• Adventuring Down Under
    Starting Australia's longest stretch of straight road — Eyre Highway near Caiguna Roadhouse, WA.
    On the "90-Mile Straight" stretch of the Eyre Hwy, WA.And, the first place where we turn a corner after the 90-Mile Straight — Eyre Hwy, WA.Pre-WWII boiler ... once used in a mine ... transported for use in the first Balladonia Roadhouse.Afghan camel teamsters came to the area during the goldrush ... later used to haul wool to ports.It's not the sky that fell but Skylab — Balladonia Museum, WA.Wreckage from Skylab — Balladonia Museum, WA.Our only camel sighting on this trip ... supposedly there are 200,000+ feral camels in Australia.I like this philosophy — Balladonia Museum, WA.Yup, we did this! — Balladonia Museum, WA.Looking down the "asphalt waves" — Eyre Hwy, WA.Finally remembered to take a photo of Mui driving on the left — Eyre Hwy, WA.Road trains are very common here ... the longest we've seen is a rig pulling four containers.Australian Magpie

    OTR: Caravaning … Day 9

    18. februar 2024, Australia ⋅ ⛅ 82 °F

    Cocklebiddy Roadhouse to Norseman
    Distance Traveled: 275 Miles

    It was 7:45a when we left the caravan park at the Cocklebiddy Roadhouse. Twenty minutes into our drive, having left that teeny-tiny bit of Australia that has its own time zone, we had to set our watches back to 7:00a … regular Western Australia time.

    Why did we leave so early? Partly because we were up and ready. And partly because we wanted to beat the heat … the forecast for the day was for the temperature to steadily rise from 65F to 102F. And it did. Luckily dry heat … but hot is hot.

    This was another “drive from Point A to Point B” kind of day. This time, though, we stuck with the plan. No jiggles to Point C or beyond. But we did do a bit of sightseeing along the way.

    Once we reached the Caiguna Roadhouse — about 40 miles from Cocklebiddy — we hit the straight and narrow! Literally! We were now on the “90-Mile Straight” stretch of the Eyre Highway … Australia’s longest straight road with not even a wiggle along the way.

    It was towards the end of this stretch that our noses were assaulted by the distinct smell of fire. Turns out that there was a bush fire here just six days ago. Luckily, it was quickly contained … though it did, at one point, threaten the Balladonia Roadhouse, which was our next stop.

    Aside from topping off our diesel here, we visited a small museum. The heritage museum is small, but has an eclectic collection of exhibits … including a camel and a piece of space debris. Back in 1979, this roadhouse suddenly found itself in the headlines when parts of NASA’s Skylab “dropped in on Balladonia” … as the sign in the parking lot described the event. Turns out that bits and pieces of Skylab were scattered within a 90-mile radius around the roadhouse. In jest, the local shire fined NASA $400 for littering 😁

    As we continued our drive, we left the low-vegetation covering the ground on either side of the highway. In its stead, we entered the Great Western Woodland … billed as the biggest acreage of uninterrupted trees … covering an area larger than all of Tasmania.

    Yes, we added to our stash of unusual road sign photos again.    Les mer

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