Nullarbor

Friday 18 Oct, I woke early at 5:30am and decided I would head off to try to get a head start, the road ahead was very long, straight and monotonous. Today I would be crossing the Nullarbor. After packing the car with my overnight gear I went back to say bye as the lights were coming on as the family rose to prepare for work, but found I had locked myself out so I decided just to head off. It was still quite dark as I headed out of Ceduna the GPS leading me out of town. I first punched in Norseman as this was my planned destination for the next stopover. It was 1208 km from Ceduna on the longest, straightest roads in Aust. Then at 6:40am just as dawn was sneaking up on me I changed my mind (a woman’s prerogative) and decided I would try to reach Coolgardie. That would bring me not only closer to Perth for the next day’s trip but also I would arrive around sunset giving me time to find a B&B. Even traveling at around 110km per hour I would reach there around 6:40pm taking me nearly 14 hrs and a half hours! (this was taking into account that there was a 2 ½ hr time difference from SA to WA due to daylight savings. WA doesn’t play around with God’s time so doesn’t have daylight savings). The reading on the GPS came up as 1164 km to the first turn. Wow! That is a long straight road!

With the dawn pushing back the darkness as the sun’s rays glowed just below the horizon behind me, I headed west. As I drove I glanced occasionally into my rear vision mirror so as not to miss the sun’s splendour as it broker across the earth. And then there it was!!! WOW awesome, majestic, amazing! I pulled over just in time to capture the sun covering everything in a golden hue. The glory of God’s creation. Just breath taking! What a way to start the day.

The Nullarbor wasn’t totally boarding or just flat desert lands as many imagine. It was remarkably different in places. There was the typical endless road stretching towards the western horizon with scrub land on either side which is what most people think of when the Nullarbor is mentioned. But there is also wooded areas, low hills which flanked the north of the road for many miles as well as dirt tracks leading off to Aboriginal reserves, farming stations, or tourist spots along the Great Aust Bite and of course the bite itself, amazing cliffs and crystal blue seas. I stopped several times along the Ayer Highway to take photos to share with my blog followers and of course to have a break from the endless, unwavering road that stretched straight towards the haze on the western horizon. This road often gave the impression of a mirage as the heat reflected off the road surface.

On the roadside in SA there was a sign warning traffic that there may be camels, wombats and kangaroos and on the WA side it warned of camels, emus and kangaroos. Unfortunately along the SA stretch of 96km I saw over 15 dead wombats whose attempt to negotiate the road at night had resulted in a fatal encounter with the traffic. Their carcases in various stages of decomposition were strewn on either side of the road in their gruesome postures of death. It was a very sad end to these beautiful mammals.

On a brighter note I did see a lone camel feeding by the side of the road. Other than this I only saw one kangaroo just outside of Coolgardie. I was extremely grateful and praise God that I did not see or encounter (I could have said ‘run into’ but thought this fraise should be avoided for obvious reasons) any other animals wandering near the road especially as I was driving during the most likely times to encounter them; dawn, dust and later in the darkness.

I stopped to empty (if you know what I mean) and to full the tank. Sometimes the emptying was just a quick stop beside the road between passing traffic. This was quite easy as there was very little movement on the road. Filling the tank was also quite easy as I had mapped out in advance the service stations where I could use my $500 gift card. There were only two places, where I needed to full up, that were not part of this group concession. You can’t afford to miss a petrol station out here as they are few and far between and you don’t want to be stranded without fuel especially as the mobile service I am with was not available.

When stopping for fuel which was quite expensive, I think the most expensive was $2.11 per litre for unleaded, I would sometimes grab a coffee. As some of my friends know I usually have one or at the most two coffees before 1pm after this the caffeine effects my sleep. Today as I was moving from one time zone to the next and because by this time I had decided I would just push on and see how close to home I could get I decided a third one was needed. Anyway I was still able to take it before 1pm WA time.

I passed through Norsman and headed north just as the sun was about to blind me if I had carried on traveling west into the setting sun. Not far from Coolgardie I pulled over to the side of the road, cautiously headed into the scrub (not sure if any snakes would be about), climbed the Kalgoorlie to Perth pipeline to get a better view of the setting sun and the storm clouds. Another amazing sunset!

