June 2021

Don’t ever let anyone tell you that SA has nothing to offer.  Over the past month we have seen some of the most dramatic coastal scenery alongside pretty awesome semi-arid plain and desert.  One of the best things for us is how few people there are in such a huge space.  Yes, there are people holidaying here, after all they are mostly unable to leave the country, but provided you are independently equipped to be able to avoid the busy tourist/caravan parks you will find yourself night after night in the most beautiful, free, camping sites that would hold their own anywhere in the world.

This first month on the road has been an exercise in getting to know Bob and all of his features.  The following lists some of our discoveries.

Fully laden weight – 3,425kg.  This includes 110lt of fuel, 100lt of water, 20lt of cooking fuel, 200kg of occupants (no breakdown provided) and everything that we now own.

Bob can travel between 750km and 850km on a full tank at a cruising speed of between 90 and 100kmh.

With some care we would be able to go for 2 weeks without refilling the water tanks, enjoying total independence.

We are running tyre pressures at 32psi on the front and 40psi on the rear. Dirt road pressures reduce to around 25psi and sand driving requires a max of 15psi.

The house battery which runs 10 usb ports, 2 x 12 volt sockets and 3 x 240v sockets, takes an hour to recharge 10% off the solar panels, compared with off the alternator, when the car is running, which takes less than 15 minutes.  Boiling a 900w kettle (1lt) uses between 2-3%, charging the computer less than 1% and the usbs don’t really figure much.

Bob has exceeded our expectations in the freedom that we now have. He gets quite a bit of attention which he loves and, so far, seems to be enjoying the trip.

We left everything we have known for the past 24 years on 20th May 2021 and headed up to the Flinders Ranges.  We did know that Australia does not allow dogs into the National Parks and had already discussed alternatives to get us into an area even if we couldn’t access the Parks themselves.  There are a surprising amount of properties offering a range of accommodation varying from luxury eco villas to Bush camping that also welcome dogs.  Many of these are in the vicinity of the Parks and Hipcamp, a relatively new American platform, is now promoting these great alternatives.  Many of them also offer dog sitting services which gives you even more options to explore. Unbelievably, we have never been to the Flinders Ranges and decided to stay at Rawnsley Park station which is owned and managed by fourth generation Flinders Ranges’ residents. Originally operated as a sheep station, the station ventured into tourism in 1968 and is now an award-winning tourism facility. The property is, literally, just next door to Wilpena Pound and a quick hike from the campground provides an opportunity to look down into the natural ampitheatre that is Wilpena Pound.

The Flinders are the largest mountain range in South Australia stretching north from Port Pirie some 430km to Lake Callabonna. Created through millions of years of erosion, rugged rocks and peaceful tree-lined gorges sit alongside dusty red roads. The peace and quiet is mesmerising and this was the perfect place to unwind after all the planning and organising that have made this adventure possible.   Leroy surprised us both with his 5 hour return trip up to Rawnsley Bluff, a 1000m climb with quite a bit of rock scrambling.  Turns out he is pretty athletic for such a big dog and aside from a bit of stage fright coming down he excelled on his first big hike.  He even coped when a large female emu ambled into camp one morning and after spotting him tied to a tree felt the need to protect her three chicks by confronting this unusual intruder.  She fluffed her neck feathers and came to within 10m of a shaking Leroy before Ian grabbed him and shoved him in the back of the car. 

The Eyre Peninsula was next on the list and we drove around the coastline passing through many small towns that, despite being promoted as busy fishing areas, were extremely sleepy.  Port Lincoln was not quite what you might expect from a town that has more millionaires per capita than anywhere else in Australia and claims to be Australia’s Seafood Capital.  Where are the hip coffee shops and boutique seafood dining experiences?  If there are any, we didn’t find them and felt there was a lot of missed opportunity.  It did serve its purpose though, as it provided a good base from which to cage shark dive and also had a sizeable Harvey Norman where we were able to buy a go pro and a mini drone.  Ian is now having hours of fun trying to get all our tech gear to work.

Leaving Port Lincoln we carried on along the coast, our first stop being the privately owned, rugged promontory right on the tip of the Peninsula - Whaler’s Way. Interestingly, it was the filming location for the Australian version of the Survivor television series in 2001. This land covering 2,600 acres is today a Historic Reserve and Wilderness Sanctuary but the name is derived from the short-lived whaling enterprise that took place from 1837 to 1841. The land has been owned by the same family since 1887 and is now run by the family trust.  Access is through a locked gate either by a key picked up from Port Lincoln Tourist Information or a code to open the key safe at the gate.  We were given the code by the Tourist Park (where we spent three nights), meaning that we would not have to return to Port Lincoln with the key.  Great in theory, not so great in practice, as the code was the wrong one.  Fortunately another car arrived shortly after with a key and let us in.  Once inside it did occur to us that we wouldn’t be able to get out as we now had neither a key nor the correct  code.  Fortunately, again, another car arrived with the correct code and somewhat reluctantly told us what it was.  You might now have the wrong idea that this is quite a thoroughfare when, in fact, these were the only cars we saw all day.  The scenery within this private property is truly spectacular.  We were spoilt for choice as we drove from one lookout to the next along the 12km coastal track.  Upon reaching the end we arrived at Red Cliffs Campground which was idyllic and completely empty apart from us.  The lack of water, lighting, phone signal or any other facilities requires that you BYO everything. We camped among the dunes, cooked over an open fire and sat beneath the stars.  Another wonderful night on the road. 

