Across and back.

Here we are again.
Not going 'almost around Aus' this time; just going across and back.

We left home and headed our usual way across country, skirting around Perth city. We drove through Gingin, Bindoon and Toodyay to Northam where we joined the main road East. The Great Eastern Highway.
The traffic was quite light and it was easy travelling so we made it beyond Southern Cross to spend the night at Karalee Dam and Rocks.
One of our favourite / usual Goldfield stops.
Before we left home the evenings were quite cool and we still had the duvet on the bed at night. I had packed sheets, a blanket and the duvet to cover all probabilities. Tonight was warm and sticky - definitely not a night for the duvet.
The next day we pressed on to Norseman and headed across the Nullarbor.
We spent another night bush camping: at 10 Mile Rocks.

It was very warm all night but we managed a good sleep.
The next day we carried on Eastwards; The day got hotter and the wind got stronger, unfortunately it was a head wind - the trip computer calculated the fuel consumption at 16.3litres /100kms. We usual average around 13.8litres/100kms.
We stopped at a nice quiet spot in the late afternoon but it was too hot to step outside the van; a quick check of the map and decision made - travel on to Mundrabilla Roadhouse and stay in the caravan park there. (powered site / plug in / air conditioner on all night).
We didn't know what to expect at Mundrabilla but were pleasantly surprised....  it was only $20pn. There was no shade in the caravan site but the ablutions were fairly new and very clean, the wind dropped to a breeze.

The next day we drove into South Australia. We had until Ceduna to eat all the fruit and veg we had onboard, there were more potatoes than anything else so I made a big bowl of potato salad. 
We made the same decision as the night before, going into Nundroo roadhouse (again only $20pn ). Unlike the night before though, the caravan site was quite poor and after inspecting the ablutions I advised Michael not to use them, I certainly wasn't going to -- we were only here for power, not the facilities! We put on the airconditioner and stayed inside right until we woke the next morning.
The night was wild and windy with some short heavy showers. The next morning was clear and much cooler for our drive into Ceduna.
We passed through quarantine, no problems and drove to our friends' place.
We had met Bobbi and Norm on the cruise from UK to Australia in 2015 and they said to call in if passing!! (We had arranged it beforehand).
We didn't realise that their house was on the sea front, what beautiful views.
We managed (well, Michael managed) to reverse down their driveway and park in the backyard for a couple of days.

 Ceduna is a very, very nice little town and we were taken to some lovely little bays and out to look around the port of Thevenard, very interesting.
After a couple of days we said goodbye after lunch and drove on again. (we will be calling in on our way back Westwards).

We drove across the top of the Eyre Peninsula making it to Kimba as a very, very wild rain storm hit. The ground was flooded, the van was rocking and it was cold! There were only 2 other motor homes in the caravan park, perhaps because there are a couple of overnight stops in the town. We wanted to plug into power (for the heater this time), so went for the caravan park option again. Not a particularly good choice as the ablution block had open concrete block windows (no glass) so was very cold. Once again, we were only paying for a site off the road and power...($27pn).
We managed a good sleep and set off the next day driving to Port Augusta. The wind was still blowing strong but the rain eased off. We stopped in Port Augusta and did a small food shop, we bought a sandwich and coffee for lunch and then realised that we were in a town with a "Cheap As Chips" store. (cheap discount variety store). We were parked just around the corner so had a wander.  They're still as good as we remembered.
Then we drove on down to Port Pirie. We were surprised by the size of the old port. But didn't fancy a night in one of their caravan parks at $35 pn. We drove out of town and inland to the little town of Crystal Brook. We checked into their community run caravan park ($27pn) and had a lovely peaceful night among the gum trees.