We had the great pleasure of going on the Pichi Richi Railway from Quorn to Woolshed Flat and back. We travelled on a restored historic stream train which was sensational.  The timber carriages were up to a hundred years old. The sound of the horn and the sight/smell of the steam transported you to a bygone era. The journey took you thru beautiful countryside and we had a stop of 45 minutes at Woolshed Flat where we had refreshments at a restored building dating from 1878.

Back in Quorn we spent some time exploring this quaint old town established in 1878 and named after Quorndon in Leicestershire in the UK. A number of major films have had scenes shot in Quorn –  The Shiralee, Sunday Too Far Away, Gallipoli, Wolf Creek and The Lighthorsemen.

We had lunch at the Quandong Cafe – quandongs are a type of native peach and are used in a variety of dishes. Jude had a quandong milkshake which was yummy but the best dish of all was cousin Jen’s quandong crumble – wow o wow, it was absolutely delicious!

We had a great time in Quorn but the best part of all was catching up with family and spending precious time together.  

On Tues 19th July we left Streaky Bay for Quorn. Along the way we stopped at Kimba – this is exactly half way across Australia! It is also known for another big icon, the big galah.

About 4pm we arrived in Quorn, an old town in the Flinders Ranges. Jude’s cousins Jen, Garry and Elizabeth live here.  After settling into the caravan park we went over to visit with the family. We ended up staying for dinner and chattered the evening away.

Wednesday morning saw us back early so Garry could take us on a day trip thru the Flinders Ranges.

The Flinders Ranges are the largest mountain range in South Australia, which starts about 200 km north of Adelaide. The discontinuous ranges stretch for over 430 km from Port Pirie to Lake Callabonna. Words cannot describe the majesty and beauty of this area.  It is awe inspiring and leaves you feeling motivated to write soul stirring poetry!! We saw kangaroos, euro’s (a smaller type of roo), emu’s, the rare yellow footed rock wallaby and lots of sheep. The bird life was abundant and beautiful. We can’t thank Garry enough for all his driving and amazing knowledge and passion for the area.

That evening we joined Garry, Jen, Elizabeth and Courtney for dinner at the local pub. The food was delicious and the company was superb with lots of raucous laughter.

We were up early again, had breakfast at the roadhouse and set off. We were warned by another guest that they had seen a large amount of kangaroos, both dead and alive, along the route we were taking. We drove a little slower just in case we came across a big boomer who may cause considerable damage to our rig. We saw heaps of roadkill but no live roos. In fact the closest we came to a big boomer was at Border Village when we crossed over into South Australia.

We motored along as quickly as it was safe to do so to the Nullarbor Roadhouse where we were staying overnight. This was 20km away from the Head of The Bight where we would see the whales. We arrived and had set up by 4pm. We then headed off to the viewing area and got there with half an hour to spare. The attendant was adamant we must be back by 5pm. Well what a sight. The pictures explain all……..

We went back to the roadhouse and had dinner. An early night, a great sleep and we arose to the most amazing sunrise……..

We decided to stop a couple of nights in Streaky Bay rather than Elliston as it was at least an hour less driving. We ended our time on the Nullarbor in Ceduna where we had to go through a quarantine checkpoint. They checked out the engel and the caravan fridge for any fresh fruit and vegetables but we had none.  We stopped for lunch and then drove the last hour and a half to Streaky Bay. Wow, what a place.  Again the pics will speak for themselves! We will be here 2 days and then on Tuesday we head to Quorn in the Flinders Rangers for 3 nights.

We left Kalgoorlie at 7.30am on Friday 15th and headed towards Norseman, the beginning of the Nullarbor. We stopped there for a yummy breakfast.

A quick drive thru Norseman town enabled us to get pics of the camel sculptures.

We then started the long journey across the Nullarbor.  A very long road that would take a couple of days to get across. We stopped along the way at Balladonia Roadhouse where we had a picnic and then checked out their onsite small museum. It was fascinating and gave a great history of the area. It also included the story and artifacts from the NASA Skylab crash in 1979. Well worth stopping here.

We set off again and before we knew it, another photo opportunity………the 90 mile straight which is the longest stretch of road in Australia.

We ended the day at Cocklebiddy.

So yesterday in Merredin, we awoke to a beautiful bright, blue sky day. We had a leisurely breakfast, packed up and departed the park around 10am. We were very impressed with all the facilities and staff at Merredin Tourist Park and would highly recommend staying there if in the area.

We headed off towards Kalgoorlie but it wasn’t long before we got stuck behind a couple of slow moving wide loads. Coincidentally they turned out to be the same vehicles as the ones we saw in Meckering the day before. They pulled over to let everyone pass. Sadly, just near Moorine Rocks, we came across the two trucks that had crashed head on in the early hours. Police were still on scene and traffic was filtered through via a contra flow. A stark reminder to drive carefully.

We stopped for a picnic lunch at a roadside rest area in Boorabbin National Park. While there we looked at the memorial to the three truck drivers killed in a bushfire in 2007.

Finally at approx 4pm we arrived in Kalgoorlie and checked into the Discovery Holiday Park in Burt Street. Ben had a room to himself and we had a powered site. After unhitching we made our way into town and ended up having dinner at the Albion Hotel. Yummy food at great prices and fantastic staff. Another establishment we would thoroughly recommend.  After dinner we drove up to the viewing platform overlooking Kalgoorlie’s Super Pit, one of the largest open-cut mines on earth and the biggest gold mine in Australia.

Today, Thursday, we went back to the viewing platform to see the pit in daylight and witness one of the blasts take place. An incredible sight! We then went to Hannans North Tourist Mine, one of the first registered mines in Kalgoorlie. Look at the pics to see what we got up to.

Tomorrow we have an early start as we head to our first stop across the Nullarbor – Cocklebiddy!

We finally got away about 10am and headed along the Julimar Rd via Toodyay to Meckering.  Lovely farmland scenery, very green after all the rains. Arrived in Meckering and saw the various references to the 1968 earthquake which almost destroyed the entire town. We visited the camera museum which has a frontage styled after an SLR camera. The owner has been there 21 yrs and it is his own personal collection. Fantastic display, commentary and would highly recommend a visit if in the area. Ten minutes down the road we came to Cunderdin and a replica of the Ettamogah Pub where we had lunch. We then drove onto Merredin and checked into the tourist park. We had a drive thru powered site and an ensuite room for Ben. Very nice park with great facilities. We finished the day by cooking a bbq at the camp kitchen and watching Home & Away!!! We had a great day full of laughter and jokes – you had to be there to understand!!

Toasting the start of our journey. Stay tuned!

Guess which are Ray’s pile and Jude’s pile??!!! 😊😊😊