Head of the Bight

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Star Date: 14/04/26.

Head of the Bight is a great place to see Southern Right Whales in the winter months from May to October. Outside that time the entry price is half price and is still a great place to visit.

Free camp area at the entry gate to the visitor centre.

A easy boardwalk leads you to the cliff edge with amazing views of the ocean and Bunda Cliffs.

Amazing views of the Bunda cliffs, our first glimpse.

A couple of small lizards heaving a fight.

The coloured one seemed to be loosing the battle.

Next was the sign for the Eastern End of the Treeless Plain. Nullarbor” is derived from the Latin words nullus (“nothing” or “no”) and arbor(“tree”), directly translating to “no trees” There was indeed no trees but small bushes. It is a really good road.

I was a little emotional at the sign, thinking of Chris and how much we both wanted to do this trip together.

The famous Nullarbor Roadhouse. We had lunch here and I bought a cute Emu with big eyes that will sit on my shelf at home reminding me of this trip. I’ve called in Nelly from the Nullarbor Roadhouse.

Photo of the original roadhouse.

Camels, Wombats, Kangaroos and dogs 😂 We have not actually seen any animals on the Nullarbor so far.

A few other signs at the Nullarbor Roadhouse.

Inside the roadhouse an amazing mural.

A sense of humour, love it.

Royal Flying Doctor Service R.F.D.S landing strip on the Eyre Highway.

The first scenic lookout of the Great Australian Bight showing the Bunda cliffs. Amazing, can see how the cliffs edges are falling away. A lot of the previous entry points to view the cliffs have been closed off deemed too dangerous.

We found a spot to camp for the night just off the road well hidden from sight.

Live Long and Prosper. 🖖🏿

To bodily go…

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Star Date: 13/4/26.

Time has come to finally cross the Nullarbor, as mentioned something we have tried to do many many times, that hasn’t happened for different reasons. With the current fuel situation it was once again up in the air but I felt it was now or never and something I had to do for both Chris and myself and a big step in my healing journey.

So the day has finally come, our idea is to take our time stopping as many things as we can. First stop was the Penong Windmill Museum. A great display of windmills of all shapes and sizes, including Australia’s largest windmill. We decided we would do Lake MacDonald – The Pink Lake on our way back.

Australia’s biggest windmill, called Bruce

Lots of windmills.

All shapes and sizes.

A brief detour to the Big Wombat.

Minions on the side of the road.

Bookabie School Ruins, the remains of a school that operated from 1892 until 1957.

We stopped for the first night at Kidnippy Rest Stop near Yalata. This was a big area, going a fair way from the Eyre Hwy. We were able to get a great spot along the back fence and had a really quiet night.

A few interesting signs along the way.

Live Long and Prosper. 🖖🏿

Granite Hill

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Star Date – 8/4/26

We left Peterborough and headed to Port Augusta for a few groceries and a stop at the local bakery.  Judy had taken us on a bit of a short cut that took us past wind farms and some picturesque scenery, road was narrow and bumpy.

It had rained the night before and was still a pretty gloomy day.

We stopped for the night at Iron Knob RV Park, a donation park, and $2 for hot showers. The best hot showers since I have left home.

Camping was on a gravel base which was great when the storm rolled in at 4.30am.

There was not a blade of grass around, plenty of spiky weeds and loads of flies.

The town of Iron Knob is situated at the foot of an iron ore mine on the North East of the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia.

Iron Knob began as a housing settlement for miners somewhere between the late 1800’s to early 1900’s. It is often said to be the birthplace of Australia’s steel industry, and the mine is among the oldest still active in Australia.

Star Date – 9/4/26

We stopped for a break at Kimba and boy were we impressed. We weren’t staying the night but plan to spend a few days there on our way.

We pushed on at stopped at the Star Base Wudinna at the RV park. $10 unpowered, $20 powered. Drinking water, bins, table and chairs, toilets and one shower for $2.

Aboriginal meaning is Granite Hill (Woodina), has a population of approx 500 people and is the largest town in the council area.

Live Long and Prosper 🖖🏿

Peterborough

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Star Date, 6th day of the 5th month in the year 2026.

After my enjoyable stay at Nyngan I headed towards Broken Hill, stopping at base camp at Wilcannia. We have driven through it several times but due to not finding any suitable places off road to stop for the night I elected to stay safely at the Victory Caravan Park that is council run. There were 9 other travellers there as well as a large group of locals staying a few days. Families with lots of youth from town coming and going. We had no issues at all, a friendly bunch having a great time.

