜

 

Yalata Rest Area - quiet and clean, fire pit and wine - perfect!

 

 

Felt a bit surreal to finally see this - and what a beautiful day it was too!

 

I tried so hard to wait until Coffin Bay but Ceduna seduced me with $10 per oysters - only catch was I had to shuck them myself! One small injury later.....

You've probably all seen this photo of our windy beachfront site at Streaky Bay - but in case you didn't notice the reflection in caravan - here it is again hah hah

  

A small detour at Streaky Bay and we found ourselves at some real blowholes!!!

 

The lush green grass of Streaky Bay - apparently like carpet!!

 

Happy to catch it but didn't want to kiss it - meanie!!!

 

The photo you have all been waiting for! Would have got a photo of his fish but just as I took this photo, a fish took my bait and I had to down tools! I promise he caught one 😂

 

Catch of the day for Miss Liv - much braver in the handling of fishy stakes!

 

Dinner! Yummo x

 

What??? An aperitif Julie? But it's so early? Oohhhh okay then since they are already made hah hah