Streaky Bay to Caiguna ( or thereabouts)
Distance Travelled - 1039 km
Fell asleep almost instantly last night and slept through without waking until about 4.30 am and then struggled to get back to sleep. Finally got out of the tent at 6.30 am, packed everything away except the tent and went for a walk for half an hour before coming back and having breakfast before packing away the tent. I was ready to leave by just before half seven.
Drove the 5 km into Streaky Bay and had a quick look down at the jetty in case it was worth photographing, which it wasn't, so had a bit of a drive around town and then headed out off towards Ceduna. The drive to Ceduna was relatively uninteresting and I arrived just on 9 am. Picked up some stuff for dad and then went to the visitors centre to post my blog and check emails etc before heading off again. The next stop being Penong.
What a surprise! Despite opening at 10 am the Penong Wool Shed Museum was still closed at 10.20 am today. This is time number 6 I have tried to visit and every time it has been closed. Continued on to Nundroo where I got some fuel and then continued on down the seemingly never ending highway.
Had to back track a little to find my bearings but finally discovered the unmarked road into Koonalda Station. There were a couple of older guys there who had arrived only a few minutes before me for their second visit in about 6 months. They were quite happy to see me as they thought I might take my fair share of the flies with me. It was very hot and there was certainly enough flies to share around. I wandered for a couple of hours taking some photos and looking at the changes that have been made since I was last there a few years ago.
The inside of the homestead had been cleaned up dramatically with all the ceiling plaster that had adorned the floor removed and new ceilings put up with an attempt to replicate the original batten style. Lots of sweeping and removal of old, broken and damaged furniture has made the homestead quite nice now on the inside. A few things on the outside of the homestead like the odd broken window and gate seem to have been repaired as well.
I had planned to stay at Koonalda overnight but the freezer was struggling with the heat and I needed to keep stuff frozen and as it was only 3 pm I decided I could make good use of the driving time and knock off some of tomorrow's distance today. I headed off and got to the quarantine checkpoint nearly 100 km away at the S.A. / W.A. border without issue. I was checked and cleared very quickly this time which was good. Drove into Eucla and topped up with fuel and drove off.
Coming over the border I picked up an extra 2.5 hours so turned up the music and settled in for a drive. Pulled up about 360 km down the track just after passing through Caiguna. Found a roadside stop and pulled in. The weather looks a bit dodgy so decided to write the blog and sort photos before deciding about the tent. Large black clouds and thunder at the moment do not make the tent look promising. I will see how things develop over the next few hours.
Tomorrow I will cover the last 700 km or so and arrive home late afternoon I would imagine, and face the realisation that my leave is nearly up and soon it will be back to work.
Various old cars at Koonalda Station
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