Saturday 2nd August 2025 – more of the story, a bit more detail From Eucla to Mundrabilla the Hampton Range follows on the Northern side of the road, at a consistent height all the way to Madurah.

There is a sign before Mundrabilla saying “cheap fuel” when I call in to get our golf cards stamped I see it ain’t that cheap but at Mundrabilla you can say what you like, its cheap fuel if you need it.

The golf hole at Mundrabilla is called ” Watering Hole”. A virtual hole, its 2 pars for The Don and moi.

Golf – where do I start? Madura is where reality golf starts. ” Brumbys Run ” is a challenging par 3 with a truck to the right, a caravan to the left, luckily we find the rough left side of the green. Although Wally gave me a special Wilson golf ball for my birthday, i managed to leave it in a timber hazard. Not sure how many shots you would would call a “Truck”? Relieved that we haven’t hit a vehicular mode of transport, either stopped or moving we leave quietly.

There is a lot of saltbush on the side of the road, then there isn’t, not sure what’s going on there. Getting into more like sheep country, however when I see sheep I’m advised they are white rocks. There is no point arguing, even when I’m right I’m wrong. Just shoulda gone to Specsavers! So I don’t really know where all the sheep actually are?

Cocklebiddy arrives, another Roadhouse staffed by backpackers, this time from Asia. The golf is a challenge, a 368m Par 4, a howling wind blowing across the fairway. I’m on for 2 putting for a elusive birdie, which eludes me. Still, a fair dinkum par is OK for me. The Don battles the wind, a form slump and caffeine deficiency, which he sorts out back in the Roadhouse.

There are lots of motor bikes on the road, lots heading east riding into the strong wind, very challenging riding conditions.

At Caiguna the ” Ninety Mile Straight” Par 4 is impossible to play in the prevailing conditions, a good reason for this to be a virtual hole that we par.

The country opens up a bit, less scrubby but less or no saltbush. I thought it might be the other way around?

The weather forecast from a pilot mate in Narrabri isn’t promising, wind continuing, rain coming, cold weather remains cold.

At Balladonia the Par 3 175m hole called ” Sklab” is unplayable. Besides the trees between the tee and the pin there is a blonde woman with a fluffy white dog walking up the middle. She is a reasonable size target. Given our ability and the prevailing howling wind we think she’s probably safe but our duty of care makes the decision to go virtual easy. To keep out of the wind we would a low punch drive and her derrier was a hazard we might find. Not a pleasant thought. We lunch in the Roadhouse, served by an Irish girl and another Argentinan girl. There is a bit of the actual Skylab in the shop with some other artefacts. Skylab entered the earth’s atmosphere out of control in July 1979, I didnt think it was that long ago.

Fraser Range Station is a great place to stop. A few drinks, a beef curry, and watch the Wallabies beat the Lions in a rugby test. A good way to finish the day, but there’s more.

So, today I turned 70, my head doesn’t tell me I’m 70 but my failing body does. I have been getting messages and phone calls all day, as we go in and out of mobile phone range, and its nice to know people remember and think of me. I’m not just another forgotten old foggy. The company over the last week has been wonderful, a great trip, and the birthday chocolate mud cake is beautiful.

So thanks to my travelling mates and the people we met last night – a poem I wrote a few years ago, just for a little reflection;

The Road I Took
I glance up from my strong coffee,
Thinking of a past I can now hardly see,
Visions of a life not written in a book,
It was luck, no plans for the road I took.

The little boy, very quiet and so shy
From the coast to somewhere flat and dry,
The road that was taken wasn’t my call
But life in the west was good for us all.

The school bus, the classroom all good
Home to get the calves in and chop wood.
Then away to Dads old boarding school
The road was rough with too many rules.

6A’s and football then the study petered out
As I floundered around, a head full of doubt
The dilemma of school versus girls and sport
The road wasn’t clear, poor result, I got caught.

Trainee agent and potential auctioneer,
For a wool broker the ad was really clear,
At eighteen I had another look at the road
Not sure, but acceptance lightened the load.

Married young to The Copper Haired Girl,
Houses built, no money, babies, life a whirl,
Food on the table and a mortgage to pay,
A track wasn’t clear but we found the way.

