Crossing Nullabor in summer

RobCol · Senior Member

Crossing Nullabor in summer

dave06 · Guru

we have done it years ago before air con and we free camped, we were younger then and a lot more tolerant of heat, late december wont be too bad, expect temps of roughly 30 - 35 but the nullarbor also has a lot of sea breezes

when you camp up for the night go as close as you can to the cliff (without putting yourself in obvious danger remembering that it is hollow under you) there is almost always a "sea breeze" close to the water and it is always a couple of degrees cooler

wendyv · Guru

In mid Dec 2006, we travelled across from WA. Were not sightseeing (have done it several times in cooler weather). Starting from Leonora, our overnight stops were: 1. Balladonia RH, 2. Nundroo RH - then we were well into SA.
There were fires between Norseman and Eucla, affecting traffic at times (and making us wary of free camping). We struck a heat wave and it was pushing 50 at Eucla. We opted to stay at the roadhouses mentioned so we could use the air con in van - or at least the fan we carry (air con too noisy for us at night).
The cheapest fuel is usually: roadhouse at eastern edge of Pt Augusta, Nundroo, Mundrabilla.

dave06 · Guru

Hi Wendy and welcome to you, 2006 was a pretty bad heatwave and not pleasant travelling at all, 50 phew, been that here for a couple of weeks back in feb 09, not at all nice

our last trip across in summer according to our little black book was in 85, highest temp was 36, once again as you say at eucla

kenmarg · Veteran Member

hi. i ran over there with a fridge truck for about 8years, and what i found. from port agusta to ceduna, its rolling hills,so find a spot ( and there are hundreds of free camps )where the late afternoon wind blows towards you. at ceduna you are right on the sea. plan your trip so you go thru to somewhere west of nullabor garage. and you are back on the coast again. you follow the coastal cliff tops to the sa/wa border at eucla. ( a great spot to spend the night with lots of free camps ) push on thru the basin to madura pass,at the top of the pass a great free camp with,good cool breeze's at night. then onto the fraser range ( not far west from the end of the 90 mile straight.) another good free camp. in the morning its just a short drive into norseman. i allways tried to be on the road by 6am,your vechile runs cooler,and you get a better fuel economy. there is allways the alternative, just about all the service station roadhouses,have motel accomodation and a/c if you find you cant stand the heat and of course drop your speed down to 80/85 kph, the heat just destroys tyres out there

Ole Grizzly · Senior Member

My ex wanted a better car, and she found one in Perth belong to the Greek Consulars wife. They were leaving to go back to Greece and the car was virtually being given away.
A Nissan Micra.
Well, I flew from Adelaide on Christmas Eve 2008, landed last flight into Perth, paid for the car, turned around and headed back for Adelaide.
Not a bright idea, but car is so small that the Roo's didn't see it, or if they did i'm sure they jumped over it during the night.
Had a couple of hours sleep Christmas morning up on the cliffs. Sea breeze was cold, so snuggled up in my sleeping only to wake up in a sauna and a loss of atleast 3kg. with the sun doing it's best to cook me.
Back in the saddle, windows down and got pulled into a breath testing station Pt Augusta many hours later.
Parked in the driveway 9pm.
Next morning found little car had a flat tyre. Opened boot to get spare.
Oops..was no spare. Still in Perth , was also flat & getting repaired.
Well, end of story is I purchased a X-Lotto ticket because of the good luck I had crossing the Nullabor, but guess I had used it all up..still penniless.
Was quite stupid of me at the time, but nowadays i'll be dragging the anchor.

Vic41 · Senior Member

Thanks for the tips also everyone, I have done the trip a number of times but only in winter, so haven't experienced the summer trip........cliffs.....cool afternoon breezes.....sounds good.

