Peter was up rattling around early and we were on the road by 6.30am.  At 7 Barry Wilton rang us.  He and Wayne were on their way back from SA and had just pulled into Madura Roadhouse for breakfast.  We decided it would be too hard to stop as it was highly unlikely we would recognise each other on the road in time.  We wished each other safe travel.  I calculated that we might be close to each other around Caiguna. I wasn’t far wrong.  We tooted them in a pull off bay about 40 kms west of Caiguna Service Station.  We couldn’t do anything but toot as a road train wasn’t far behind us.

Balladonia is 192 kms from Norseman so it works well for a morning tea stop.  And then you get the 90 mile (145 kms) straight before you get to Caiguna.

We fuelled up at Cocklebiddy and found a roadside stop further on for lunch.  We did consider a short rest, but we weren’t far enough off the road for that to happen.  Too many trucks!  I kept myself occupied by typing the Travelark blogs I had set up the night before on my iPad.  This site works well for me and I pay $10.00 American a year to have 30gb of storage for photos.  If you don’t pay a membership you only get 2gb. It is a site managed by a guy named Ryan who was a member of the group who first established Travelpod, which Dorothy and I liked very much.  We have both printed books of our travels through Travelpod.  Ryan has slowly been making improvements to Travelark and his latest improvement is being able to print books.  I was pleased to read that on the site.

Madura was the next roadside stop and there is a caravan park there.  We stayed there on our first crossing of the Nullarbor in late 2013, but not this time.  The Madura Pass is a welcome sight and the countryside changes from Madura to Eucla as you travel alongside a range. The range meets the ocean at Eucla, so the drive into Eucla from the west is equally as inviting and spectacular as the Madura Pass.

Fuel was $2.45 at Eucla and we paid $30 for a caravan site with power and no water. Showers were on a timer, $1.00 for 5 minutes.  Importantly for me there was internet service.  The WA side of the Eyre Highway is pretty good really for mobile phone service. When I became tired of typing my blog during the afternoon and I was feeling a bit like a nap, I texted Jenny and Wendy.  It was time for a break at Mundrabilla for an ice cream though!  Then we were right for the next 66 kms to Eucla.

Pam my friend at Beataloo Valley made contact before I did on Saturday night.  I told her of our plan which was two nights in Port Augusta before we went to her on Wednesday.  10 messages later Pam had convinced us she was only an hour down the road from Port Augusta, so we should travel to her home on Monday!  Only two more sleeps and we will be there.  Well really it is only one sleep as this blog is being finished off on Sunday night!