A career happened, a shit kicking notetaker,
Not an auctioneer, a money and deal breaker
And life happened, family and friends grow
Lose a child and take a road you don’t know.

Take a look back on things, remember the joys,
A patchwork of life and people and two boys,
It all went so quickly, so don’t waste more time
Fill in the gaps, take the roads in your mind.

Are there regrets, not many maybe a few,
No plans and a few mistakes to get through,
Got to keep taking roads to places unseen,
To challenge me to go where I’ve not yet been.

Paul Reid

Eucla Roadhouse to Fraser Range Station

I’m not going to say much tonight, I’ll write a detailed blog tomorrow when my belly gets over the kilo of gluten in the birthday cake that was arranged for me tonight.

FYI – Today Pauolo (thats me) turned 70. I’m privileged to be travelling with a great group of people (and the Copper haired girl) in a part of the world I mostly haven’t seen before, a cake was organised long ago by Sharron (aka Wally), no mean feat because this place is pretty remote. I’ve had phone calls and messages from family and friends all day when we’ve been in and out of mobile service. Thanks everyone.

Internet service is OK in certain spots, but not in our room, so I’ll only load a couple photos tonight.

Today was a long day on the road, from chilly Eucla to warmish Fraser Range Station. We played more holes in the Nullabor Masters Golf, some virtually, some for real. The wind was blowing hard today. More on that in part 2 tomorrow.

Fraser Range Station is 850km from Perth and we’ve travelled 2200km from Adelaide to get here, so we’re still pretty remote. This is a great stop point, lots of caravans are here, lots of fixed accommodation, kitchen, laundry and great dining room. ( more tomorrow)

Ok arrividerci from Fraser Range Station in WA

Pauolo

Ceduna to Eucla today, via Nullabor Roadhouse where six of us are doing a flight over the GAB (Great Australian Bight), hoping to see some whales.

Breakfast is 6.30am downstairs, the view over the Ceduna water, aka Denial Bay is a light pink and blue in the early morning light. (How’s that for a mildly colour blind fella!) There are people fishing on the pier, people running and some walking on the path around the water. Ceduna is surprising, I didn’t expect such a nice clean, pretty town on the water.

We leave Ceduna a few minutes early, first job is getting the dew off the windows, second job is to get our golf cards stamped at Penong.

Penong golf is completed virtually. Same with Nundroo. The cropping country finally ends and it’s scrubby, straight road and not a lot of traffic. Jeez its straight and flat!!!

We reach the Head of the Bight Visitor Centre where we pay $17 each at the whale centre. We walk to the cliffs and there’s a sign saying there have been 12 mother whales and 12 calves. At first we think the lumps in the sea are rocks but they are whales, lots of them. Speckled and white calves, frollicking adults with tail flicks. Southern Right Whales we are advised, numbers are still revovering from the whaling days. Pretty extraordinary really.

Then there are the cliffs of the Nullabor, they are pretty spectacular as well. Although we do get a chance to see more of the cliffs (for free) later.

We arrive at Nullabor Roadhouse about 11.30, coolish but the sun is out so it’s sort of warmish as well. It’s also muddy, the recent rain has been good but it’s created a mess, I think more is on the way.

We meet our pilot, 6 of us are doing 2 flights x 3 people over the cliffs and checking out the landscape and the whales in this small area. While The Navigator and Smurfette lounge at the Roadhouse, Captain Kirk, Harve and Jenzy go flying, The Don, Wally and Pauolo go golfing. It’s a 500 metre par 5, muddy clay, wombats holes, the ball runs like me after a dodgy vindaloo, if the mud doesn’t stop the ball dead. Sadly The Don bests me despite not reading the slick green very well, he goes 1 shot ahead.

Then it’s The Don, Wally and Pauolo’s turn to fly. Our young pilot is very thorough, very professional and he folds us into the small 4 seater Cessna to go flying. Its astonishing from the air, the hairy nosed wombats holes ( this not a joke, this is true!) and their track marks, the flat Nullabor Plain (a vast  limestone plain thats honeycombed underneath). We see, we think, close to 40 whales. It’s a fantastic

A Roadhouse lunch, eaten on the run then another cliff top stop.

