Off to buggerup. Oops Ongerup

[cookie1]

I thought I was pretty brave as I can't even walk up steps that you can see through usually.

[Emme]

Braver than me cookie

Cookie I'm afraid I could not walk it.  Thank you ES for the wonderful photos, really enjoying your trip. Safe trip home.

[EmeraldSue]

I am about to run out of signal as we are in Norseman and I won't have signal again until I get to Ceduna.
Yesterday started slowly as everyone else slept in.  DH had sampled lots of WA wine the night before. I slept badly as the mattress was uncomfortable. I packed up the fan whilst the family had brekky. DS wanted eggs, but I was too busy packing up, so he dug his heels in and refused anything else. I said that was fine, but he would need to wait until lunch before he would get any more food. He was really grumpy, so we left him to his own devices.
It was pouring with rain, and at one point, when I looked out the window, I could no longer see across the bay. If was Just grey. On SueJen's advice, we drove out to the gap. If started hailing as we took the turnoff, but it eased to rain. DH Nd DS. Decided to stay in the car whilst DD and I went out and braved the elements. We got wet, but it was worth it.
We also had a look at the bridge

The only vehicles in the car park were campervans. I think the weather had put everyone else off!

[SueJen]

Great pics ES, hope it was worth it for you

[EmeraldSue]

On the way back, we stopped off at the Great Southern distilliary. It was nice and dry inside and DH got to taste some single malt whiskeys. It was a lovely place and we decided to stop there for an early lunch. We ordered the tasting plate and it was delicious. It had locally caught squid, smoked chicken, Turkish bread, Brie, fetta, olives, fruit, chorizo, and a few other yummy things. DH is going to order some whiskey when we get home. It was a lovely lunch, and DS had got over his grumpiness.
Albany was the coldest place in Australia, with a forecast top of only 12C  It was still raining outside, and we started our journey towards Esperance.

It continued to rain on and off, and we were blessed with beautiful rainbows along the way.
It was dark as we approached Esperance and bucketing down. My back was sore, I was coming down with the cold that the rest of the family had enjoyed, and I was ready to stop for the night. Unfortunately, DH was determined to press on to Norseman. To top it off, we had dinner at a fast food establishment.
We continued on and luckily the weather abated   We arrived in Norseman at about 10pm, and DH suggested that we camp by the side of the road. My bladder said otherwise and we quietly pulled into the caravan park for the night.

[EmeraldSue]

I lost mobile coverage as we pulled out of Norseman, so wasn't able to complete my post earlier. We have made it to Eucla, and DH has signal on his phone, so I am pinching it!
We woke up to sunshine today, and a happier family.
We set off relatively early and stopped for lunch at Caiguna after refueling at Baladonia.
We then drive down Australia's longest straight stretch of road (90 miles), while I caught up on some marking.

There is even an emergency airstrip on the road for the Flying Doctors
We made it to Eucla and have a site of the night. We are having dinner in the restaurant, and the kids are amusing . themselves by drawing on the paper tablecloths.

[SueJen]

We are only 50ks from Albany but only got to 9 degrees here yesterday. Have heard the distillery is very good ES.

[obbie]

so glad you are having a great trip   ES

[gertbysea]

Wow, what a trip. Pity bout the cold though.  Love all the pics.

Gert

[EmeraldSue]

Just a quick update before I run out of coverage again. We have crossed the border and are back in SA.  We left Eucla this morning and are at wuddina. We will get to our friends farm in about an hour.
WIll post photos later

[judydawn]

In home territory ES but still a long way from home - enjoy the time with your friends.

[cookie1]

Wudinna is a nice place. I really love the statue they have to the local farmers,of the local,granite.

[EmeraldSue]

We woke up to sunshine at Eucla and headed off towards the Nullabor again. We stopped at a lookout at the marine park with a view well worth stopping for.
DH wasn't keen to stop anywhere else until wegot to Nullabor for lunch. I cooked omelettes with ham, mushrooms, capsicum, grated zucchini, carrot and cheese to use up the veggies before we went through the quarantine point at Ceduna. It was really yummy, but as usual, I set off the smoke alarm in the van and had to hold the frypan out the door.
We got petrol yet again, and set off across the nullabor

I could not imagine anything worse than cycling along these roads with all the large trucks passing by at high speeds, but we saw quite a few cyclists.

[EmeraldSue]

Having asked everyone if the needed to go to the toilet before we left, five minutes down the road, DS piped up that he needed to do "number two's". We all rolled our eyes, as this was the third time he had done it this trip.
We had to stop and he found a spot in the bush.

We continued on to Penong and found a playground for the kids whilst DH had a long break   We then swapped places and I sat in the back of the van until we had another break in Wuddina.
We decided to continue on to our friends' farm and spend the night with them.
On our way to WA, we saw a lot of dead animals on the road, but on the return journey we hardly saw any at all. On the SA side of the border, it was mainly wombats, and on the WA side, it was mainly Roos, plus one camel. Our luck ran out, and we hit a small roo. Luckily the only damage to the van was to the plastic mudguard over the front wheel, and we were a little shaken, but fine. I hadn't seen it hit, but heard the loud "thunk" sound as it bounced off. We continued on, and I got sore eyes from looking out for more roos.  Then  about 5km from the farm, we hit another, larger roo. This time, I saw it hit and it did more damage than the first. We are unharmed, but shaken  We did more damage to the front bumper of the van, but nothing too serious  We have checked the lights, and although We lost high beam, the headlight still works.
We were relieved to arrive at the farm and have something to eat

[EmeraldSue]

We have had a restful day at the farm today. It is one of the oldest farms in the area, and the newer house is built behind the original farmhouse. I've picked a ton of lemons to take home, and visited the horses. We went for a drive around the farm, and saw a couple more Roos jump across the road in front of us! We were taking a leisurely drive and going very slowly