The previous day I had started listening to the New Testament on CD and now I had come to the final one. I had really enjoyed having the Word of God read to me as I drove and to listen to it virtually no stop for so many hours was inspiring. Now at the end of the series I grabbed for the next CD in my pile of listening material. It was a ministry tape by Wayne Jacobson called the ‘Transition Series’. I was so blessed listening to this series I thought I might as well keep listening till it finished then I would decide where I would stay for the night. I hadn’t realised it was about 5 hrs long! It finished just as I was entering the Perth hills where I needed to concentrate on the GPS directions as it was taking me on an unfamiliar route home through the bush.

Earlier during the day I hadn’t thought I would make it very far nor that I would be able to stay awake past my usual bed time 9pm. (I can hear my friends laughing at this as they know I start to fall asleep by 9pm, well I am often up at 5am what do you expect! Yes, I know, I’m a real party pooper LOL). Today my body clock instead of winding down by 8:30pm causing me to become drowsy I was wide awake and alert. I’m sure it was all due to Wayne Jacobson’s CD. He teaching was definitely ministering to me and this kept my interest and therefore alert while I drove into the night.

Someone had suggested if I was to drive through the night to try to get behind a road train or semi-trailer. This was to help protect me from roos or other large animals on the road. The trucks would be a buffer between them and me. Coming out of Coolgardie I drew close to the truck in front of me and followed it for many miles before it turned off. Then having listened and been encouraged by the ministry tapes I was inspired to trust the Lord for His protection as I continued to drive through the inky darkness.  There were not many vehicles on the road that night although I had to stay alert to remember to take my lights off full beam as I was approached. Sometimes the oncoming traffic flashed me or I had to flash them as we forgot and our lights blinded the other driver.

As previously mentioned the ministry CD’s came to an end as I entered the hills just east of Perth. I was a little disappointed that I wasn’t coming through this area during the day as even by the lights of the car I could see the beautiful trunks of the trees which lined the road. The GPS then took me off the Great Eastern Highway taking me on a small side road twisting through the scrub and hills heading north-west somewhere towards the Reid Hwy. Then all of a suddenly I broke through the trees at the top and the escarpment with a view overlooking the lights of Perth. It looked amazing but no time or place to stop I had to hunt down a petrol station as my tank was running low.

I forgot Perth service stations where not open 24/7 even the ones along the main highway. I was sure there would be one open somewhere within the metro area. Thank God, I found one and filled up before arriving home just before 1am. At least arriving at this time I might be able to reset my body clock quicker to Perth time. In the past I had constantly woken at 4am my body clock being on Sydney time for 6am!

What a relief to arrive safely after 1916km and 22 hrs on the road. I had been up since 5:30am this morning or 3am Perth time. I was surprised I didn’t feel more exhausted. I must have been revitalized by the Word of God and inspiring ministry tapes.

I let myself in to my mum’s place. I had thought of ringing her earlier but by the time I had decided to keep going till I reached her place it had been too late to call. I called out to her as I entered the house just in case she thought she was being burgled or something but there was no reply. So I tip toed into the room where I was to stay, made the bed, showered and crashed. I woke with the light flooding into the bedroom. What time was it? I thought it must be fairly late as it was so bright but no it was only 5:00am! Oh well I might as well get up. I could hear mum pottering around as she prepared her breaky. She said she hadn’t heard a thing during the night but then saw someone’s belongings in the bathroom and then the car keys on the kitchen bench so glanced out the window to see my car and knew then I was home.

I’ve been home a week now and caught up with some friends either via phone or in person. I have a few more months to catch up with everyone else in person which I’m really looking forward to. Although I’m missing all my friends in Sydney and those I’ve left along the way, I was glad to have arrived in Perth. The Lord has given me some glorious spring weather since I’ve arrived. I’ve been a bit lazy too especially with my jogging. I hope this will change once I get into a proper routine but I’m enjoying my 6am sleep ins. Yes, my body clock has changed to Perth time and, yes, this is a sleep in for someone who usually wakes up at 5am!

I have also enjoyed shopping and cooking for mum, my way of helping to pay for my keep. Little Yobbo has had a through clean and is now shinning again. If you know someone who might like to buy her please forward them my contact details. She is a 2013 Mazda 2 with only 9540km on the clock since I bought her in January this year and of course most of those were done crossing the Great South Land of the Holy Spirit from East to West. Actually I drove exactly 5188km from Sydney to Perth.