The van park is right on the edge of the bay and is very scenic and of course incredibly windy so canvas was flapping around all night. Unpacking the trailer the canvas quickly dried and we were able to find out how good our packing was as nothing had leaked through on to the bed.

After setting up I went to take some pictures of pelican’s. Unfortunately they all flew off to other side of the bay where someone was starting up a BBQ. We then got harassed by a few dozen seagulls and an ocean gull as we sat down for our meal. The ocean gull was very immature and didn’t have his full plumage but being 3 times the size of a seagull he was able to just pick them up in his beak and throw them out of the way to get food.

Tonight’s meal was lamb steaks and veggies with a couple of Cooper’s Pale Ales

Day 55 – Streaky Bay to Eucla
Left Streaky Bay nice and dry but rather wind swept and headed towards Ceduna. After all the land advertising we see on TV about these too places we wondered what Ceduna would be like. Streaky Bay certainly was nice. Suffice to say Ceduna was a dump and we couldn’t understand what the attraction was.

A quick top up at the roadhouse and a circuit of town was enough before we headed out towards the Nullabour at last. We quickly realised this wasn’t going to be a fun trip as the westerly winds that had bothered us all down the Eyre penninsula and I suppose almost since Robe where now comming straight at us up the highway.

Because of the wind our fuel consumption was rising and the only option was to slow to less than 80kph. Radio chatter on ch40 from the trucks indicated how bad it was and it was only the cars that were overtaking anyone.

Crossing the border into WA meant going through the quarantine check, surrendering our remaining fresh fruit, veggies and our little jar of honey. They were even more thorough at checking than when we went to Tasmania.

By the time we got in to Eucla we decided that was enough for the day and we took a motel room instead of setting up the canvas. We weren’t the only one’s doing this either.

Tonight’s meal was beer battered local fish and chips and Little Creatures Bright Ale.

Day 56 – Eucla to Norseman
With a long day ahead we hit the road early. The wind was still howling towards us. At least with the Defender you don’t really get buffeted by the wind that much, guess it’s the total lack of aerodynamics. Once again it was a slow trip and in the final analysis we ended up averaging 18.5L/100km as apposed to our usual 14.5L/100km average for the trip.

We stopped at most of the lookouts and of course the “Head of the Bight”. Only to find that at this point – after driving 11km down to the coast – the nice smooth bitumen road and the state of the art, architectual statement, visitor’s centre all meant that they then wanted $12 per person to walk the 200 metres to the cliffs where there was the “possibility” of seeing whales. We, like a lot of the others there, got back in our car and drove off as that was a little too much for the ability to take a few pictures of the cliffs. We’d already asked some people who’d paid and were on the way out about the whales and there were none visible.
We also miss timed the fuel refill – partly due to the increased consumption – and so ended up refuelling at the Nullabour Roadhouse, the most expensive fuel on the highway,

Lunch was a stop at the Medura roadhouse to refuel and then a bite to eat at the lookout at the top of the step climb up the escarpment. From there it was more strong winds until just before Belladonia roadhouse. Finally we ended up in Norseman and were able to get some fresh WA veggies and fruit and have a nice home cooked meal tonight.

Tonight’s meal was a beef stir fry.

Day 57 – Norseman to Esperance
A quick drive around Norseman this morning didn’t really give us much of an impression, but it is very much like every other gold mining town of similar vintage. Must say it didn’t seem an unfriendly place though. After that it was off to Esperance.

We had decided not to go to Kalgoolie on the trip and rather spend a day down on the coast. This meant we were limited for time and couldn’t really get out to the national park. We did however do the fantastic coastal tourist drive and also caught up with James and Joan for afternoon tea. I’ll really have to find out more details about the shockies James has fitted to his D3, talk about heavy duty!

We stayed at the rather small, but well sheltered van park in the centre of Esperence.

Tonight’s dinner was local fish and chips and we sat down on the water front overlooking the port. All rather peaceful.

Day 58 – Esperance to Wave Rock
The previous night in Esperance had been cold and there was even a light frost this morning.

