Across the Nullabor

Crossing the Nullabor made coming home more real, each day we are getting closer and as much as Carlos and I are trying not to think about it I know its there, lingering in the back of our heads. We had heard so many different things about the Nullarbor, some people just drive right through, others, like a couple we met in Margaret River take their time, 9 days to be more specific, so I wasn’t really sure what to expect, what I knew though was that we were about to embark on driving the longest, straightest road in Australia. Flatness terrain, here we come…. They do say that you can be driving, close your eyes for a nap, wake up half an hour later and you are still on the road…only on the Nullabor. Needless to say we did not try this!

Our first free camp was the ultimate, right by the great Australian bight and I am not just saying this, we were literally a few meters from the edge. The view from our caravan has never been so dramatic and extraordinary, scary in a way, well not so much for me but yes for Carlos as he was unsure where we would wake up in the morning, maybe in the bottom of the cliff, maybe swimming amongst whales. As I stood admiring the cliffs, they just did not seem real, tall, strong, powerful, scary and looking at the map of Australia the kids were really able to appreciate exactly were we were, they loved it, the extreme circumstances. I do not need to say that we made sure that at night, the kids peed on the opposite side of the cliffs.

The next two free camps were, lets say, ok, they had toilets, one better than the other, the second one we visited had “Poo museum” written on the outside, unfortunately I drew the short straw to go and check out its condition and to my disgust it was terrible, just thinking back I can still smell the odour, this was definitely a museum I didn’t want the kids to see. However it was at the first camp that we met a very interesting character named Brian, an ex Irish, secret force? Unfortunately although he was lovely his stories of war and POW were too heavy for our liking so it was a relief when he decided to stay back another night while we decided to keep going.

Coming out of the Nullarbor we came across a small town that had a humble windmill museum, unlike the poo museum, this was very enjoyable to see and the stories behind each windmill were very interesting. It is really nice to see the effort that small towns go through to attract tourists, simple quirky things like this make tourist stop and explore the town and hopefully spend some money as well, helping the towns economy.

That night we stayed at a free camp that had a “concrete crappa” (toilet) between the poo museum and the concrete crappa we have come across some fancy names of what a drop hole is, anyway, when you have to go, you have to go.

A place that is doing really well in actively attracting tourists is a town call Kimba in South Australia. Very clean little town that had one, a stunning silo painting, I must say that I absolutely love this idea, turning what is usually un ugly sight into a great piece of art.

But it doesn’t stop there, it also had a huge Galah, a sign that points to the location of the town and labels it as the middle point of Australia and metal statues on its outskirts.

If this is not enough, while we were there taking photos at the mid point sign a local approached us and invited us to the town’s Christmas parade which was going to be held the following day. I was very impressed and to be honest if we didn’t have such a tight schedule we would have not hesitated in staying a night in the lovely town. Kimba is definitely on my list to revisit next time.

We entered South Australia and in three days we have driven through the Nullarbor, the straightest, longest road in Australia, on hindsight I couldn’t see myself taking more time to do the Nullarbor, what was really good about it was the fact that we were able to free camp all the way across so we spent no money on accommodation. I don’t think I can say much more about the Nullarbor, except that it would be great to see the whales during migration season from the cliffs. We quickly stopped at Port Augusta for some supplies and found a cute little camp at a place called Murray Town. It was like a Showground, with a very open kitchen facing the oval but it also had an honesty box for payment, which was $15. Once again, appreciating towns like this that are RV friendly.

But it was the drive to get there that was quite spectacular , overlooking the Flinders ranges, this drive through meadows and wind farms, sheep and cattle is probably one of my most favourite drives, the countryside in that north part of south Australia is absolutely beautiful, very relaxing and peaceful. I cannot wait to explore this area more, all of South Australia actually, it's always good to look forward to something.