We finish some mandarins and a bit of a tidy up of rubbish before cross the border – no fruit or veggies allowed into WA. The search/ inspection is OK, fairly thorough, we have nothing to give them concern  except for the egg and lettuce lying in the centre console (The Don’s  lunch). They don’t spot it, but we didn’t remember it until we pulled up either. We don’t hear sirens so all must be OK.

Eucla Roadhouse is our accomodation tonight. Looks OK. We duck back to the Border crossing for another golf hole. It’s a scrappy 124 metre par 3, big green a tight gap between some scrub. We’re all terrible but Pauolo regains a shot and the card is all square at the end on Day 1 of the Nullabor Masters.

A few drinks at the bar brings back some sanity after the crappy golfing. There are a lot of Spanish speaking backpackers working here, the food orders sort of remibd me of Manuel in Fawlty Towers. But in the end we get fed.

Tomorrow (Saturday) we drive to Fraser Range Station.

Ciao

Pauolo

Today we travel from Port Lincoln to Ceduna.

First stop is the busiest fishing port in the southern hemisphere, its actually Port zlincoln but we hadn’t seen it yet, its busy, big, expensive fishing boats, big expensive houses on the shoreline.

It’s a straight run to Elliston for a pit stop. Opp shop, toilet, then the big squid, well it isn’t really that big. This place is a bit of a surprise, tidy, nice protected bay, sculptures along a drive are well worth the effort. I take the drone for a little fly and don’t lose it and don’t kill anyone, that’s pretty good I think.

The next stop is Murphy’s Haystacks, a geological thing, for the keen geologist its  inselberg rock formations between Port Kenny and Streaky Bay. They are pretty prehistoric and are about 1,500 million years old.

Another pretty bay is Streaky Bay where we have lunch at a nice park above the town jetty. The weather is pleasant but there is a slight chill in the air. Some older guys on bikes rumble into the pub behind us, ” growing old disgracefully” I hope?

We drive on to Ceduna, the roads are straight and wide and I think they will only get straighter and wider the further we go. We find the visitors centre, get our Nullabor Golf cards and check into the hotel. Its a great spot right on the water, big rooms, view over the water.

The Nullabor Masters then gets under way. The winner of the Port Lincoln event declines to tee off, feigning fatigue, heart issues, words like ” I’ve nothing to prove”, you get the drift, but i won’t mention any names. Nearly everyone gets off the tee poorly. The Don’s Calloway clubs have a fair bit of  Ceduna mud on them, not much of it related to contact with a golf ball.

There is a lot of slashing, swinging and cursing, not a single blade of grass should feel safe, proving the golfer actually gets close the grass, and the ball, relatively important in the game of golf. Pauolo and The Don are in the club house tied on 2 over. Tomorrow sees another day, more of the Nullabor Masters later.

Tonight we eat at the hotel, the seafood is great, Jenzy and The Navigator are very pleased. Beef cheeks are poplular as well. The prawns are gigantic, its all really fresh. The sticky date pudding is a winner, the only criticism comes from Captain Kirk who feels the sauce is a little too runny.  A combined rating is 4.5 Spoons🥄🥄🥄🥄🥄

Ciao arrividerci from Ceduna

Pauolo

Port Lincoln – The Beach Bakery on King – Smooth Clean vibrant coffee. ☕️☕️☕️☕️

Glen – Forest Tourist Park – coffee was good ( better than our golf), service efficient under pressure☕️☕️☕️☕️

Cheeers

The Coffee Nazis

Another day at Port Lukin, sorry Port Lincoln (borrowed that from The Don). Dean Lukin put this place on the map by winning the Super Heavy Weight – Weight Lifting Gold Medal at the ’84 Olympics. He famously suggested to the press that they should not focus on him but rather they should focus on the up coming Paralympics as those athletes had achieved far more than him.

The early view from our front verandah overlooking the bay this morning is of brooding dark grey clouds over glassy water. Rain showers in the background, in the foreground, is the industrial apparatus with a grey green conveyor belt running out past two tug boats to where the unloading of fertiliser and the loading of grain on to ships takes place. It looks and feels like a scene out of The TV series Shetland.

Last night there were more rain showers, I reckon more rain is on the agenda for the next week.

