After my night sleeping on the state line, I got up bright and early and soldiered back to the car for another long day of driving. One of the reasons I decided to sleep at the border village was because it was actually on the South Australian side, and there was an Agricultural Inspection Station waiting for me to get into Western Australia. This was the fourth zone I’ve had to cross into, where I was expected to throw away all my produce, and I was getting a bit sick of it. The other zones were around Kununarra, the Northern Territory state line, and the lower parts of South Australia. I still had some oranges and apples I bought at Adelaide’s Central Market, so I had them all for breakfast before getting started on my journey.
This drive had a few more trees than the Nullarbor, but it also had the distinction of holding Australia’s longest straight stretch of road — the Ninety Mile Straight, which got a bit boring. I actually found it a bit dangerous because oncoming traffic seemed to appear out of nowhere. You would get tired of constantly looking in the same place for too long and find it hypnotising, so you would try to keep your eyes moving around, looking from side to side, just to stay awake. And then, pow, there would be a truck barrelling down on you.
I finally arrived in Norseman in Western Australia in the mid-afternoon, where the tourist centre greeted me with a free hot shower and a free private camping spot 22 kms south of town. It was quite nice, private, isolated, and beautiful with lots of thick bush.
From there, I made the final few hours of driving this morning to get to the southern coastal town of Esperance — which is actually only about 8 hours away from Perth.
Esperance is supposed to be beautiful, but it’s been pouring rain ever since I got here. I’ve checked into another single room at the YHA in anticipation of another nasty storm front passing through. I think it’s probably already here. Esperance is famous for having lots of big, beautiful beaches here with pure white sand. They have a bay full of islands and a local national park with some good hikes (I’ve been told). There is also a scenic drive nearby that it supposed to be like Big Sur. I’ll let you know when the weather clears.
