Heavy rain overnight. We both slept in and hence a bit of a late start at about 9am. We rode to the border then stopped for breakfast at the Border Village Roadhouse. Got some mixed messages from the road train drivers. As we were walking in the Drivers eating on the Veranda told us that the Kangaroos come out on to the road after a rain to drink the water, and that there was heaps of water on the road causing the Road trains to Aquaplane! Sounded pretty extreme. When we were coming out another Road Train driver said there were no Kangaroos on the road, not even dead ones, and that the road was pretty good despite the rain. Take your pick. Some people need to dramatise the situation and worry I guess, whereas others minimise the risk. We jumped on and rode down the road which was not too wet and figured if the Kangaroos were on the road they at least would be easy to see, as opposed to when they are on the side of the road in the bush where they are next to invisible right up to the moment that they come bouncing out.
We stopped to look at the ocean from the cliffs above the Great Australian Bight marine park. The ocean was crashing in to these craggy cliffs and it was quite spectacular however we were more interested in trying to see whales as they use this area as nursery for the young so can often be seen at this time of year from the cliffs. Sadly no sign of them today.
The roads going down to the look - outs were gravel and with the rain there were quite a few puddles around. I thought it doesn’t look like it is very deep as I confidently rode into a small puddle and then – thump, thump the bike fell into a deep hole, water going everywhere. Thankfully it was a short hole so the bike bounced out the other side but it was a cartoon moment. Coming back out onto the road after a look for the whales the boy racer in me got the better of me and I thought I would show the rear tyre what 120 horse power on gravel feels like which lead to a wobbly speed way moment. These were the highlights of the ride, because this is the Nullarbor Plain and the road just continued in a straight line heading east just like yesterday.
We stopped at the Nullarbor roadhouse for some fuel and a coffee. The Fuel was not the most expensive we have bought but the coffee was at $5.60 a cup. It was pretty ordinary coffee despite the high price. In the car park was a Cessna aircraft, a very sensible way to get around in this place where trips are measured in days rather than hours.
Yesterday I was concerned about the signs of an imminent civil war, judging by the airstrips. Today I noticed the sign saying it was a RFDS airstrip. RFDS sounds military right?, Royal Flying Defence Squad? or maybe Really Fast Defence System? but then it struck me Royal Flying Doctor Service. The airstrips are there to help pick up injured Motorists that have fallen asleep and veered of the road. Mind you if you did veer off the road you probably wouldn’t notice, as it is so flat that you would just continue happily along through the plain and wake up happily racing along through the dessert 10 or 20 km later. So I have now relaxed that piece reigns in the outback.
The surveyor E A Delisser, was obviously a Latin scholar, as when he travelled trough here in 1867, he named the plane from the Latin words “Nullus” and “Arbor” to make Nullarbor meaning “No Trees”. This was very apparent today as all trees disappeared for a large part of the trip and it was just red dirt and arid grass and low scrub. The Aboriginal name for Nullarbor Plane is Oondiri, which means waterless. Aborigines are experts at finding water so this is saying something. Both names seem very appropriate.
Crossing the border we lost two hours time and this combined with our late departure played against us for reaching Streaky Bay, and instead we stopped at Ceduna, a nice little town. The Quarantine checkpoint is in Ceduna and you are meant to stop. I rode up slowly into the left lane where the barrier was up and as I was arriving the right lane barrier went up. I took this as a signal to keep going and had a very angry looking quarantine officer shouting at me to stop. I hit the brakes and then worked to reverse the bike back to see the guy. He pointed out the Stop sign with a frown on his face. I thought looks like I’m in for a search or maybe arrested for flaunting the law, I had obviously upset the officious looking officer. He said, “Have you got any fruit?” while he frowningly looked at my bike. I said, ”No, we haven’t got any food” getting ready to dismount and unpack, “Righto off you go then” and that was it, maybe he just looks angry all the time.
Got the best Motel room yet at the local campground, which is on the beachfront. All of the motels and campgrounds seem to be fortified so presumably there is a criminal element in the town. Had Diner at the Hotel beside the Campground with a couple that we met at Balladonia, Fred and Jeanette who live in Melbourne and have been doing a trip around Australia in there car.
We did some laundry that was well overdue. The last two roadhouses did not have the facility to do washing, which I guess reflects their capacity to supply water in the very arid environment.
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