Breakfast then a coffee at the bakery gets us ready for the Port Lincoln Masters Golf Tournament, being played at Royal Glen-Forest Putt Putt course. A field of 7 with tournament referee and scorer Harve sets off, we know the tees are set right back and pin positions will be challenging, it is after all The Masters. At the 9 hole turn Smurfette leads by one, chased by The Don and Pauolo, one shot behind. The Navigator has threatened, as has Captain Kirk but consistency sees them languishing further back in the field. Wally has pulled out the long drives but hasn’t handled the windy conditions and a couple of out of bounds ruins her chances. Jenzy is a real threat with her consistency enabling her to stay in the hunt but the inclement weather sees the tournament stopped at the 11th tee for health reasons related to cold hands and the generally sooky disposition of most of the golfers.  Travel issues related to the distance of the links from Port Lincoln have clearly affected some players performance as well ( see comment above as well). Despite all this, Smurfette claims the win, but this writer feels it’s a shallow victory when only 10 holes have been completed.

It’s pointed out to this journalist that there has been some recent bad press for the Royal Glen-Forest members related to animal cruelty. Apparently they’ve been shearing wombats, we find evidence in the signs at the course. Frankly I’m appalled! I do notice that I’ve been sneezing a little and suspect some errant wombats hairs have blown up my nose and possibly it’s impacted my golf game. I dunno for sure but……any excuse……Its also noticed that there are gluten free bulls balls for sale, surely this place has an issue that needs addressing by the authorities! Actually, we were very happy with Glen- Forest and the staff, the young lady who looked after us was terrific.

Wally calls for The Don to be swabbed after he’s spotted with a dust pan and brush cleaning up our morning tea crumbs. I suspect he’s been sipping performance enhancing coffee, so it’s a fair call.

The dirt road to Coffin Bay is greasy after the rain, and Nomads 1 and 2 are skilfully piloted over the treacherous sticky pot holed surface. I like the name ” The Dirt Road to Coffin Bay”, somebody should write a poem or song with that name, its sort of catchy.

Coffin Bay is a pretty town, oysters in the estuary right near town. Lovely clear water,  a nice looking National Park that we don’t venture into and  quiet as its 14km off the Flinders Highway. We (some of us) purchase oysters from a machine, an oyster vending machine would you believe, and we drive back to Port Lincoln for a latish lunch, which includes the said oysters and some missing hot water from an errant Thermos. The oysters are super fresh and great, either natural or kilpatrick.

Some laundry work is done, motor vehicular maintenance and refuelling completed before plans for dinner.

I walk with Wally to Makybe Diva’s statue  on the water front. Tony Santic who owned her was from Port Lincoln, I think she won about $13m and 3 Melbourne Cups. Tim looked after her at Coolmore horse stud when she was having her first foal – after Coolmore stallion was the sire.

Dinner is at the Ming Inn Chinese Restaurant just down the road from our accommodation. Food is great and we cover a variety of interesting topics including toilets of the world. Ewww!!!

Tomorrow we leave Port Lincoln heading North West to Ceduna.

Ciao and arrividerci from Port Lincoln

Pauolo

Retro Coffee Log back to Day 2

Adelaide – Maison Clement – pronounced Maysorn Clomaw ( if you’re French). 3 shots needed in the large coffee according to Jenzy, but most consumers approved of the flavour, as being as an intense bold coffee. Tea was excellent, full flavour tea. Rating ☕️☕️☕️

Moonta – Cornish Kitchen. Patrons were not overly impressed, could be stronger. Rating ☕️☕️

Whyalla – Blended Cafe – Full flavour rich coffee. Intense bold coffee. Service good, toilet was like a secret door to Narnia. Rating ☕️☕️☕️☕️

Moonta – Nook & Nourish. The skipper of Nomad 2 said full flavour  rich coffee. Rating ☕️☕️☕️☕️

Ciao  – The Coffee & Tea Committee

Tuesday – Star Log

We leave Port August at about 9am, its cold and raining. The highway way west has plenty of traffic, but don’t stop and walk in the paddock beside the road, it has a warning on the fence that the area is military and subject to live firing exercises. Convinced me to stay in the car. The Don is Nomad 2 chief pilot and doing a good job, new underwear and no emus or roos today, we hope.

We left turn and head south west down the Eyre Peninsula.

