The Nullarbor Plain - 1201kms from Norseman to Ceduna

If you ever attempt to travel the Nullarbor Plain, expect to be surprised. It is not the barren wasteland of desert sands I was expecting, in fact it is quite beautiful in parts. However, it is very, very, very long. 
This means you need to plan well for water supplies and food to get you over the border. 

There is no water available to refill your caravan tanks anywhere on the Nullarbor, in fact, you can pay up to $5 for a 5 minute shower at some of the roadhouses along the way (well worth it in my opinion). The last supermarket before heading east is in Norseman, WA, and it's not until 1201kms later at Ceduna, SA that you can refill your water tanks and restock your fridge.
Now I do like to overstock my pantry (I am sure it's a Mum thing to make sure I can feed my kids), so when we were preparing to leave Esperance I did a light shop thinking that surely there would be somewhere along the way to restock fruit and salad supplies... 
Lesson 1. Buy anything you might possibly desire to eat before you go as the choice of fresh food options on the Nullarbor pretty much consists of sausage rolls, steak burgers or crumbed sausages.
Lesson 2. Fill your tanks, fill all drink bottles, fill anything that can contain water before you go. Now of course you can buy water to drink on the way, and we also got very creative at cleaning ourselves in minimal water, but you'd be surprised how much water that just washing dishes, cleaning dirty kids faces, and flushing the loo uses. We wished we had filled our third tank on the van :(
By the way, I drove the longest straight road in Australia, all 146kms of it on the Nullabor, I now certainly have some bragging rights on that one.
Enough said, here are some pics from our amazing trip, first stop Balladonia WA, second night Cocklebiddy WA, third night Great Australian Bight SA (@lookout 1):
Balladonia, WA (938km east of Perth) - 

Balladonia, WA Roadhouse caravan park - 412kms from Esperance. Very isolated but luckily we brought the cool weather and rain with us

My contribution to driving, bragging rights to say I have driven Australia's longest straight stretch of road, and part of the Nullarbor

The long road - Nullarbor Plain, WA

Pit stop and photo opportunity for entering the New Age Caravan annual calendar competition (no wasted opportunities!)

Two most favourite boys

The build up Nullarbor style - Nullarbor Plain, WA

Bities - I would have put a coin near him for size comparison but was worried he would have eaten my hand - check out the caparison to the checker plate markings, huge!!

Another road sign - we pass so many, I just want you to share in the experience

Balladonia oasis - the last pool we would see at a roadhouse until the end of our trip (and a free bath?! - nah just kidding)

Cocklebiddy, WA - (219kms from Balladonia)
Ok, so Cocklebiddy is a dusty roadhouse on the side of the Eyre highway, so I planned a short (35kms) trip out to there Eyre Bird Conservatory, not knowing that the 35kms was pretty decent 4WDing. We left at 3.45pm and it kind of took us 90min to get there. By the time we had a look around and got back it was 6.45pm (kids normally eat at 5pm). There were actually no birds to see as it had been a stormy day... so we were all tired and a little grumpy, BUT it was a fun experience anyway, and the lovely caretakers were amazing so it was worth the trek.

Loggerhead turtle skeleton - Eyre Bird Conservatory, Cocklebiddy WA

The Eyre Telegraph Station Museum - Eyre Bird Conservatory, Cocklebiddy, WA

Rattles Ride for Cancer - Ian & Matt the horse

I had the amazing opportunity to meet Ian when we stopped in at Cocklebiddy Roadhouse, WA on our trip around Aus. Ian is and amazingly generous man who has given up is life (and temporarily his family) to raise money for cancer research by driving a horse drawn cart around Australia. Donations can be made at Ian's website www.rattlesride.com.au or follow him on Facebook at 
https://www.facebook.com/RattlesRide‎

Cocklebiddy statistics

Outback Humour.... Nom nom nom!

