Days 41 42 & 43 Saturday Sunday & Monday 29 30 & 31 August 2026 and Day 44 Tuesday 01 September 2026

A bit of a hiatus with old blog over the last few days, mainly big driving days so not a lot to report.  

They have done it to me again.  Let me explain, a long time ago I did a number of road trips to the US with my friends Jon & Clair.  Being on a bit of a budget we often stayed in tourist class motels, generally pretty good but often interesting.  Well, seeing how we liked a drink with our dinner we always got a bit excited when then motel advertised bar & dining room on site.  That meant that neither Jon or I had to drive to dinner which meant we had to careful with our drinking.  As an aside Clair never drove on any of these trips she used to sit in the back seat of the car in a nest of paper maps, guide books, macca wrappers, empty Pepsi cans and peach smelling hand cream.  Anyway back to the story, imagine our disappointment when we checked into the motel and asked for directions to the bar/restaurant only to be told the bar/restaurant was closed for renovations, hadn't been open for years or closed after a visit from the health department.  This happened so many times we ended up being surprised when said bar/restaurant was actually open.

So when I checked into my motel in Port Pirie this arvo I noted a pleasant dining room and a cosy little bar.  Asked the pleasant receptionist what time said bar & restaurant opened and she told me that they are both closed on Sunday & Monday.  That was like deju vu all over again.  The receptionist suggested a sports bar down the road which coincidently was where Jon, Clair & myself often ended up, not that sports bar but at a sports bar.

I have now relocated to Sporties sports bar for rehydration after my drive and some dinner.

Distances covered in the last few days;

    Esperance to Balladonia         399km    

    Balladonia to Eucla                   519km

    Eucla to Ceduna                        492km

    Ceduna to Port Pirie                    559km

    Port Pirie to Adelaide                220km

So far on this trip I have driven over 7,000km.

On this trip the most I have paid for fuel has been $2.80 a litre at Nullarbor roadhouse on the way to WA.

So I didn't get the blog finished last night so I have set a little time aside today to bring it up to date.

Imagine my excitement last night at Sporties sports bar and fine dining when I discovered included on the menu was a pasta carbonaro.  The ingredients in a carbonara sauce have been the point of some discussion amongst myself and a group of friends, some of whom condsider themselves to be at the height of epicurean knowledge, legends in their own lunchtimes one might say.  I have always maintained that a carbonara sauce contains cream and I produced much evidence to support this.  My foodie friends likewise maintain that carbonara sauce doesn't contain cream, although little or no evidence has been provided to support this.

Gentle reader look carefully and closely at the photo of the Sporties Sports Bar & Fine Dining Emporium menu and what do we see in the contents of the carbonara sauce, why of course it is cream!  The chef there has come all the way from Pakistan so he should know what goes into a carbonara sauce.

These long drives were great, not much radio reception so lots of singalongs with my downloaded Spotify collection.  I have seen one camel so far and he was a little bit stuffed and staying in the museum at Balladonia.  The scenery is magnificent, the deep blue sea on one side and snow capped mountains on the other and then flat, broad plains of the Nullarbor.  You see it like this and realise it really is a big country.  The Americans call their high prairies the "big sky country", well they ought to do the trip across the Nullarbor if they want to see real big sky.

Very tired camel at Balladonia

Scenic caravan park Balladonia

Piece of Skylab recovered in the Balladonia area

On my return journey across the Nullarbor I have once again come across the scourge of the Australian outback, no not the wascally wabbit or the cunning fox or the ugly cane toad but the old enemy the Grey Nomad.  There is a group of grey nomads I havent mentioned yet and these are the ones that think it is funny and clever to give their caravan a jaunty name which is written in big letters across the back of their van.  One I remember quite clearly, was "Ruffin' It".  I remember it clearly cause I was stuck behind at 80km for a loooooong time and I found the spelling and grammar offensive.

One good thing about the return journey is that I got to see the whales again.  There wasn't as many at the Head of the Bight as when I previously visited but they seemed to be a bit more active.  I had my new camera and my big lens so I think these pics are a bit better than the last lot.

Mother & calf, mum has just cleared her blowhole

Mother & calf again

Young whale flopping back in the water after breaching, you could hear the noise like a belly flop when it hit the water.

I have included a couple of pics of the Nullarbor, so that you can see why the call it the Nullarbor.

Escarpment in the background

Road heading west from Eucla

Big sky country

Amazing cloud formations

After passing more canola fields (acres of em) I have arrived safely in Adelaide and checked into my hotel.  This is like a proper hotel with a bar and restaurant that is open, wifi with enough oomph to post pics to the blog and indoor plumbing.  It might be too comfortable for me I might have roll my swag out on the floor to get a good night's sleep.

I have three days in Adelaide with nothing in particular to do, a visit to the SA Maritime Museum maybe, tram ride to Glenelg for lunch and whatever else catches my fancy.

Might have some pasta for dinner tonight, now what sauce should I have?