OTR: Caravaning … Day 9

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.Leia mais