The first stop is Whyalla which has 23,000 people, but it’s a quiet town centre, looks like a smaller town centre than 23k. It’s industrial originally based on iron ore mined from the Middleback Ranges, I’m assuming these are the scared ranges just outside town which have a patterned environmental rehabilitation works on them. BHP then turned it from a port into a steel production business. Originally a BHP town, then a dodgy Indian company took over, went broke so a rescue by the SA government is the most recent iteration of Whyalla. Coffee in town and a pit stop before we move on.

Further south we pull into Cowell – just out of town Nomad 2 spot some very pretty parrots on the side of the road, Nomad 1 crew is no help identifying these birds but Google tells me they are Australian Ringneck Parrots ( see Cowell solo art photo). Fishing boats and oyster boats are setting off leaving green John Deere tractors with their trailers in the boat ramp car park. The Cowell silo art has an Australian Ring Neck Parrot, a camel called Diamantina and a bloke ( local legend Lionel Deer and apparently he owns the camel). What would we do without Google???

The crops are improving and its less scrubby as we drive into Arno Bay – we are greeted by a small dolphin statue, in a land of big things its a contradiction but their effort is admirable. A pit stop for Pauolo is required,  the toilet is the Harbourmasters House ( thats what the plaque on the outside says!!!), he/she must be happy living in a toilet and administering the harbour. I wonder if it’s a posting you get for doing something wrong like letting a ship run into the rocks or a lihhthouse? A sign chalked the path between the men’s and the ladies says  ” follow Jesus”.  I wonder if Jesus needed a leak here as bad as I needed one after the Whyalla coffee stop. I’m taken back to the church we saw at Port Wakefield yesterday, nice church but it had a mural painted on it ” Jesus” written over a fishing boat. I feel like there is something that a higher being is trying to tell me but I’m just not getting the message. I consult Captain Kirk, he advises this part of SA is a strong Lutheran area, I conclude the Lutherans are very good at maintaining clean working toilets but if get any more messages from the son of God I’m gunna freak out.

Viterra silos are everywhere. This mob is a combination of Glencore, the old Australian Barley Board, CBH and Canadian company Viterra, they must employ half of rural SA

The crops run to the seaside and look pretty healthy unlike further back where they looked a bit sick.

Tumby Bay is next stop, the weather hasn’t improved but it’s lunch time and we luck out  at a nice looking pub that doesn’t normally serve lunch on Tuesdays, however today they have  a Probus group meeting, so a lunch is on, we feel privileged. Pumpkin soup is popular, Boar Fish on cous cous salad for me and Jenzy is really good. The Navigator goes for the soup, nice and simple. Tumby Bay is very nice, lovely water front houses, nice pubs and lots of murals. They have an annual street art festival and its reflected around the town. There is a great silo mural here as well, two boys falling towards the wheat fields.

The last it into Port Lincoln sees bigger trees, still not big by NSW standards and much healthier looking crops running to the sea, almost.

Our accommodation is Port Lincoln Beachside Apartments. Compliments to Captain Smurf, sorry Kirk, good selection. Tonight is a light dinner at a pub close by.

Ciao from Port Lincoln

Pauolo

It’s Monday, the trip begins in ernest. Vehicles to be collected early a.m. from Hertz, crew to be  briefed by Captain Kirk ( aka Smurf), route planned – Kirk had this sorted about 4 months ago, comms tested ” breaker breaker”, “copy that”, “out” and other technical comms words to be learnt so we don’t cop the the wrath of Kirk. And other stuff I don’t know about will come up.

Today it’s Adelaide to Port Augusta via Moonta (a Cornish Pastie town I’m told) and Port Pirie.

Captain Kirk is skippering Nomad 1, and The Don is skipper of Nomad 2, both craft are hybrid Toyota Klugers and are part of the Starship  Enterprise fleet, but this mission has been given to Nomad 1 and Nomad 2. I feel we have seen a few Star Wars characters cross over, but we’ll have to wait and see who they are.

The morning is brisk but not the freezing rain with a wind blowing off the Southern Ocean like the last 2 days. The traffic is busy as we leave Adelaide, heading north.

Port Wakefield is a short excursion into the town but not really much to see. The next stop is Moonta – for Cornish pasties for lunch. The pasties are very good and the Moonta toilets are clean.

