Eucla to 10 Mile Rocks : 631kms (plus 13kms)

Sunday, 30th July.

After dinner last night, the roadhouse generator stopped and the power went off so we were in total darkness for a few minutes until another, louder generator was started.  The diesel fumes from the second generator were overpowering so Mike went for a wander around to see if we could get away from the fumes by moving to another area, but no.....so we quickly upped stakes and left, stopping at the quarantine station to surrender our 4 onions and half bottle of honey before driving across the border to Eucla, 13 kms away.  Here we found a spot beside the roadhouse, but far enough away to not even hear their generator, and settled down for a quiet, fume free night.

We left Eucla at 8.00am, almost immediately driving through the Eucla Pass and onto the first of 4 R.F.D.S. emergency strips we encountered today, three of which are located between Eucla and Madura, where we refuelled and bought coffee, then went through Madura Pass as we continued west along Eyre Highway.  Stopping at Caiguna for fuel, we also bought toasted sandwiches and....put our timepieces back another 3/4 hour, so now we are on W.A. time.  Just after leaving Caiguna the 90 mile (146.6km) Straight begins and it was on this stretch of road that I saw what I thought was an enormous kangaroo lying on the side of the road, but it was a camel!  I imagine it had been hit by one of the huge road trains that thunder along the highway, a car would have been totally wrecked!  The wildlife we've seen total two....one young dingo who stood amongst the scrub beside the road and watched us pass by and one medium sized emu going for a stroll in the bush. 

Though at one stage we appeared to be heading into some wet weather, we only had a light shower lasting about two minutes.  It's been a long day, a long drive especially as we've battled strong winds at times (hence extra topping up of fuel, our last of which today occurred at Balladonia).  On our first road trip across the country  in 1971, we stopped at Balladonia and the roadhouse toilets then were a disgrace....they still are today but we were very pleased to note that new amenities are currently being installed.

We are now at a rest area at 10 Mile Rocks, a quiet spot in the bush for our penultimate night on the road.  An early night is called for.