Ken, the one at the top of Madura pass, going east is that on the right or left and what indications are there of it being there etc (visible from the road?). Good tip on the tyres, I hadn't considered that before,

Thanks
Vic PS: Welcome to the site Wendy and the tips, also Daves tips and RobCol for the thread, it is a good one.

dave06 · Guru

same as any trip Grizz, check your vehicle and then recheck making sure EVERYTHING is on board and working as it should

the summer doesnt actually really bite around here until late jan - feb, I would not suggest crossing the plain in those times, if you do then follow kenmarg's advice to the letter it is spot on even with the free camps, we have stayed at a couple of those places and can recollect the cool breeze

dec. wont be too bad, only the start of summer, winter is better though,

watch the wedgy's, they eat the roadkill on the side of the road and because they are full of carrion they take an age to get airborne again,

camels will drift closer to the sea looking for the mist that blows off the cliffs and the little bit of grass that supports, kanga's will be closer to the road edge as well looking for greenery and grain on the road side, give them a wide berth,

galah's will be a problem with the grain spillage as well, put one of them through the grill to the radiator and you have a major problem, had one come through the windscreen on us one day, went through a flock that crossed in front of us,

first couple smashed the windscreen then the next one just came straight through, made the dragon whoop and holler for a while, covered us in glass and feathers, great fun!!!

c.ocky's in their grain trucks are another obstacle to avoid, old farmer joe only brings the b double out during harvest then she's a steady 45 km's per hour to town

RobCol · Senior Member

Thanks for all the tips guys; we went across 1st week July 2008 and was no worries. Free camped all the way except stopped at van park at ****lebiddy. The cliff top free camps will be our first choice as enjoyed them so much last year. Tip re tyres was very well received by hubby! Didn't see any wildlife i.e. camels etc last trip, but take Daves comments for this trip on board. Hope to try out Fraser Range this time, have heard varied reports. Guess we will have more idea of the weather closer to leaving.
Thanks again.
Oh and today is divine here on Sunshine Coast is about 27 , although they expect cooler weather for rest of week.
Cheers,
Colleen

Rolly · Guru

dave06 wrote:
.........c.ocky's in their grain trucks are another obstacle to avoid, old farmer joe only brings the b double out during harvest then she's a steady 45 km's per hour to town.

Why would they be in such a hurry?

Late for the silo close?

RobCol · Senior Member

Ooops !! forgot that some words/names just cannot be used. Funny that, as it is actually the name of the place.

kenmarg · Veteran Member

hi. the most important thing of the lot. what ever you do out there dont travel with your hatch open,in the caravan. one of the high speed trucks going by, the underside of the trailer causes a partial vacuum, which sucks all the air out of your caravan thru the hatch. and your caravan "explodes".

wendyv · Guru

Hi Dave,
where are you, that it was 50 in Feb of this year? I think it only reached about 44 in our part of Melbourne.
We worked in Pilbara in 2006, south of Port Hedland. That was why we were coming home with van across Nullarbor in December. Flew back in January to finish job. In December, and January-February, it was often measured at over 50 degrees, outside, on the construction site. The guys worked 12 hour days, outside in the sun! Not nice.

dave06 · Guru

Hey Wendyv, welcome to the forum,

I'm Based in Port Pirie and despite what the weather stations say or the nightly news it regularly reaches 50 here particularly when the north wind blows, the temp is read at 2pm so as to meet the 6 pm deadline for the news in adelaide and the b.o.m., the hottest time of day is between 3 pm and 5pm

I have taken the readings here at the smelters and can tell you the weather station is in the shade and in the centre of a lawned area that is well watered with recycled water so it is approx. 5 - 10 degrees cooler than just off the lawn, there is another station at our airport but it is in a similar position

5cs (our local radio station) is spot on with its weather readings, and it's temperature calls, they match my thermometer under our back verandah perfectly

port augusta is hotter again (or it feels like it anyway) so I dont know what it reaches there, then whyalla (just around the corner) is a lot cooler but port lincoln is heavenly as a bit of respite from the heat

we are basically at the start of the desert here (our rainfall average backs that up) we can get weeks of above 45 in the months of jan - feb and can easily reach or even exceed 50

I too have operated heavy mining equipment in the days prior to air con cabs, d9g's and d8h's, 966 and heavy haulage cat rock trucks as well as a stint later on on a couple of d10t's the 10t was my first experience with an air con cab with air seat, absolute heaven on a stick, I spent 8 months at the pilbara site, John Devro was running the place as I recall (site manager), good bloke

I was gathering money to continue our travels, it gets bloody hot there I agree, but I was young and didnt really feel the heat that much, not like now

I am constantly amazed at the new toys my other boss keeps buying every year, the new header he bought last year is an absolute horse of a thing, there are that many computers on board now all I have to do is stay awake, it does everything else