Heading up the west side of the Peninsular we passed through Elliston.  There was the standard Aussie bakery, found in every small town, which can always be relied upon for good coffee and pies and a pharmacy that only opened on non-surf days.  Further on we visited Talia caves where we had another night in the dunes before a quick visit to Murphy’s Haystacks and then on to Streaky Bay for a big shop.

We had decided to visit a working sheep station at Mt. Ive, not only for the station experience, but also to view Lake Gairdner, a massive 160km x 48km salt lake in the Gawler Ranges National Park.  Mt. Ive Station has been in existence since the 1880s and has changed hands several times.  The current owners run 10,000 sheep between this property and one other some 200km to the south.  The sheep are bred for their wool and were shortly due to be sheared.  This annual process takes place in June and a team of approximately 13 shearers, shed hands and cook will take up residence for about 2 weeks in order to shear around 4,000 sheep.  All the wool is evaluated bale by bale and then sold at auction.  For the traveller, facilities range from stone cottages to shearers quarters (presumably not when the shearers are in residence) to powered and unpowered camp sites.  Once on site there are many 4x4 tracks to explore with the jewel in the crown being access to Lake Gairdner. As we were technically unable to get into the NP with Leroy we had read that Mt. Ive Station was only 45km away from the lake and had a key to access the Lake via a private road.  The Lake was quite a sight and, not surprisingly, we were the only people there. We have seen salt lakes before and were interested that this particular one has been used for various land speed record attempts and is also the location for the annual Speed Week event run by the Dry Lakes Racers Australia. Under normal circumstances, driving on the lake is not allowed, but who was going to check?

We spent three great nights at Mt. Ive, yet again having the unpowered camping area to ourselves. The owner and managers were super friendly and there was an extremely well-stocked bar - what more could you possibly need? Other guests at the Station included an Australian/New Zealand couple in their 70s who, 12 years ago, shipped their Land Cruiser to Vladivostok and drove through Mongolia and on to the UK. 5 months later they drove back before putting their car on a container ship at Hong Kong. Jan Hanley, the New Zealand representative in the relationship, had written a book entitled “Today, we bought a cow!” a copy of which she kindly gave to us and so fueling motivation for travel to that part of the world. As you might imagine, most conversations in this environment tend to revolve around a couple of main topics, travel and 4x4 driving. We have plenty to offer on the former but are somewhat out of our depth on the latter, although we do now know how to engage the diff lock. However, we have come up with an MO that at least gives us some chance of holding our own. Knowing our tyre pressures (see above) gets us off the starting blocks and a smooth transition onto choice of vehicle and accessories keeps us in contention. Our ability to carry extra fuel and water underneath the vehicle (rather than behind or on top) edges us ever more forward with the addition of solar panels combined with lithium batteries bringing us nicely up the home straight. All we need now is a good winch story to get us over the line.

We took a different route out of Mt. Ive, heading directly towards Ceduna.  Another 150km on red road only a bit more challenging. The road surface kept changing from dry to wet and, unlike the flat, straight, unsealed tracks that we had arrived on, this one had quite a few hairpin bends and a rolling nature a bit similar to a big dipper..  There was one curious moment when we rounded a corner to find two massive road graders blocking the road. There was no-one in either cab and no road signs indicating what was going on. Spotting a way through the bushes on the left we drove off the road, executed a perfect half circle and popped back on the road the other side of the graders. The two drivers then appeared from behind a bush waving their arms around. We waved back without stopping and continued on our way more than a little confused as to how an outback road grader might keep themselves amused.

There wasn’t too much going on in Ceduna but we were able to replenish our food supplies before heading towards Western Australia. At last, we feel that we are properly on our way as we head across the Nullarbor.  We very quickly realised that there is a code of conduct amongst most road travellers.  The initiated will raise an index finger from the steering wheel and often give a slight nod of the head as they approach.  A bit too keen to get in on this action, I found my whole hand coming up by way of greeting.  Not cool.  After some practice I found co-ordination of two fingers and then to the required one digit. The only problem was the water Kanteen attached between the windscreen and door by way of a bicycle water bottle holder was obstructing my finger.  The only way round this seems that on spotting an appropriate approaching vehicle (definitely not lorries, trucks or casual cars) I need to position my right hand on the top of the steering wheel, I can then lift the preferred finger at just the right moment.  This method is now working well for us except when we see another Land Rover.  On spotting such a distinguished vehicle we both wave all the free hands we have, grin wildly and pretty much bounce up and down on our seats to which we get a finger in response.

The Nullarbor is an amazing stretch of road connecting SA with WA and, contrary to what you might think, there is quite a bit to see and do. The main attraction would have to be checking out the Southern Right whales (between May and September) that arrive into the Australian Bight to calve and tend to their young before making a 4-5,000km journey to their sub-antarctic feeding grounds. Another experience is the Nullarbor Links, an 18-hole par 72 golf course, said to be the “the World’s Longest Golf course”, situated along 1,365km of the Eyre Highway, notably crossing the Nullarbor Plain. There is one hole in each participating town or roadhouse between Ceduna, SA and Kalgoorlie, WA. The course record is two under par, set by Australian PGA golfer Hayley Bettencourt. Nullarbornet.com.au is the best site that we have come across for more information.

We arrived at Border Village where we quickly had to apply for an online permit to enter WA. No problems with this but pretty pissed off when all our fruit and veg was taken from us and thrown into a nearby bin. We asked what the issue was, we were particularly interested in what the brown onion had done to merit such a send off, and were told that there may be disease in the skin but better still, that SA adopted the same policy should we find ourselves travelling in the opposite direction. Talk about bureaucratic tit-for-tat!

And so we have at last managed to progress out of SA and now need to decide which way to go next. Left towards Esperance, Albany and Margaret River, straight ahead to Perth or right to warmer climes.