[POTTSY]

Starting the trip across today...Heading south from Mandurah to Esperance then Across to Streaky bay, Renmark and stopping a few days in echuca....Might catch me some Carp

Had a few things Quickly added to the Patrol...

Alloy Roof rack...Pedders with 50mm lift...GME TX3220 UHF and some Spotties Rallye 1000 I picked up for nothing..Oh and not forgetting the Pioneer Touch screen DVD....Will be my third time Across...First in a 2000 Subaru Outback in 2000. And the Second in a 2005 Nissan Pathfinder in 2005....Hope to get some sites in this time as the first two trips were pretty Quick....

 

[kuba]

Thread bump.

im doing this in the next week over about 5 days.

Ive found out on this forum teo routes around Kal so I'm chasing some feedback on whether to do Hyden to Norseman or via Kal in terms of things to see.
I've been to Kal twice but my mate hasnt so we could visit the super pit and a pub.
Hyden has wave rock and i assume hyden norseman road would be something different?

What are good things to see on the nullabor? I have:
Head of the bite.
whale viewing centre
balladonia roadhouse for a burger?

Ill be travelling in my gu td42t wagon and will have a 20L jerry. What would be the best places to fuel up?

norseman, eucla, ceduna then after that no dramas.

Would it bee too much to go past the great ocean road in Vic?

cheers

sorry im on a tablet and searching info and typing is doing my head in

 

[keanie]

Just get in the old Troll and drive. Plenty of fuel stops, no need to carry extra fuel.

 

[Porks]

I'm heading to WA in a few weeks and one of the stops off the Nullarbor I'm looking forward to is "Koonalda Homestead" on the OLD highway plus the Cave about 15km north, lots of info on Google...

Koonalda Homestead and Caves - MokeWerx - The Australian Moke Site

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GNQnTeR9tU

 

[geordie4x4]

Depends a lot on how much time you have. On my last trip over for the Patrol forum High Country meet up, I took my time, my roof top tent and fishing gear.

On the WA side:
I spent a whole week from Esperance to Duke of Orleans Bay, Cape Arid, Israelite Bay then up to Mount Ragged and on the Baladonia stock route to Ballidonia station and out to the highway. I had wanted to go from Israelite bay to the huge sand dunes at Billbunia then out to the highway but it had been raining and the inland tracks were boggy after Israelite Bay (and I was solo).

Still on the WA side, I went into the Cokelbiddy Cave then the Panakin Plains Cave (both have had world records for cave diving over 4.5 and I think 5 km). Unfortunately the signs for both of these caves have been moved back about 100 m off the road so you need to know where to stop to find the tracks.

Eucla down to the old telegraph station (drive up the hill through the town and then down the escarpment to get there). Then from the telegraph station, turn west and follow the tracks down to the old jetty and the beach. On the beach you can drive about 10 km along to the cliffs depending on the tide and bird nesting may close some sections of beach. I camped up from the beach near the first low cliffs.

After Eucla, the best bit of cliffs are the first few lookouts well before the Head of the Bight.

In SA, the beaches are worth visiting,
I asked some locals near Yalata and they let me follow them down to the beach for a look (I think they said it was called dog fence track). I saw the biggest mulloway in my life that some locals had caught on a 100lb hand line from the beach.

After Nundroo I turned down to Fowler Bay then spent a few days exploring the many beach tracks and some nice quiet bays with rocky cliffs and decent fishing for salmon, tailor and flathead etc. Then from Penong turn down to Cactus Beach.

 

[Overboard]

Kal/Boulder instead of Hyden any day unless you are somebody desperate to tick boxes. Some people just have to see Wave Rock but there is nothing else there. Lots to see in Kal.

Cheers,

 

[Sydo]

Kal to Rawlinna then south to Nullarboring

 

[Sydo]

Kal/Boulder instead of Hyden any day unless you are somebody desperate to tick boxes. Some people just have to see Wave Rock but there is nothing else there. Lots to see in Kal.

Cheers,

Wouldn't Hyden to Norseman be ok

 

[bgbazz]

subject

It can be an interesting trip, if you take the time to smell the flowers. I first did it just before Xmas in 1965, Laverton RAAF base to Dwellingup in a Valiant S series. It was a dirt road from Kimba to Balladonia back then and the challenges were many...my mate and I shared a cuppa and a shower with a honeymoon couple, heading in the same direction, in their little VW...and only an hour later, came across them and the burning car, in the middle of the road. They had nosedived into a bull dust hole and flipped it onto its roof...they never managed to get out, so we waited for the police to come.

We stopped at the old telegraph station (not covered in sand) and had a really good snooze in one of the corridors. We had a swim in ****lebiddy Cave and followed one of the many side tracks down to the cliffs along the Bight.

Probably should have mentioned that we were both 17 years old...matey owned the car, but didn't have a licence and I had only had mine for 7 months. We made the return trip three weeks later.

I've since done the crossing about 40 times in all sorts of different vehicles and it never fails to fascinate me...so much to see, so much to learn...just don't hurry!!

 

[geordie4x4]

Sounds like an epic trip to remember.
I also did it as a kid with the family back around that time. Old Valiant station-wagon and a caravan. I remember the miles of gravel road and Dad having to stop to pick up things that had fallen off the caravan, the side light, the door step, the flyscreen door then the spare wheel fell off the back after he had changed a flat tyre.


One thing I forgot to add for those of you going over soon, WATCH OUT FOR ROOS.

The last few trips I did, they were particularly bad on the top of the escarpment before for at least 100 km you go down the big hill Madura Pass. Both on the way over in a late afternoon and on the way back an early morning, there was carnage on the road, dead roos from trucks at night and early hours.

POTTSY,
one last place to go, if you are not already over there.
On my way to Renmark, I usually drive out of Port Augusta and south down the highway to Port Germain and head up the Port Germain to Murray Town Road that runs up through a windy pass in the Remarkable Ranges. Then follow the smaller roads down to Spalding, Burra and across to Morgan and Renmark.

If you have time there is a good 4x4 track, the Bridal Track up the escarpment as well.

 

[wigsta]

i spent a lot of time out there (west of the border) working as a young fella 20 years ago. there's definitely plenty of things to see and do. there's some pretty cool caves to visit, one nice one just slightly north-west of eucla where we went swimming, you'd need a local to guide you to it. then again, it may be inaccessible now, as it was a pretty rickety old ladder down into a sinkhole. there's some great fishing to be had off the beaches, but also plenty of sharks so maybe think twice about swimming. it's a nice little side trip down to eyre bird observatory, which is one of the old telegraph stations. so take your time, there's no point in rushing things

Eyre Bird Observatory - Nullarbor Travel Guide Australia

 

[bgbazz]

subject

You're right Geordie....seems like only last week when I did it. You would remember all the big water tanks all along that road back then...they were a great spot for a stop and chat with other folks....and all the cars abandoned along the way. (lots of trailers too).

 

[Overboard]

Wouldn't Hyden to Norseman be ok

That's not a bad trip but if it was a choice between seeing Wave Rock and seeing Kalgoorlie for someone who had seen neither, then I would say see Kal without any hesitation.

Cheers,

 

[Sydo]

Yeah just thought the bush track would be better than bitumen

 

[kuba]

had a strange squeak from the front left the past month.

Went to my mates to check it out, i suspected the brakes but ended up being a rooted bearing.

Glad we'll sort that before driving across the country :S