I’d was at Broken Hill in Oct 2024 with Chris, we stayed here for several day exploring the local attractions. You can look back over past Captain’s logs to read what we got up to.

I stayed at the Event Centre and Racecourse where we stayed last night. We had a grassed non powered section all to ourselves. It’s a few km’s out of the main town area but that makes it nice and quiet.

After a brief stop at the shops it was onward to Peterborough SA. My meeting place to meet up with Judy. I was arriving a day earlier to relax a bit after my long few days of travel.

There are strict restrictions of bringing in fruit and veg, check before you cross the border to avoid having to throw out any food. The quarantine station was at Oodla Wirra, friendly man who gave Jess’s carrot the thumbs up and we were on our way.

I was excited and a little emotional to reach Peterborough. I had driven 1865km’s on my own over 6 days. It was a big deal, I said to Chris I made it and knew he would be so proud.

I drove straight to the self contained RV park, setup camp and chilled for a few mins before lunch. It’s like a big oval, people camping mostly around the outside, a big green area in the middle, mostly weeds rather than grass. Nice and flat. There are bins but no other facilities which is why you must be self contained. In town is a dump point and potable water. There is also a dog park very close by.

We mostly chilled for the afternoon with a few short walks with Jess.

7th April, Jess and I did the walk into town. About a 1km to the dump point area and then a very long street. Peterborough is known for trains. Steamtown Heritage Rail Centre and visitor information centre was unfortunately closed, due to the Council’s current financial position. Sounds like they are working towards reopening sometime in 2026.

There are several old steam trains around town.

Y Class Steam locomotive, in the town square.

Town Carriage Museum, a 1916 first class sleeping car, which was used on the first train across the Nullarbor from Port Augusta to Kalgoorlie.

Bob the Railway Dog, located in front of the carriage museum. Bob was the engine drivers companion, died at 13 years of age in 1895. Jess makes friends where ever she goes.

Judy also arrived today, so no more travelling solo for a while.

Live Long and Prosper 🖖🏿

Nyngan, NSW

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I always go to say this name wrong. I can hear Chris correcting me when I think about how to say it. 😂

Nyngan was a pleasant surprise. A small country town with a lot of history, beautiful parks, free camping areas and one big, make that huge Bogan.

There are 3 free camping areas, one in town called the Flood Memorial Park, Nyngan Weir and the Nyngan Bowls Club. All 3 look great, the Weir seems to be a popular choice as it was obviously well used as it was very dusty with little to no grass, there were several campers there.

The one in town where I stayed is on bitumen, has shade, bins, table and chairs, dump point, potable water and well maintained toilets. It’s a very popular stop for people using the toilets. It’s in a very handy location to walk into the town area.

It was Good Friday when I was there so hardly anything was open and it was pretty quiet. It was also pretty hot so I did a drive around the area which allowed me to get further a field than if I had walked.

The Big Bogan is a site not to be missed with his fishing road and faithful friend Rusty. The Bogan Shire Council erected the structure in September 2015 as a tourist attraction, to promote Nyngan and the shire. The term Bogan originated from the Aussie larrikin and ocker. And where better to have a big Bogan than on the banks of the Bogan River. The Bogan represents the relaxed lifestyle on the river. So you have the Big Bogan on the Bogan River in the Bogan Shire.

In April 1990 the Bogan River flooded and completely inundated the town despite the efforts of the locals the leeve bank was breached. The flood broke all previous records. The town was cut off and under water, all services were cut. It was decided to airlift almost the entire population.

The Coach House in the same park as the Big Bogan.

In 1992 the Governor of NSW and the Nyngan Flood Recovery Coordinator, Rear Admiral Peter Sinclair presented a helicopter called Iroquois A2-1022 to the people of Nyngan on behalf of the Australian Government to commemorate the evacuation of Nyngan on the 24th October 1990.

The Iroquois A2-1022 had been used in the Vietnam War by the 9 squadron RAAF. The Iroquois remained in Nyngan for 19 years the town unaware of significance of the military history of the A2-1022 until in 2009 when a former member of the 9 squadron travelling through Nyngan spotted the aircraft.

Following talks between the Bogan Council and the Caloundra (QLD) RSL Sub Branch Recovery Team 2011, the A2-1022 was transported by road to Caloundra where it was restored and put on display outside the Caloundra RSP with a dedication ceremony in March 2012.