A change of plans developed yesterday. We decided to go to Wave Rock at Hyden, rather than on to Albany. So this morning we left Esperance and headed to Ravensthorpe and then turned off to Hyden.

On the way to Ravensthorpe a rather old, rusty and dilapidated Land Cruiser HJ65 went passed us like we were standing still and it was making a very peculiar noise. We caught up with him in Ravenstorpe where he too was refuelling. When his air started kicked in it was easy to pick the strange noise. It was nolonger a cruiser under the bonnet as it obviously had a very load supercharger under there.

Wave Rock is great and we picked a good time to go as there weren’t many people. So I was able to get several good shots of the rock without anyone in the pictures. The camping ground was also very good. I think the main thing that impressed me was the lack of boardwalks and so forth that seems to point you along the same path everyone else treads.

I intended to try and get a star shot which included Wave Rock. Didn’t happen though as by 8pm it was overcast and freezing cold.

Tonights meal was a Thai Red Curry.

Day 59 – Wave Rock to Dalyellup
Woke this morning to a very white, very cold day. The fog was almost thick enough to cut and I don’t think it was the positive side of zero. We packed and left when the fog lifted about 8am and headed of in to Hyden to refuel. You get a discount voucher fra=om the camping ground for the fuel.

After that it was on to Collie and the coast. On the way we found out what LG stands for… Lake Grace… nothing to do with electronics at all. I was also able to contact the Kimberley agent in WA and organise to get the outstanding warranty work done.

We then went down to The Grove winery, just north of Margaret River and bought some fresh coffee and some of their chocolate liquor before heading back up the cost to stay with Helen and David in Dalyellup.

Tonight’s meal was spaghetti and lamb meatballs…mmmm!

Day 60 – Dalyellup and Bunbury
Unfortunately Helen had to work today so spent the day David and went in to town to do some shopping, cleaned out the Kamper and dried it out and lastly removed the shelf that the generator had been resting on in the front bin. This obviously wasn’t designed for an EU20 generator despite what we’d been told and so now it’s been taken out. After Helen got home we showed them the trailer and then packed everything away again.

After dinner we played canasta. It was good to see them again after almost 2 years and see David hadn’t lost his competative edge for cards.

Tonight’s meal was Thai Red Curry chicken and a few glasses of wine.

Day 61 – Dalyellup and Bunbury
Helen only had to work in the afternoon so we decided to go in to Bunbury and have lunch at Dome after which she’d leave us and go on to work. We went back home via the grower’s market and some fresh produce. Wish we had something like that in Gove!

This evening was my first chance to use a Nintendo Wii. It’s actually rather fun, except for the bit where you get beaten by a 7 year old.

We then sat down to a canasta rematch which unfortunately David and Brenda won again.

Tonight’s meal was roast chicken and veggies.

Day 62 – - Dalyellup
Helen and David asked me to take a portfolio of pictures of the house which was a new challenge. After some trial and error though we ended up with about a dozen very presentable shots. After this it was off to the Old Coast Road Brewery near Harvey for a rather nice lunch. Didn’t think much of the beer as it certainly wasn’t a patch on the micro breweries of Tasmania. Still it’s always fun to try new tastes.

Getting back after a late lunch we packed up everything and also topped up the water tanks on the Kamper. in preparation for leaving in the morning.

I then had another play on Ben’s Wii and actually managed to trump his highest score. I have my doubts that my record will stay for very long though.

After dinner we then had another rematch at canasta and Helen and I triumphed winning all the games on our final night!

Tonight’s meal was a BBQ mixed grill and salad as we’d all had a late lunch and so it was something simple.

Day 63 – Dalyellup to Canning Vale, Port Kennedy and Wellard
We left Helen and David’s with some regrets as always and headed off to Canning Vale to drop the Kamper of a Care-A-Van for the outstanding repair work. It was a long haul up to Canning Vale, though the traffic had mostly eased off by the time we left at 8:30am.

Care-A-Van were very organised and whilst they would have the work done by this afternoon didn’t mind us leaving the trailer overnight. This meant we could much more easily visit Zsolt and Kris and then get down to Karen and Rob’s for the night.

