Smoky Bay to Norseman

On a foggy morning, we agreed to get going to Ceduna and start our trip across the Nullarbor, taking advantage of a three day good weather forecast. A refuel stop at Ceduna and we were on our way across one of the worlds famous "drives". As this was our second trip from East to West, the road ahead didn't hold as much apprehension for us as before. Having done the trip both ways in 2006, it was now a bit hum-drum. The biggest worry was, and proved to be, the high cost of fuel.
We passed through Penong, famous for windmills; we didn't think that there were as many to be counted as last time. Looking at our 2006 photos, this seems to be the case. As many were dilapidated, they have either fallen down or been dismantled.

The start of the Nullarbor (no trees) is close to the Head of the Bight, a popular whale watching location but a bit early for them. However, along the way, talking to a truck driver on the CB, he could see a pair of whales from his cab; he was sitting a bit higher than us so we missed them.
We also found that several of the cliff top look-outs between Nullarbor Road House and the SA-WA Border have been closed since we last crossed, environment concerns for where the jagged 90 metre high cliffs plunge straight down to the Southern Ocean have led to restrictions of access.

After one night camp, we passed through the Border Village into Western Australia, a photo stop at the roadhouse, a final quarantine check; we reset the clocks to eastern WA time and set off for Mundrabilla, our next refuelling stop.

A near disaster, close to empty on one tank in the Landcruiser, pulled into the servo only to find out that the roadhouse had run out of diesel. Due to a major truck blitz by WA police and Road Transport Authority, Mundrabilla had a queue of road-trains that were having a "forced" rest period; they had caused a major run on the supplies. So our next refuelling stop, about 140-odd Kilometres away, Madura Pass. Just so happens, this was the dearest diesel on the route, $1:97 c/l, over $260 to refuel, ouch!

After another night camp, we travelled the "Longest Straight in Australia" (145.6K, 90 miles) to Balladonia, famous for its "Sky-Lab" exhibit, and then on to Norseman.

Norseman doesn't hold any attractions for us so after a fuel stop, a visit to the tourist centre, we headed north towards Kalgoorlie and another overnight free camp 12k away.

Click on the link below to view some photos.
https://picasaweb.google.com/108879761974384702036/SmokyBayToNorseman?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCNnasbmH3qzZGQ&feat=directlink