Newbie on here :)

Jennifer · Newbie

Newbie on here :)

Dougwe · Chief one feather

Welcome from me Jennifer, enjoy here and out there.

I was thinking of doing a similar trip maybe September/October,ish.

Hope all goes well and I'm sure there will be plenty of info following.

Scotty01 · Senior Member

Welcome Jennifer, Will be getting cold and windy going across there this time of year. It is always a head wind going west. How are you traveling?

neilnruth · Guru

Welcome Jennifer from us too. Sure if you go there will still be many others with you. If you plan on coming back the same way, a head wind going over will be compensated by a tailwind coming back! Our tip would be to watch the weather. It takes a full day mostly to get across the Nullabor. We were given great advice when we did it. We were going to leave the day after a 40C day with another 40C day forecast for the next day. A local said if we could wait another day, we would follow the heat across - and we did. While it might not be heat you are trying to avoid in July, it might be the same with wind.

milo · Guru

welcome to the site and hope it all goes well, id love to do that one day

animalcarer · Senior Member

yep we struck head wind, just a tad memorable, tuff on the fuel, stock up on snacks etc, you dont want to buy anything at the roadhouse, I cooked a silverside and it did us through, plenty of road kill, dont drive at night, pull up by at least 3.30pm all the bestl

wendyv · Guru

Remember that you can't take fresh fruit, vegies, etc across the checkpoint at the WA border on the way across to the West. You can, however, take cooked stuff. I tend to have a vegie stir fry type of cook up, the night before we cross, if I have any produce left - or make soup.
At this time of year, suggest you turn right at Norseman and head for Kalgoorlie, rather than go to the south coast. Then, depending on the Perth weather, either head that way, or strike for parts further north via Leonora, Sandstone, Mt Magnet, Geraldton.

Cruising Granny · Guru

Going over west last week we were lucky to have SE, and a SW coming back to Pt. Augusta.
We travelled at about 90 KPH. Depending on what you consider "Nullarbor", it can take 3 days or more.
I always consider Penong to Madura Pass as "Nullarbor", but the true Plain is only about 100 kms.

Jennifer · Newbie

thank myou to every one> No doubt I will have more questions, always assuming we haven't changed our minds in the next 2 days:). Commodore car and a poptop Avan we have. Have done one long trip ( 2 months) through NWS and some of Queensland, but this will be our longest in time and milage . Think I am looking forward to it !! :0 We can leave next week and be away for 4 or 5 months, at this stage Jen

gold dandelion · Senior Member

w.a. has most of its rainfall in the winter, well we hope for the farmers sake. i would stick to the coastal plain that time of the year, usually warmer and less windy. Kalgoorlie north to leonora etc you will freeze at night and the wind chill during the day can be very nasty.

Jennifer · Newbie

am reading and remembering all these replies. :) Have looked re taking food into the West, but not sure re the taking in of dried fruit and canned fruitCan I take them in, please? surely no diseases on the canned and dried varieties?

Hylda&Jon · Guru

Hi Jennifer & welcome!

Head winds cannot be predicted.You are just as likely to get headwinds both ways as you are only one way in my opinion, or they may change direction when your half way across. When we last went over to WA by the Nullarbor it was July/August & we mainly had winds from the south so it hit us from the side. Luckily it was never too strong.

We did get torrential rain from the WA border onwards which was a bit of a pain but we enjoyed the SA side & took one of the many dirt track leading to the edge of the cliffs & camped there for a couple of days.

For Fruit & Vege checks you can refer to the site I have mentioned below:

http://www.quarantinedomestic.gov.au/destination-western-australia.html

Drive carefully

Cheers

Jon

kandagal · Guru

You can't take honey over the border into WA either. Enjoy your travels

gypsynolmate · Senior Member

Hi Jen, I am reasonably new on this also. WE have travelled from Ballarat in Feb arrived Broome beginning of May. Had a wonderful trip, free camped some of the way. Very hard to get free camp up the west coast above Perth, you more a less have to go into Caravan Parks. Good idea to purchase yourselves the Camps Australia Wide Book. When we stayed at Ceduna, we went out and checked the weather bureau and he told us what wind was coming up and we were lucky to have a tail wind to cross the Nullabour. We free camped across there. Broome is beautiful at the moment, I have never been here before. Seeing as I am from Vic I am still waiting for it to rain but it doesnt at this time of year. The weather is beautiful, the fish are plentiful what more could you want.

Jennifer · Newbie

well, we have decided to go from home on tuesdaynext(29th May), Nullabour, and the West in our sights:) So ........ tis time to get serious. :) Hi Gypsynolmate, we will be leaving from almost same area as you did, From Warrnambool.We have the camps book.. number 5. So now will start looking where the free camps are :) :)

glassies · Guru

welcome to a fab forum jennifer enjoy your travels and enjoy a fantastic forum stay safe :)

Arrabella Avan · Member

Hi Jennifer,
Can't advise you on the nullabor...but can with regards to WA camping.
Down south of Perth this time of year is pretty chilly and getting wetter - so I would highly recommend going north - beyond Mt Magnet inland or Geraldton on the coast. The higher you go the warmer you will get.
You can free camp or cheap camp at several places along the Great Northern Hwy (the inland route) Bilyuin pool is a nice spot (# 576 in Camps 6) I would highly recommend going to Karijini National Park (Dales Campground #582 is a low cost campsite and has great access to the gorges - although you will need a national park pass to go into the area)
There are quite a few of station stays in the inland area that are well worth a night or two as well.
If you are going north along thecoast - Brand Hwy (can divert off to the Indian Ocean Drive just out of Perth for a scenic drive) and North West Coastal Hwy up further - then there are several places along the coast that are reasonably inexpensive...the only problem is that at this time of year it can get very busy and places can become crowded. Something about warm days, great swimming and fishing make for a grey nomad mecca.
Caravan parks can be the go but once again they are not usually on the cheaper side - expect to pay around $30+ a night and around $50 a night if staying at places like Coral Bay (which is an amazing place to visit)- would also recommend htat you phone ahead to make sure they have space.
Hope that helps... Enjoy your travels..
I will be heading north myself in the next week or so.

Leonie