Australia - On the Road

I have driven 3,176km so far and I’m just a little over half way across this amazing continent! I have seriously underestimated the size of this place. It is absolutely vast! I mean gigantic! I have driven pretty solidly but quite slowly, about 100km per hour, for about 8 or 9 days now (I've lost count), staying in the bush along the way. The longest distance between small towns was 700km, with nothing but small roadhouses selling petrol and terrible (expensive) fast food, so I have a stack of tinned stuff, mainly fishy things and peanuts and I buy the occasional meat (which is cheap and tastes amazing and I cook on the gas stove) when I can and also wine. I also get a free (often cold) shower at these places. It is great driving along deserted roads, with the odd Road-Train (very long, articulated lorries, 36.5m long) overtaking or coming the other way. Traffic is so rare that people wave as they pass. It is only in the last two days that I have radio reception in the campervan again since Perth. In between towns there is nothing much, apart from straight roads. At the start of the journey, near Perth, there are very large green fields as far as the eye can see stretching to the distant horizon. Ploughing them must seem like ploughing the whole of Australia! Then gradually these disappear, to be replaced by thousands of kilometres of scrub land and forests of eucalyptus. I have driven through the largest temperate forest in the world and along the longest, straightest road in Australia (146.6km) across the Nullarbors (from the Latin, null arbour, meaning no trees). The names of the different areas changes now and again – The Dundas National Park, The Nullarbor Plain, The Flinders and so on, but the panorama remains the same for days, ignorant of man’s attempts to name and scratch difference onto an indifferent landscape. It is great to drive all day, a sort of meditation, and park up at about 4pm, get wood for a fire and eat and then fire gaze and wonder at the stars. The smell of eucalyptus wood on the fire is fragrant and lovely. It is dark at about 5.30pm, so I must be in bed by about 8. The nights are very cold (it is desert weather), so on a couple of mornings there has been frost on the firewood I have collected but not used. I'm getting used to solitude and the widest night skies with the most amazing stars, just thousands of them. It is like being in a planetarium. The sky is just packed full of stars. I have never seen anything like it before. You can see the broad, paint-brush sweep of the Milky Way right across the sky, which is absolutely fantastic. I got chatting to a guy from Perth the other night, Sam, cycling from Perth to Melbourne and he pointed out Neptune and Saturn (perfectly aligned, one above the other, which only happens every 20 years) and The Southern Cross. It is a bit disconcerting seeing the universe with completely different star constellations and none of the friendly patterns that I know and am familiar with. The man in the moon is still there, but I see him from a slightly different angle. His eyes are lowered and he looks like he is frowning slightly. The nights are completely silent. There is nothing, absolutely nothing, not even the comforting sound of cicadas. The silence is stunning and strangely addictive and I look forward to it each evening. It is primeval and good.

I have seen lots of kangaroos (unfortunately dead ones at the sides of the road), but only one live one, at dusk one evening, about 40m away, a huge, brown woolly thing, that was looking directly at me, standing on its hind legs and then it disappeared. I have only seen 3 Reas, although they are supposed to be very common and today I saw 2 ostriches. There are parrots everywhere. Some are emerald green with yellow collars, darker green tails and a black sweep across the eyes. Others are greyish-green, with white chests and a dark red splash between their legs. On one occasion I saw a tree with the most vivid large pink and grey flowers and as I slowed down to stop and look at this winter oddity, the flowers flew away – a flock of around 20 parrots took flight in unison at my intrusion. The highlight, though, in terms of wildlife, was the whale watching at the Head of Bight, which was captivating. Witnessing Right Whales (so called because they were the ‘right’ whales to hunt, having lots of whale oil and almost hunted to extinction. Moby Dick, the great White Whale, was a ‘right’ whale), breach the water with huge splashes, seeing them bring their massive tails out of the water and then slide below the surface of the dark blue water and watching these beautiful, huge, gentle creatures swim past in the distance was absolutely fantastic and something I will never forget.rget.

I saw a dead wild dog at the side of the road. It was more like a hyena, with massive shoulders and a wide, flat head, ideal for bone crunching.

The Van, named Dixy

First night stop, just east of Merridin

Saturn and Neptune top rightish

Bush Tucker. Well, Lamb chops.

Kalgoorlie-Boulder - Gold Mining capital of Australia

The Nullarbors - Just a vast expanse of f**k all, as someone described it!

Beware of animals in squares

Crows enjoy a camel snack

Lake Cohen. A bit dry at the moment.

The Madura Pass

The Great Australian bight

Right Whale breaching

Right Whale tail, left hand ocean quarter. Really!

I just love these big skies...

...and a fire in the silence. Perfect!