Ceduna, on the far west coast of South Australia, is a far cry from the bustle of Adelaide. With its focus on a fishing industry and its slow-paced country vibe, it was the perfect stopover before we crossed the Nullarbor. We used it as a base to restock the pantry, spend some downtime and ensure the truck and caravan were in good repair before setting out on the 1, 200 km trip across desert-like plains.
The amenities were spotless and the grounds well maintained. It was quiet during our visit, before school holidays, in March with mostly grey nomads in camp. Each site has a concrete pad on which to set up tables and chairs and a wooden privacy screen between sites. The native plants at each site attract birds which we watched each morning as we lay in bed. At $34/night (with senior’s discount) it was the best value for money campground, we’ve stayed at.
Over the nearby sand dunes is the beach, similar to most along the South Australian coastline: long walks to the water and a lot of seaweed, often very long seaweed. And the wind. The wind. And the flies. The blessed flies. I’m pleased we’ve seen the coastline of South Australia once because I cannot imagine we’ll be back this way. If we’re at the beach we have to be able to swim. Along the entire coastline of South Australia we have managed one swim because of the wind.
There was an accumulation of laundry to go two washing machines and with hot gusting winds and 39C it dried in half an hour: towels and all. While Basil set up the Engels truck fridge/freezer we purchased in town this morning, I set about cleaning the caravan. The afternoon was spent grocery shopping, defrosting the caravan fridge and freezer and packing away supplies.
Before we left home the caravan was fitted with a new air conditioner for which we were grateful during our time in South Australia. Today, like many days here the hot winds made being outside unbearable; as did the flies, did I mention the blessed flies. Most days it remained unbearably hot and windy until 8pm when the temperature dropped to 33C; still warm but it felt like a blessed reprieve.
But it wasn’t all hard slog. On the good advice of family friends (thanks S and C) we took ourselves out for dinner at the local upmarket hotel restaurant, overlooking the setting sun across the ocean. We took their recommendation of sampling the King George Whiting, a locally caught fish endemic to these waters. The meal was superb and the outlook relaxing as we paused in our travels to review our travels in the three weeks we’d been on the road.
You gotta love those information brochures and their creative licence; when you read the visitors’ centre is one of the top ten attractions of the town you know the other nine may only just be a tad more exciting. We’ve forgiven the authors for their waxed lyrics and temper their accolades of local interest with the worn cynicism of seasoned travellers across this great land. But it is a dilemma.
The small remote towns and villages have an economy to sustain and given their small populations with little through traffic they can be forgiven for having a go. As we pass through the smaller towns we try to support local campgrounds, shop locally and spend time visiting one or two of the more interesting, to us, places. Ceduna is the town at the eastern end of the long haul across the Nullarbor and therefore one at which most travellers stop, heading in either direction. It served us well and if we ever cross the Nullarbor again we will stay again.
Gratitude Moments:
- That we had planned our menu before leaving Ceduna
- For the great campsite with privacy screens and trees at our campsite
- That all our laundry was dry within minutes of hanging out
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2020 is the eleventh year – and my fifth year – in which thousands of bloggers participate in the A to Z Blog Challenge during April. I am combining this post as part of that challenge as a continuation of recording the 2nd Stage of our Oz Road Trip.
QP and Eye 