4/8/12. Up early as young brother Neil was celebrating his birthday today. Drove on the Eyre Highway at a leisurely pace towards Port Augusta. Saw quite a few emus and goats. The country was pretty ordinary. The area around Iron Knob looks like an atom bomb has been dropped. Very reminiscent of Queenstown in Tasmania. Camped for the night at the Lincoln/Eyre Highway Junction rest area along with 4 caravans and one hippie wagon.  No toilet at this rest area so one can only wonder what the hippies did for a comfort stop. There was two barbed wire fences between them and a gully.

5/8/12 Drove into Port Augusta where we filled up with fuel and water. Passed through some good agricultural land. Went through Horrocks Pass on our way to Wilmington and then onto Peterborough.  As we headed east the land degraded and looked no better than the Nullabor. We stopped and photographed the 500 year old gum tree at Orroroo. We had trouble finding a hidey for the night as two rest area before Cockburn no longer existed or we couldn’t find them. We passed through Cockburn and some kilometres out of town we stumbled on the Thackaringa Hills Rest Area where we camped for the night along with 2 caravans, a mobile home and a car. Not a bad camp but close to the road and the trucks thundered down past us at a great rate of knots.

6/8/12 On to Broken Hill today. On our way in we detoured to Silverton and shouldn’t have bothered. The bitumen road was atrocious and there was little to see in Silverton. Back into Broken Hill where we visited Woolworths and filled up with fuel and water once again. Drove through through Wilcannia and camped for the night at the Bulla park Rest area. Crossed the Darling at Wilcannia.

7/8/12 Drove to Cobar this morning where we had morning tea and met a smartie who answered cheekily when I asked him what the road to Bourke was like. We had thought that we may have to go through Nyngan, but as it turned out the road was quite good. Bourke was another forgettable town. Was going to put a script into the chemist but found them closed for lunch. Moved on towards Brewarrina. Much cotton being grown and goats and emus in abundance. Can’t say I have ever seen so many emus. Brewarrina is also a place I am unlikely to visit again. Was going to camp at Brewarrina but mother said “NO, drive on”. No camp sites in the camp 6 between Brewarrina and Walgett, so we were hoping for a MRD camp as quite a bit of roadworks were being done. Found a large truck stop and decided to camp there halfway between the two towns. Marion was a little concerned that a truck might demolish her side of the van. I had no such worries and slept like a baby, more than can be said for my bride. Had about seven trucks visit us during the night but left us alone.

8/8/12 Pretty cold night and we headed off towards Walgett. We then moved onto towards Lightning Ridge where we decided to stop for the day. Visited a local Opal Store – luckily had left the wallet behind. Made me think out two msmall Winton boulder opals might be worth something, going on the prices being asked. The sales lady suggested we do a mine tour and suggested the Black Hand Mine. The tour was at 3pm so I headed to the local pharmacy to get my script filled. The sales lady had said that the service at the Pharmacy left a bit to be desired, but I didn’t expect to wait and hour and three quarters to get it done. Had lunch and motored out to the Mine site to wait for the tour. In the meantime we looked at the giant open cut mine site which was really quite small in comparison with the local open cut mines. Whilst there ( appropriately called Lunatics Hill) we purchased two uncut opals (well it looks like pale glass inside a big hunk of rock) to make our fortune. Back to the Black Hand where we went down  some 60 foot. The owner doesn’t mine it for opals but has a collection of 460 sculptures inside the mine – some painted. Superman and Spiderman were there along with Buddha and many others. It was a great tour which lasted about an hour and a half and we learned quite a bit about opals. After that we motored back to the Lightning Ridge Camp area some 10km south of the town where we camped with 3 other couples.

9/8/12 We motored into Lightning Ridge where we did our housekeeping and filled up with Lightning Ridge bore water. Then  off towards Hebel through cotton country. About 10 km north of the Lighting Ridge turnoff we took to the scrub to look at what the locals call Opal Lake. We trespassed but were told in town that that was OK. The lake is supposed to hold as much water as two Sydney harbours but it was hard to tell as it was surrounded by trees.  The lake runs along side the highway for a few kilometres. The water was a muddy grey colour and not very attractive. After morning teas at Hebel we drove onto Dirranbandi and then onto St George for lunch. We tossed a coin and decided to make a run for Goondiwindi where we camped for the night at the Monte Cristo Rest Area along with 5 big trucks. The road from Lightning Ridge to Goondiwindi left a lot to be desired.

10/8/12 A cold night last night. Up early and headed towards Moonie and then Dalby. Once again the road was awful. It’s hard to believe that bitumen could be so rough. Just before Dalby we called into Lake Broadwater where we morning tead. On then to Dalby for a refuel and onto Bell and Kingaroy where we lunched and replenished our peanut supplies.  Whilst buying out peanuts a few Rolls Royce and Bentley motorcars rolled in. They certainly are a snobby lot the RR and Bentley owners. Didn’t have the heart to tell them I had a couple under my house. On then to Wondai and Murgon before heading for the highway to Ban Ban Springs and Gayndah.  Purchased some oragnes in Gayndah and decided to motor on for another 19 kms for our stop for the night at the Binjour range Rest Area. Three caravans and another motorhome were there with us. Not a bad little park but not very level.

11/8/12 Home was in sight. We left and motored up the road. We stopped at the Coominglah Range Rest Area for smoke and then drove onto to Monto and then Thangool where we filled up with diesel. Drove through Biloela and stopped at Dululu for lunch. We then drove on to Westwood  and small towns on our way to Rocky. Filled up with diesel ( so I could check my fuel economy for the entire trip) while marion got some groceries so we could eat. We arrived home at around 2.30 pm some 10 weeks and 2 days after we left.