A Iroquois airframe was also restored to replace the A2-1022 in Nyngan which is on display in the main street.

I also came across a water tower beautifully painted, really outstanding. The people that paint these are incredible talented.

We drove down to the river where Jess insisted on a swim. Not that I blamed her it looked incredible inviting.

After a drive out to the weir it was decided we would stay back in town where it was less dusty.

There is also a Visitor Centre, Museum, Mid State Shearing Shed Museum, Nyngan Coach House, Golf Course, lovely parks with several public toilets around town. A main street that has plenty of shops and banks, but all closed.

I was impressed with Nyngan and it would nice to come back again when things are open.

A video of my time there.

Well done Nyngan, Live Long and Prosper 🖖🏿

State of Flux

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A “state of flux” describes a situation that is constantly changing, unstable, and uncertain. It signifies a transitional phase where the outcome is not yet determined or settled, sounds like the world at the moment. And also a title of an episode in Star Trek Voyager, so seemed a fitting title for this post.

On my trip, I need to be fluid, be able to change, adapt and be flexible. I’ve certainly felt like my plans were in a “state of flux”

My planned route had to remain flexible, it has changed several times due to different reasons including flooding.

I also factored in where more star-bases were to fuel up, keeping topped up along the way.

Houston we have a problem. Ready to head off and leave home port to find my Staria Trek would not start. It turned out to be the power cell and I had to get Battery World out for a replacement. Have to say they were excellent. The power cells in my particular star ship are rather unique in that, they are an AGM and the poles are the opposite to most star ships, according to the guy who came out they are the only star ship like that. That means they can charge a premium for the power cells. An extra cost I could have done without but also very thankful I was still at home base and they came out very quickly. Only 2 hrs delayed start.

First stop for the night was Goondiwindi show ground. It is rather dry and dusty.

Next stop was Hickey Falls, not far out of Coonabarabran. It was nice and green, gravel bitumen base carpark area that was relatively flat. A nice green grass area next to it. Shelter shed with tables and seats, several bins. A local council worker came and cleaned the tables and seats, saying they were cleaned 3 times a week.

The walk to the falls is less than a min walk from the carpark. It was not flowing when I was there but did have some water in the swimming hole, which Jess got to have a little paddle.

 

Live Long and Prosper 🖖🏿

To be or not to be…….

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That is the question. As many would know I was/am planning a trip from Brisbane Qld down to Peterborough SA, across the Nullarbor, exploring around the Perth area, basically doing a loop from Norseman, Perth, Albany, Esperance etc. you get the idea, back across the Nullarbor, exploring everything there was to offer along the way before heading back home. A min of 12,000km and away for many months.

Crossing the Nullarbor has been on the to do list for Chris and I for many many years. At least 3 times we have made plans to do it but due to circumstances it didn’t happen. Last year was due to the passing of Chris.

I promised Chris I would do it this year on behalf of us both with my friend, Judy. We have been planning it for months, looking forward to it, excited to do it, plans are in place, food prep, vehicle prep, my route from Qld down to Peterborough to meet Judy sorted. I’ve been running food down at home for weeks, ready to turn the fridge off, planning on being away for many months.

A week out, the whole fuel situation, cost and availability has put a big question mark over the trip. I am starting to wonder if crossing the Nullarbor is something I am destined not to do.

Balancing the desire to go, vs the fuel costs and whether availability of fuel is going to be an issue. To be or not to be, that is the question. A question I know I am not alone in asking. As many Australian’s and even travellers from other countries ponder the very same question.

It’s easy to say leave it a few weeks, months, or even “there is next year”. I think the reality of the fact is that fuel prices are not going to go down any time soon. I also know firsthand how plans can change and sometimes you don’t get another opportunity.

It shows how connected the world is now, that something that is happening in another part of the world a long distance from Australia, issues we have nothing to do with. Issues and disputes that have gone on for generations now affect us in the land down under. Oil refineries and other energy sources destroyed. It will take years, even decades for these to be rebuilt, the world has changed.

To be or not to be ………..

Mini Electric Frypan

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I bought a Mini Electric Frypan from Kmart, $20. It’s 420w to 500w. Cooking area 15cm x 15cm. I gave it a good test while I was away and thought it was very good for the price.

It’s a little beauty, I was impressed.

It’s great for camping, caravanning and people on their own who don’t need a big frypan.

Here is a video on it.

Happy cooking. 🥘