Road Trip across the Nullarbor

[Bob Connor]

I'm driving across the Nullabor at the end of next week with a mate who has finished a work contract in Perth.

We're heading to Albany to catch up with the blokes down there as well as Kim and Tim in Perth.

The plan is to get across the desert as quickly as is safe and then take a leisurely drive through the Barossa Valley, Adelaide Hills (hopefully catching up with Kiwigeo) and Coonawarra before heading back to Geelong.

Just wondering whether anyone has done the trip recently and can give me any tips about amenties along the way.

By amenties I mean cold beer, good tucker and accomodation etc

Regards

[charangohabsburg]

Not sure if you can get new shoes here, or if it's the end station (bad accomodation, bad beer, etc.)


Source: wikipedia.org

...I mean, new shoes would be a good thing.

[ozwood]

Hi Bob,

Well I can only give advice about the Barrossa , having just been there last month we Stayed in Tanunda and found it a friendly and peacful town, it's close to everything in the Barrossa , we stayed at the the Barrossa valley apartments which were pretty flash , but great value for money , we ate one night at the Pub in the main street which was pretty good , and another night at the "the clubhouse" that was a great feed, went on a tour with a bloke called Timo booked through a booking agent in the main street , that was a great day out , but led to an earlly night , you can only taste so much wine in one day.

anyway sounds like a great trip, enjoy.

Cheers,

[Bob Connor]

Apparently there are lots of trees like that across the Nullarbor Markus, adorned with all manner of items.

Tanunda sounds good Paul. Thanks for the tips.

Regards

[Nick Payne]

I've driven across and back several times, and ridden East to West by bicycle once. Everything out there will cost you several times what it does near a city. I'd suggest taking a 20L water container and enough food to get you from Ceduna to Norseman without having to purchase on the way. I can remember being charged several dollars per litre for water at one of the stops on the Nullabor when I was cycling across, and I had one of my panniers more or less completely filled with muesli, which is what I pretty much lived on for the ten days or so that it took me to get from Ceduna to Norseman.

If you have fruit or veg when you reach the WA quarantine control near Eucla it will probably be confiscated. We lost a nearly full 3KG tub of leatherwood honey on one crossing when my wife admitted that we had some honey in the car. You can find information on quarantine here: http://www.agric.wa.gov.au/objtwr/impor ... _guide.pdf.

edit: I just read your message again, and realised that you're travelling in the other direction...so quarantine won't apply.

[Bob Connor]

I'd be upset at losing good Tasmanian Honey Nick.

Regards

[Nick Payne]

Actually, there are a couple of timber/pioneer museums worth a look on the way from Perth to Albany. One at Manjimup and one at Pemberton, and both have a fair bit of information about the timber business in pioneer days. And if you're in Pemberton, you might as well go for a quick scamper up the Gloucester Tree, which is only a couple of kms out of town. How often do you get to climb to the top of a 70m tall tree?

[Bob Connor]

Been up the Gloucester tree before Nick. Kim Hickey took me down there on the way to Playmakers in 2009. But I'll certianly have a look at the place in Manjimup and Pemberton.

IMG_1139 (Large).jpg (132.85 KiB) Viewed 12456 times

[auscab]

Climbing that tree looks like something out of a nightmare 70 meters up that thing !!

[EricDownunder]

The last time I travelled across was in 1968 in my FJ, what a pr**** of a trip!

[simso]

Done it a few times over the years, what a long long trip that is