Driving across the Nullarbor – Part Two: South Australia
Having already spent a day and a half driving, somewhat incredibly, I was still in Western Australia. Driving across the Nullarbor (and even just out of WA, it seems) is no mean feat. The distances involved are not to be underestimated. Neither is the amount of wildlife propagating the popular Australian myth that all the animals are out to get you. This post details the second day of the two-day journey across the Nullarbor. To read about Day One click here. Otherwise, keep reading for tales of oysters, whales, wombats and sand dunes! Leaving Eucla and WA Eucla is only just within WA; it is 12km from the state border…
Driving across the Nullarbor – Part One: West Australia
A 2,700km stretch of road named “not a tree in sight” and nicknamed ‘Nullar-boring’ by locals doesn’t sound that exciting, does it? Well, in fact, the Nullarbor boasts a mysterious ‘nymph’, the world’s longest golf course, a magnificent whale-watching platform, and is littered with caves and blowholes. Driving across the Nullarbor, from West Australia to South Australia, it turns out, actually was quite an adventure. Having set off from Esperance, this post details day one of the two-day journey across the Nullarbor. Norseman – Gateway to the Nullarbor Norseman is where those arriving from (even) further West join the Nullarbor, a small gold mining community about 200km north of Esperance.…
Anticipating driving across the Nullarbor – the longest road trip ever
In a few days time I will start the longest drive of my life. I will leave Esperance, WA and drive more than 4,000km to Bundaberg, QLD. That’s the equivalent of driving from London to Mumbai (but crossing one country instead of 12). Australia doesn’t look that big, does it? It’s a bit of a sneaky secret, but I’m telling you, Australia is enormous. It is vast, and Australians, who are used to these distances and consider them normal, have a totally different perception of distance from visitors. Having lived remotely for the past few years, I have learned not to underestimate Australian distances and also grown cautious of the…
Australian Big Things
Australia is a massive country with a relatively small population, meaning there is lots of lovely space. So it is understandable that the Aussies go ‘big’ and have several large things around the country that have long attracted visitors. There are SO many big things around Australia. These are only the big things I have managed to see so far. What is the story behind Australia’s big things? Hello Mr Prawnie! This large prawn on the road from Learmonth airport to Exmouth is the symbol of a seafood factory, which processes various types of seafood, but a local favourite is prawns and when they are so fantastically fresh and priced…
Queensland Roadtrip
It took five days, but we eventually arrived in Cairns, Far North Queensland, Australia. Roadtrips are a great way to see large countries like Australia. I feel that you see and understand more exploring by road, than you ever will flying. We basically stuck to the M1, of the ‘Bruce Highway’ as it is known here, for most of the 1400km. It is one lane in each direction, which seems incredible to anyone with any familiarity of the UK’s M1, but works out here, since there is so much less traffic. We drove north up to Rockhampton which still has a huge bull in the centre of the roundabout where…
Aussie Roadtrip
I arrived in Australia two weeks ago and have spent time with friends in Brisbane and my boyfriend’s family on the Gold Coast and in Bundaberg. But now I have got a job and it is in Cairns, so we are off on a roadtrip. How Big is Australia? When you get out a map and look to see where Bundaberg and Cairns are you’ll probably think I misled you with the phrase ‘roadtrip’ as it implies weeks on the road, covering huge distances. Well look again and this time, check the scale. It took just over four hours to drive from Northern Brisbane to Bundaberg last week. It would…
California Road Trip
My friend and I didn’t quite set out on the classic big American Road Trip. We only covered Southern California in fact. Starting in and ultimately flying out of Los Angeles, our plan was to get to San Diego relatively quickly and then cruise slowly North along the coast. We had a week to see everything we wanted to and there was plenty on the list. San Diego We picked up our car from the airport in the glorious LA sunshine and headed for Highway 5. On our way we passed a drive-thru Krispy Kreme, the novelty value of which meant we had to stop. Do doughnuts seriously need their…