On the way to Port Kennedy we called in to the shops in Rockingham and managed at last to get a new battery for the TyreDog wheel sensors. Battery World really does seem to stock every conceivable battery even a CR1632.

It was great to catch up with Kris and Zsolt and family even if only for a cup of tea. Unfortunately by now we were also starting to feel the effects of a cold coming and so both of us were rather under the weather and we kept the visit short.

From there it was on to Rob and Karen’s where it was strange not to be greeted by the squeals of joy from Brock their Dachshund as they had lost him last year. I must say his little replacement Rielly made up for it though with his enthusiastic greeting and his desire to climb all over us.

Tonight’s meal was lasagne and salad.

First thing was a walk over the dunes to the Elliston beach and bay area where the wind was gale force.  Then it was pack up the trailer and on to the Elliston tour drive along the foreshore.  This too was spectacular and I got a few good shots.  The drive is dotted with what can only be described as “interesting” sculptures.

After that it was off up the road to Streaky Bay.  Hang on that’s not in the day’s title??? Anyway after about 40km the car started to develop an asthmatic wheeze when underload, definitely from the air intake, but where,  about 2km after looking for it we lost all power and the Scangauge said no turbo boost and no mass air pressure.  So it was out again as we obviously weren’t going to make Port Kenny (5km away) and check all the intercooler and turbo hoses for leaks.  Turn around and limp back to Port Lincoln where there is thankfully still a dealer.  This was a distance of some 210km which we covered in a little over 6 hours.  There is a large hole in the intercooler inlet hose so tomorrow morning we will get this repaired/replaced and be back on our way.  Normally aspirated the Defender wouldn’t have been too bad, but add 1.5t of trailer behind it and several step hills… well it was very sluggish.

MId afternoon we were passed by 6 identical brand new Toyota Kluger’s with lots of Japanese writing on stickers all over them.  Obviously in convoy, definitely not the standard Australain model and we saw them again in Port Lincoln tonight.

Tonight’s meal was a very nice seafood pizza from down the water front at Port Lincoln.

Leaving Port Germain behind we headed on to Port Augusta to refuel and then on to Whyalla where we had a quick look around town and snapped a few panoramas from the Hummock Hill lookout.  Whyalla was much nicer than I expected and quite a tidy town with some fantastic old stone houses and buildings.  From there it was on down to Port Lincoln which I must say is not a very interesting drive for most of the way.  There we stopped to refuel again and to resupply before heading west we then had enough time for a quick side trip in to Coffin Bay and finished up at Elliston just as it was getting dark.

Tonight’s meal is steak and veggies.

We’d stayed at Port Germain last year on our way home with the then new Defender and Kamper.  The van park is right on the beach and there’s a great walk out on the jetty.  So that’s where we ended up.

The drive through Adelaide was uneventful but once out on the open road we yet again experienced the stupidity of some drivers as we were overtaken on a blind corner with a double white line by an impatient galah in, you guessed it, a Land Cruiser tray back.  They really are the vehicle of choice for bad drivers.

The day was again fine but windy.  This made us even more comfortable with our decision not to go across to KI.  Checking the BOM site tonight I also noticed a coastal wind warning for SA.

Tonight’s meal was pork medallions with an Harissa rub and corn on the cob.

Decided to review the fuel figures for the trip tonight.  So far up to the last refuelling in Adelaide we have used 1946L, travelled a total of 12,899km and averaged 14.4L/100km.  The best fuel consumption was in Tassie (without the trailer) of 9.7L/100km and the worst was on the open highway between Julia Creek and Hughenden 17.6L/100km.

Driving in to Cape Jaffa we were confronted by a very new and very modern marina estate.  All man made and all rather exclusive looking and right in the middle of nothing.  Most perculiar, but obviously someone thinks Cape Jaffa is the next place to ruin with waterside development.  From there it was on to Kingstone S.E.  (Why S.E. and what does it really stand for?) which was as always a rather ordinary town with a giant lobster on the northern approach.  Believe it or not the lobster and attached building is for sale if you want it.