There is a little conflict in Nomad 2 between The Navigator (aka as “Chekhov” on Starship Enterprise), and Pauolo – however its  nothing a little family counselling won’t resolve. the problem arose out of a navigation error and Pauolo is feeling slightly down because he’s allowed Nomad 1 to take the lead and get to the cornish pasties first, The Don is afraid Smurf will eat all the pasties before he arrives. On a serious note, a bit of opp shopping is done but not much damage is done to the credit cards. We venture out to the coast and the newer houses and subdivisions, the water is much cleaner than in Adelaide. Some erosion of the water front cliffs might be giving property owners some stress. There are some big expensive houses out here.

Afternoon tea at a roadside rest stop beside the Flinders Ranges and Mt Remarkable National Park is tea and coffee and cake suitable for diabetics. I thought it was a joke (cake for diabetics that is) but clearly I was wrong. The fluid intake means Jenzy needs to find a large tree for a comfort break, but Harve embarrasses her by commenting the large puddle of water nearby. We know the truth but it looks like somebody else also needs some family counselling.

Two emus beside the road surprise The Don driving Nomad 2, and I’m guessing an underwear change is on the agenda for him in Port Augusta. The emu’s didn’t look surprised at all as we sailed past at warp speed (the legal limit in Galaxy SA I believe), probably a reflection on their limited brain capacity (emus, not South Aussies that is)

We undertake a property inspection of one of Smurf’s (aka Captain Kirk) clients, in the middle of wind farm alley. There is some Bond 007 technology involved in the solar mirror array, I recall something like that in a Bond movie, or was it a Mission Impossible show? Dunno, anyway it’s impressive.

We arrive in Port Augusta at a civilised hour, about 5pm. We’re staying at Crossroads Econolodge, nice rooms, and dinner is planned at the pub down the road. We mostly order the $18 seniors roast lamb & veg. There have to be some benefits to aging disgracefully. The Don and Wally run into their nephew in law at the pub, he’s there for a work thing from NSW central coast. Just as well he was behaving!

Today we’ve seen mostly tidy, clean, civilised towns, sandstone, distinctly SA buildings (refer to Midnight Oils “Diesel and Dust” album cover. Not much grunge is evident. I’ve been impressed.

Ciao from Port Augusta

Pauolo

Breakfast in the hotel, its pretty good, a nice young Nepali guy is our waiter.

The Navigator waits for a catch up with a friend who moved to Adelaide, The Don got a bad something on last night’s pizza and decides to rest up, but the other 6 of us head off to North Terrace on foot.

The walk is refreshing and fresh bordering on freezing. Some very contemporary architecture catches Smurfettes eyes and then we wander over the Torrens to Adelaide Oval.

However there is a distraction as we walk to the oval..

We see a feast of crimson moving rhythmically on the concourse at the back of Adelaide Convention Centre. It’s a Kate Bush Flash group, whatever that is. Heaps of women in crimson ( forgive me if this colour isn’t correct – I’m a bit colour bind), dancing to Kate Bushes ” Babushka”. A bit weird but a bit Adelaide.

Back to Adelaide Ovel, this was a specific request by Wally. They allow us inside for a look at one of the most beautiful sporting venues in the world, which also houses the Bradman Museum ( there is another at Bowral). There is a sign saying ” No Photos or Videos” but some of us inadvertently don’t see it. Anyway it’s all good, nobody is arrested, and the Don’s ( not The Don!) records are safe with us.

The next plan is to go out to Glenelg, but instead of the right tram going the right way, we get on the wrong tram going the wrong way. Still, the Adelaide uni and Botanical Gardens look very nice.

Glenelg is freezing, a howling wind blowing over the jetty and brown foam on the beach. I guess it’s the algae? I’m glad we didn’t bring the togs, it was too cold to get changed let alone swim.

The tram ride back to the city was uneventful, shopping for supplies was planned, dinner at the Austral Hotel was booked, and tomorrows schedule was discussed. The Don looks better.

There is a thought that the “tags” of the crew of the Enterpwize  might reflect Star Trek characters. More discussion is needed but for starters I’ll list the main characters and their attributes as I see them;

Spock – 2nd in command and comes from another planet called Vulcan

Captain Kirk- skipper of the starship

McCoy – the doctor

Scotty – the chief engineer

Chekhov- the Navigator

Sulu – Helm officer

Uhura – communicactions officer

I’m thinking this will be too complicated!!!!