Driving across the Nullarbor - and back again.
Preparing the car for the trip
For some years now my wife and I have wanted to drive across the country, from Melbourne to Perth, going over the Nullarbor Plain. Some background info is in my Blog, here and here. Most of my time before the trip was spent making sure the car would get us there and back again. As it is eleven years old, but with only around 120,000 kilometres on the clock, a little preparation was needed.
As detailed in the blog posts mentioned above, the car had a head gasket replacement, since it had started slightly leaking and was a common fault in this model of car. The transmission was serviced - not a problem with it, and it felt like it shifted a little better than before as well. The suspension and wheel alignment was checked, with all being in order. Its 120,000 kilometre scheduled service was due, so that went in. They noticed the power steering pump was leaking, so that was replaced. I got a new spare tyre, as I wouldn't trust the old, original one which would have bugger all grip now - not only was it nearly down to the tread wear indicators, age would have made it rock hard compared to when it was new.
All this mechanical work served a dual purpose, since it was also preparation for possible sale in the not too distant future. Part of that was finding the cause of the occasional misfire at idle. One possible culprit was blocked injectors. A year or so ago I got them cleaned during a service and the car ran nice and smoothly until earlier this year. I decided to bite the bullet and just had them replaced with some reconditioned injectors. It would either cure the problem, or eliminate the injectors as a possible cause. Unfortunately, it did the latter...
The final preparation was putting some stone guards on the headlights and bonnet, grabbing a tent and some sleeping bags just in case we were caught without accommodation somewhere (hopefully not by the side of the road with a dead car!) and a 15 litre container of water, along with a smaller two litre bottle. This would provide enough water to either completely fill the car's cooling system, should it be needed, or to provide something for us to drink in an emergency. A set of screwdrivers, spanners and a socket set also went into the boot, just in case. I have also summarised the above preparations into a series of tips for travelling, which you can see on page 8.
For each day of the trip, I will show a record of the fuel used, and how much it cost. The distance is to the service station, not necessarily to the destination. I'm sure that in a few years we'll look wistfully at these prices and how cheap it once was...
August 4, 2007
Melbourne - Adelaide
Fuel stop: Bordertown
45.1 Litres, $1.429/l (BP Ultimate): $64.02
Distance: 505km Economy: 9l/100km
We left fairly late in the morning since we had to drop the cat in at the cattery first thing. This meant we didn't get away until nearly 10:30, and with a 10 hour drive ahead of us, we'd be arriving in the dark. Fortunately, there weren't any stray kangaroos, camels or cows wandering about on the highway into Adelaide. What there was, though, was rain. Enough to prompt me to buy some new wiper blades in Adelaide the next morning. On the way to Adelaide, we stopped for lunch in Ballarat, one of the coldest places in Victoria. That's what it seems like every time we go there, anyway. After a quick pie at the bakery, it was back in the car for another drive, with a stop in Nhill to swap drivers and stretch the legs a bit. Another stint took us to the fuel stop in Bordertown, which is 19km past the Victoria/South Australia border(!). One thing you notice when you cross the border into South Australia is that the road becomes incredibly smooth and well paved for a few kilometres. We suspect it's a politically motivated thing, as if it says "Our roads are much better than Victoria's". It only lasts a short while before the surface goes back to being about the same as in Victoria. What is better though is the speed limit - 110km/h compared with 100 in Victoria. There is a stretch that runs from outside of Melbourne to just past Ballarat where it is 110 on the divided highway, but for the two lane, two way roads that make up the rest of the trip out of the state it is only a 100 zone. We stopped for some dinner at the roadhouse in Tailem Bend, before driving the final stretch into Adelaide, arriving around 8:30pm. My wife's brother lives there so we took the opportunity to catch up for a day before heading off on Monday to Port Lincoln.
August 6, 2007
Adelaide – Port Lincoln
Fuel Stop: Adelaide
29 Litres, $1.329/l (BP Ultimate): $39.59
Distance: 305km Economy: 9.8l/100km
Adelaide to Port Lincoln today. As the crow flies, it is only about 250 kilometres. To go by road however, it is over 600. A big detour up north to Port Augusta and the tip of the Spencer Gulf, followed by the drive down the edge of the Eyre Peninsula. There is a Ferry that cuts across the gulf, in case you are interested.
Just out of Adelaide a silly old fart in a Magna towing a boat decides to pull out of the T-intersection in front of us. Seeing as the road had two lanes each way, and we were travelling in the left lane, he could have pulled into the right hand lane while we went past. But noooo, he had to go into the left lane too. I jumped on the brakes, thankful we didn't have too much stuff packed in the cabin of the car (all the heavy stuff was in the boot). Thankfully no harm was done, nothing was hit apart from the horn button. It was also the first and last close call from another driver for the whole trip.
We stopped for a bit of a snack at the Port Pirie roadhouse – not actually in the town, but on the highway that passes it. So far in the drive we noticed how green the vegetation and fields were. In Port Augusta we stopped only for a quick driver change at an information booth. Unfortunately, the only impression we got of the town from that stop was a faint smell of urine. Guess we should have spent more time looking around, but we had a long drive that day. Quite a big change in landscape after Port Augusta – the fields and greenery give way to arid desert landscapes. Red dirt, saltbush, mines. You feel like you've really begun the trip into the outback when you reach this part.
A little further on was the major industry and steel town of Whyalla. Red dust was everywhere here. The roads, footpaths, stobie poles (South Australia's version of the power pole, made of steel and concrete), almost everything was stained reddish brown from the dust. As we headed down the Eyre Peninsula, things got greener again. This is one of the major agricultural centres of Australia, and the highway took us past field after field of wheat, canola and other crops. One of the little hidden gems (almost literally) we found was the town of Cowell, where we stopped for lunch. Cowell has the world's oldest deposit of jade in the area, and has also established an oyster farming industry. It sits on a quite sheltered, picturesque bay.
After lunch, it was the final stretch into Port Lincoln. Another town endowed with great scenery. We took a load of photos on a walk along the foreshore and out along the pier at sunset. A statue of Melbourne Cup-winning racehorse Makybe Diva is on the foreshore. Since we were in a town well known for its fishing industry, as well as for Dean Lukin (we kept an eye out for him, but he was nowhere to be seen), we thought we had better sample the local produce. So into the pub it was for a meal of Port Lincoln King George Whiting. We stayed the night at the Port Lincoln Cabin Park, a fairly new setup overlooking a Shell fuel/oil storage facility. Well, the cabin was a good price and it was new and well appointed.