Day 2 Norseman - Nundroo (AKA - The middle of nowhere)

Before 5 am we both begin to stir as the sun pours through the thin smoke stained curtains. Considering we were in bed at 830 pm the previous night and have at least 12 hours of driving this day we jump out of bed to make an early start. We check out the BP adjoining our hotel to find that they must also run a pig slaughter house as the only menu options are built around bacon. We resort to continuing on without coffee, food or even one of the tempting $7 Red Bulls.
As it is early we are on serious edge as Mum told me that this is when the Kangaroos like to jump in front of you and stuff up your whole adventure.

 

As we drive, the landscape changes continuously and is what i can only explain as the real Australian Outback.


We have also noticed that since we passed Kalgoorlie we have the road to ourselves with the occasional caravan. All of the Road Trains that we see are heading west bound which makes us breathe easy. We have seen a number of brave (or crazy) people slowly cycling the long out back route. A special mention to the man we have spotted doing the journey on foot!

Still we haven't seen a live Kangaroo. We spot another Emu and more chicks but they camouflage themselves so well that our photos do not do them justice.

As the sun lifts higher in the sky, the site of once lively bouncing roos are everywhere. Thanking our lucky stars that we were not responsible for any of their untimely deaths. Along the horizon we notice what looks to be another of our bouncing friends. This one however appears to be moving! As we get closer it spreads its 2 metre width wings and flies over the top of our car spiraling into the clouds. The Kangaroo however remains on the road with its neat tyre marked face and missing eyeballs. As we drive along we see many more of these massive eagle and some smaller ones too. The larger ones turn out to be Wedge tail Eagles. Their wing span is on average 2.3 metres!

520 kilometres in and we have no idea what time it is as every petrol station has a different time zone. As we drive the road in front of us appears to be water as the heat and distance confuse our eyes.

We traveled the 90 mile straight which is supposed to be the longest stretch of straight road in Australia. We were under the understanding that it was also a very boring 90 miles. However with music a blaring we were pleasantly surprised that the landscape change dramatically every 10 or so kilometres going from very arid with no scrub to a forest of leafless trees to very green.

We made it to Eucla where after hours of hoping to see the ocean we were not disappointed. We stop at the Eucla Roadhouse (or was the Roadhouse the Town?), and see an amazing view. Little did we realise but that was probably the worst of the coastal views we were going to see. We cross into South Australia after 15 total hours of driving over the last two days. The scenery has changed to a much lighter soil with lots of short scrubs typical to coastal areas. We make our way to the first Tourist Photo Spot where we are amazed with the whole vista.

We drive and drive till my hands are sore from gripping the wheel and Trevor is almost nodding in the Passenger seat. So we pull into another Tourist Drive which takes us to the edge of the earth. The cliffs cascade down into the rough ocean which is as the opposite colour to the light of the sky. The waves crash formidably around the cliffs below. We have reached the Great Australian Bight!


This world of The Nullarbor just seems to be completely unending... The road seems to carry on forever and when you look out in any direction the distance is unreadable.

We have seen more wildlife again. Three dingos! Casually searching for babies. I haven't seen any children at any of the stops so perhaps they have already found them. In all seriousness they were stunning. However they were so lean i do not think that they have eaten much for a while.

As we enter the Western Nullarbor Plains we pull into the Nullarbor Hotel Motel where a grim, filthy, rotund man greets us at the counter. "Wadda ya want boys?" We check the prices of accomadation and make dust tracks at the thought of the food we will receive as his grimy emu export tee had the words chef lazily written on it in felt marker.

We drive along desperate for a feed and further desperate to be away from the Nullarbor Hotel Motel.

As we crest a hill we see a cute little homestead style cottage and a sign saying Bed and Breakfast. We zoom down the little dust driveway to a perfectly cobbled parking bay.
We open the door to find a well dress (Chanel I believe) young lady standing in the quaint but beautifully decorated entry way. She had such a beautiful smile!

We enquire to a night’s accommodation to find it is cheaper than the Nullarbor Hotel Motel. We have then taken to our room which has the softest bed coverings and a mattress that looks like a pile of feathers.


We leave our case in the room and make our way to the dining room for dinner. We are surprised with freshly squeezed orange juice, fresh home baked bread, free range chicken eggs and a vegetarian feast! To wash it all down we endure a chilled bottle of Bollinger in crystal glassware. All to do now is to lie down under my warm soft floating doona and enjoy our first good night’s sleep since this adventure start.

I awake to a screaming and screeching and rattling and shaking. I start with a cough. I am certainly choking on something... I brush the dust from my eyes and open them to see the ass end of a road train whirring down the road. I begin to focus as i spit out the sand and gravel from my mouth. I recoil in horror as i see Trevor lying straight backed in shock underneath what looks to be a kangaroo carcass. The smell is awful and i realise I also am lying under a carcass with crows picking the tasty bits out of my warm soft floating doona.