From there it was up the Coorong NP strip on on to Cape Jervis via Goolwa and Victor Harbour.  We were contemplating one of the 4WD tracks in the NP but it was closed.   By the time we had reached Cape Jervis we had decided to give Kangaroo Island a miss.  Just as well since we also arrived just as the afternoon ferry was pulling out of the harbour.  Whilst the day was good it looked like becoming windy in the next 48 hours and this would have made camping on KI and the return trip very unpleasant.  It also meant we will have 3 more days to spend in NW WA.

We’d driven in to Cape Jervis by the Second Valley Forest tourist trail.  This skirt conservation areas and state forest and was most enjoyable.  Being unsealed it also meant virtually no traffic.  We also thought we had stumbled across a red and yellow Imperial Storm Trooper walkin g up the road.  It turned out to be a Forestry worker clad in full PPE, including respirator, spraying weeds with a light sabre.  Must have been nasty stuff he (or was it she?) was using.

Leaving Cape Jervis and driving back up the VERY step hills we headed back out to McLaren Vale where we intended to spend the night.

Tonight’s meal was a beef stir fry and a bottle of Bleasdale Second Innings Malbec.  This was also the first chance we had, had to try out the new cookware we had purchased in Sydney and Melbourne.  We bought some Tefal saucepans, frypan and wok which have removable handles.  Much better than any of the “camping” cookware we could have got.

We finished the day in Robe and stayed at the Lake View van park.  The old ancestral home of Moorakyn house is still a grand residence and we did a quick drive around the town before heading to the Caledonian Inn for dinner.

Tonight’s meal was Surf’n’Turf with a pint of Cooper’s Pale Ale to wash it down.

In the end it was rather good we hadn’t been able to leave first thing, as intended.  We would have been driving right in to the storm front and that would have been unpleasant, if not down right dangerous, given the high winds.

We left for Hamilton and to drop n on John and Danni.  This ended up being a quick visit for afternoon tea, rather than the potential lunch visit we had all hoped for.  It was great to catch up with them after 3 years and I think I can see why they like Hamilton, it didn’t seem too bad a place.

We then headed off to find accommodation and decided on a cabin as the winds had picked up again and so had the rain.  We were also able to restock the Kamper with food for the coming weeks.

Tonight’s meal was lamb steaks with a Tuscan spice rub.

Other points of significance today were:

Hump point of the trip.  Our time is half over and we haven’t left Victoria yet!

We broke the 12,000km travelled mark and we’re still in the east!

In the afternoon we still had some packing to do, but Mum wanted to get over to my brother’s place and have hamburgers for dinner, so we left the packing for the morning.  Lachlan took me for a ride in the 6 wheel skid steer amphibus buggy he’s obtained. Rather harsh ride but definitely a fun machine.

Tonight’s meal was a rather nice hamburger from a fish and chip shop in Maryborough.  Nice surprise was they charge extra for beetroot.  Good to see not everyone thinks you need a purple stained burger.

By 3:30pm it was back into Melbourne traffic on a Friday afternoon with a trailer in tow.  We made sure to avoid Eastlink this time but were going to use the Citylink Tunnel ntil we got close enough to realise that it was gridlocked.  So at this point we relied on the SatNav and headed off on to Toorak Rd and through Toorak Village and South Yarra with our Defender and Kamper in tow. I think by the time we got to the Westgate Bridge my nerves were definitely on edge.

After the Westgate it was an easy run up the Ballarat road and we then went in through Dalesford.  It was almost 7pm when we got to Maryborough so we grabbed a quick take-away before heading back to my folks place.

Tonight’s meal was good old fish and chips and a couple of scallops.

Brenda very nicely decided to cook dinner tonight, so it was off to town to buy ingredients.  At least we would all have a decent feed tonight.

Still can’t get used to driving around in a car after 44 days in the Defender.  Even worse it’s a Volvo and I can’t find the secret compartment they keep the funny hat in to wear when driving a Volvo.  I can only assume it is an accessory that is provided at time of purchase.  Actually it’s a very nice car to drive.

Tonight’s meal was a roast lamb (without Garlic, to pacify my Mum) with roast veggies and Brenda’s wonderful gravy.  This was followed by individual cups of Lemon Delicious.  I think my Dad and brother thoroughly enjoyed it.