Great Australian Bight - crossing the border from WA to SA

She who leaves the caravan step out after a toilet stop, owes Damien a beer... sorry babe

Prepping for the border - none of these foods can be taken into SA from WA

In case you want to be reminded exactly how far you are from civilisation - Eucla (18km from SA border), WA... or Dave's and Andy's places

It all felt a little bit like Border security... until we drove straight through as they don't actually check you for quarantine until Ceduna (475kms east)...anticlimax much!

Still funny in South Australia too apparently - 'sheepishly delicious'

Hard making dinner with a sunset view over the Bight - Great Australian Bight (lookout 1), SA

Great Australian Bight, SA (lookout 1) 

Story time - Newbold's Caravan, Great Australian Bight, SA

Koonalda Roadhouse (abandoned) - Old Eyre Highway, Nullarbor National Park, SA

Esperance - beaches and breezes

I thought that beautiful Cheynes Beach would be pretty tough to beat but Esperance has a lot more to offer in the way of sensational coastline. The town beach itself is ok but holds the appeal of views of the ships sitting just out in the harbour (not unlike Port Hedland). However travel out of town, and some amazing beaches are not too far away.

Something I wasn't expecting at all is how windy it is here. We arrived mid afternoon to a reception of squally winds and cold weather which is apparently common knowledge of an average day here. News to both Damien and I, although this was a first visit this far south-east for both of us. 

Good news after the first day, the wind died down a lot and only built up after lunchtime each day, so we could make the most of being outside with the kids.

Lining up the troops for a lunch stop on the way to Esperance

So many choices...

Damien learning that hard way that the warning light does really give you only about 50kms before you run out of fuel - 7kms shy of Ravensthorpe

The novelty of wearing warm clothes and closed shoes to a couple of Pilbara kids

Going fishing with the kids - Esperance foreshore

Cooper catching seaweed - Esperance foreshore

Blaire wandered over to squat down next to Dad

 Cape Le Grand National Park

Hellfire Bay - Cape Le Grand National Park, Esperance WA

Cape Le Grand National Park, Esperance

Couldn't convince the team to climb Frenchman's peak (3kms round trip, c'mon?)

Lucky Bay - Cape Le Grand National Park, Esperance WA

Could have stayed here all day, so beautiful - Lucky Bay - Cape Le Grand National Park, Esperance WA

Herding cats (couldn't get both to smile) - Hellfire Bay - Cape Le Grand National Park, Esperance WA

Alison (me) with Damien x

Albany & Cheyne Beach

The first day of February saw us on the road from Manjimup heading 275kms south-east for a couple of nights stay at Cheyne Beach. Original plan was to head to Albany, but good advice was headed to take the extra 60kms east to stay at this beautiful protected bay.
The weather cooled as we arrived and the combination of grey skies, white sand and turquoise water was really beautiful, see for yourself below.
On the second day, we decided to backtrack to Albany for a day and take a look around. Freshly baked (and still warm) chocolate brownies from the Sunday boatshed markets were a highlight. And a visit to the Brig Amity impressed both Damien and I (are we becoming history buffs??)

The Gap, Albany WA - took me a while to pluck up the courage to get this close and with each wave I got a pretty good shower of seawater rain over myself and camera 

The Natural Bridge, Albany WA

Overlooking the bay next to the natural bridge - very windy and stormy sea

Ahoy there matey, it's Captain Cooper and first mate Damo aboard the Brig Amity - Albany foreshore

Swab the decks! - Brig Amity, Albany foreshore

Cooper working the helm - Brig Amity, Albany foreshore

Look really close, its deckhand Blaire (in pink)

Kangaroos coming in for a feed every evening - Cheyne Beach Caravan Park

Was photographing this Mum and joey when in came loping this massive bull Kangaroo. He was as big as a cow. Check out the massive forearms and shoulder muscles compared to Mum. Needless to say I used my zoom lens for this photo as I was keeping a healthy distance.

Another cute Mum and joey grazing nearby

Beatiful aqua water and white sands - Cheyne Beach

A bit of fun and education on teaching the kids the letter in their names

Blaire having fun jumping through her name

Sunday boat shed markets with Blaire scoring down her warm chocolate brownie that was so large we all shared it together - Albany foreshore