For the record we covered 19840 kilometres and averaged 7.95 kms per litre – just over 22 miles per gallon which is pretty good for a 2.4 litre turbo diesel powering a four tonne motorhome.

Where to next? That is the question.

26/7/12 Did some shopping before leaving Donnybrook. Decided we would head towards Mt Barker for the night as we needed a site with mobile transmission. Drove down to Manjimup before turning west towards Mt Barker. Had lunch at the delightful Lake Muir NP Observatory. After lunch checked out the Observatory but the water was almost out and no bird life was to be seen. A spot to visit agin when full of water. Drove onto Mt Barker and turned left onto the Perth Albany road where our camp site was some 17 km up the road. First time ever we had the camp to ourselves.

27/7/12 A bitterly cold night, and after brekky drove on to Porungarup where we hoped to spend the night. T'was not to be as the local CP closes down for July and August. Not to be deterred we drove onto the Balancing Rock and Castle Rock which is in the Porungarup NP. We climbed to the lookout which took an hour to reach. In in ews are quite spectacular. The lookouts had been helicoptered in in 2007. After the climb down we drove to Mt Barker and purchased some famous Mt Barker pies for lunch. After that we drove towards Albany and turned left and headed westwards towards our camp for the night.

28/7/12 Up early and on our way to Hopetoun to visit Fitzgerald National Park. Much money has been spend on the roads and facilities in the NP but the place we wanted to go to – Hamersley Inlet – was the only area not available. We drove around found a new campsite had been set up at Four Mile Beach so we decided to stay the night. We were informed that the Campsite had only been open for ¾ weeks and we were only the fourth camper. As luck would have it, a Wicked type camper rolled in just on dusk and left before we did. Can't be sure that they paid but we assume so, as the Ranger was onto us as soon as we had set up.

29/7/12 Off to Hopetoun early this morning looking for a waste dump that was advertised in the Camp 6. Can only assume that the disposal unit has been removed as we search high and low. Luckily it was not an urgent matter. Drove out of Hopetoun and turned onto the bitumen back road that we used last year. Much rain has been had in this area and there was water everywhere. One needed to be careful not to get onto the shoulder and get stuck. We drove onto Munglinup where we had decided to spend the night as once again we needed phone contact with the outside world. We had arrived early and picked the best park in the place. Two caravanners drove in around 5 pm and one drove so close to us he nearly took our back off and then proceeded to reverse even closer. He advised that he would be running a genny for a few hours. We were not impressed and moved away for a quiet night. I hope his chooks grow up to be roosters and kick his fowlhouse down.

30/7/12 Another cold night and plenty of water around so we filled up plus some spares. We drove into Esperence to a local shopping centre we had found last year. We decided to do some washing and found a friendly hairdresser who cut our hair and talked our ears off. Purchased some groceries and then motored off to Cape Le Grand National Park to spend the night. Looked like we might have it to ouselves until two other couples turned up. It is a beautiful spot – quiet and serene and the showers were warmer this year.

31/7/12 Up early and paid our dues to the Ranger who came calling around brekky time. Drove around the park and checked out all the beaches and coves and nearly collected a kangaroo for our trouble. And this almost in front of the Ranger who was fixing a pothole. The wind was blowing fiercely and it was too cold and blowy to climb Frenchman's Peak. Back to Esperence where we got some food and beer before heading off to Norseman The thing about the drive to Norseman that sticks in our mind is the amount of rubbish on the sides of the road. People really are grubs. We were surprised at how small Norseman is and after visiting the Information centre we headed west to the Nullabor. Some 80 km down the road we pulled up for the night and had a Winnebago Nullabor drive in on dark. Rained lightly all night.

1/8/12 Started raining and as we hit the bitumen there was aloud cracking sound and the driver's wiper blade started jumping around like a broken chicken wing. Stopped the van and hopped out to see what the damage was. The blade had separated from the wiper mechanism. Stood in the rain and slowly worked out what to do. The wipers worked again, but didn't sound too healthy. We used them sparingly and after and hour or two the rain lightened off. Will get them checked out when I get home. In the meantime hope we don't encounter any rain. Filled up at Balladonia and drove on to the Observatory Turnoff Rest Area for the night. We spend the first hour there picking up other people's rubbish and burning it. Dirty toilet paper, cigarette packets, beer bottles and cans. After dark a caravanner turned up and he had left before we arose. Another bitterly cold night.

2/8/12 Up reasonably early. The weather had cleared although there were some clouds to the south.

We filled up with fuel at Madura Pass and were surprised how high we were as we couldn't remember climbing and any stage. Fuel was dear but I expected that. The Nullabor wasn't as treeless as I expected it to be. Certainly there were more trees than on our train ride the previous year. Passed through all the Roadhouse stops and had thrown out or used all our food and vegies before we hit the border which was after Eucla. Much to our surprise when going East the Quarantine Station operates at Ceduna. We drove on and were driving parallel to the Great Australia Bight. We had stopped at te GAB lookout and took some photos. We had decided to spend the night camped on the Bight and half a dozen other entrepid campers shared our view although 4 groups turned up after 5pm.

3/8/12 A bitterly cold night last night and extremely blowy. We didn't see any whales even though they are said to swim by between June and October. Slept in for a change – mainly because of the time change – and got on the road just before 9 am. We have been waiting to see a Camel or Wombat and signs are up all over. However all we have seen are dead kangaroos and other small animals. Did see one Emu and 3 rabbits yesterday. The landscape changed as we motored further East and now we seem to be in broad acre farming land. We are at a roadside camp some 45 kms east of Ceduna on our way to Port Augusta.