The ‘Roo

We've covered a lot of territory since our last post from Esperance - 1638 kilometres; three time zones; and two states to be precise. We're now in Elliston, South Australia, on the traditional lands of the Wirungu and Nauo people.

Our journey across the Nullabor was quicker and more eventful than we'd hoped, thanks to a collision with the remains of a recently deceased kangaroo that caused a bit of damage to the electrics connecting Loretta to the car, as well as making an unpleasant mess on poor Loretta's front boot and undercarriage. We were roughly a quarter of the way across the Nullarbor and left without brakes, lights or indicators on the van. Neither the NRMA nor Youi roadside assist was able to help (although Youi was more apologetic about it) because we were in the middle of nowhere and only a little bit stranded.

We were pulled up at a roadhouse and while on the phone pleading for assistance I noticed a Telstra technician repairing a phone box, so I told the Labs to put on their most irresistible faces and asked Telstra-guy if he could help. The Labs are pretty hard to resist and this incredibly kind and generous chap spent the best part of an hour on his bum in the heat and dust, with flies buzzing around the roo guts, while he soldered wires together so that we could keep driving. He was an absolute legend and refused to take either cash or the case of non-alcoholic beer I had in the boot. Instead, he said "I like to help people if I can, I'm sure you'd do the same." And I would. Except that my skill-set is very limited and I don't think preparing a cracking Sunday roast would be of much use to anyone stranded on the Nullarbor. All I could do was promise to try my very best never to speak ill of Telstra again. I did try and I think I lasted almost a week, which isn't bad in the scheme of things.

We were very thankful to be up and running again but with the small inconvenience of not being able to un-hitch Loretta from the car until proper repairs were made, we decided to head for Ceduna, which was a two day drive but the nearest town likely to have a mechanic or someone able to do the work. In fact it had sixteen listed mechanics, auto-electricians and repairers, and not one was able to help, even though it was a simple job. That's when good Samaritan number two stepped in - a fellow camper named Kevin who very kindly delayed his fishing plans to finish the job started by Telstra-guy (wish I'd remembered to ask his name!).

Once again the kindness of strangers had helped us out of a jam, and we wish them both plenty of good karma.

From Ceduna we pootled along the western coast of the Eyre Peninsula, with a quick stop in Coffin Bay before heading on to Elliston. This part of the South Australian coast is known for surfing, fishing and most of all, for its oysters. We don't like oysters, not one bit, but I'm told oysters from Coffin Bay and Smoky Bay are pretty good. Inland, it's excellent farming country and on our drive here we passed rolling paddocks of wheat and other cereal crops.

Mathew Flinders was the first European to see this section of coastline on 10 February 1802, not long after he found Lucky Bay near Esperance. He named the bay to the north of where Elliston now stands, "Anxious Bay", possibly because of the treacherous entry to the bay that lies between reefs, steep cliffs and rocky headlands. It is a rugged section of coast and today we drove along the Elliston Clifftop Sculpture Trail which has some interesting works of art dotted along the cliffs. There was a fierce wind blowing so the Labs had to stay in the car in case one, or all three, of us ended up going over the edge.

Here's a selection of photos, starting at the Skylab Par Three hole, part of the Nullarbor Links golf course - the longest golf course in the world. Only in Australia.

And we've included a couple of Stanley, who spent his fifth birthday supervising Kevin's work.