After being delayed several times by unanticipated events, Pam and I finally left Perth at nine o'clock on the morning of Saturday, 4th December 2004, towing our caravan. Our initial destination was Ceduna in South Australia, and after that . . . who knows? On that first day we drove for ten hours before camping at dusk at a picnic spot twenty kilometres outside Norseman. By the time supper was ready it was quite dark, but still warm enough to sit outside and eat. It was very quiet out there under the stars until Pam jumped up and, pointing behind me, exclaimed "What's that?" Three bright lights were approaching quickly through the trees almost directly towards us. Next second a big freight train roared past. In the poor light we hadn't realised that we had camped right beside a railway line.

That night our sleep was interrupted by road trains on one side of us and railway trains on the other, so we were up by 05:00 and soon heading east on the Eyre Highway. The driving was easy but we had to watch approaching trucks and road trains as the highway was narrow and their closing speed was around 200 k.p.h. There was scarcely a metre's clearance as they passed and several times their bow waves left our mirror extension hanging off. We finally found a way to attach it safely and it didn't happen again.

On previous caravan trips we had discovered that caravanners, being friendly people, wave to one another when they pass on the road. We had learned to do that. On the Eyre Highway we found that most drivers gave a little wave as they passed us. We studied this wave carefully so that we could do it right and be 'one of them'. The right hand is draped over the top of the steering wheel, not really holding the wheel but just resting there - there isn't a lot of steering to be done on the Eyre Highway. As a vehicle approaches in the opposite direction the index finger is slowly raised, still bent, to about 45°. And that's it! We practised this carefully. It gave us something to do as the long hours passed, and it was the only exercise we got. Some drivers didn't wave back but we weren't too offended. We'd done the right thing and that was what counted.

That night we again camped by the roadside. We'd put 1,450 kilometres behind us and we were shattered - but not too shattered to spend a little time marvelling at the night sky. Until you've gazed at a clear, night sky with no city lights within a thousand kilometres you can have no idea how many stars are up there. There's bloody millions!

The flimsy little white box on the left is our 'big' caravan!

If our drive to Ceduna did nothing else, it made us appreciate the truckies, the men who drive the road trains across the continent and back. Those rigs are just enormous. We thought our caravan was big until we parked next to the two refrigerated trucks in the picture. That flimsy little white box on the left is us! Those trucks have 42 tyres (not counting the spares) - all but the front wheels are in pairs.

And talking of tyres, take a look at these on the truck in the picture on the left.

What do you reckon they would fit? And how much would they cost? You wouldn't want to get a puncture and have to change one of those on the roadside. We saw this at the Nullarbor Roadhouse where we camped on the third night. The roadhouse had a restaurant so we decided to treat ourselves and have dinner there. When we found we were the only diners we got a bit worried - not a good sign. But then, being hundreds of miles from anywhere, it's not really the sort of place where you'd hold the company's Christmas bash. As it turned out the meal was really excellent - as were the two bottles of wine that went with it. However, a certain little lady was not going to be satisfied with just two bottles, she tried to refill one bottle as the picture shows. Perhaps it was just as well the restaurant was empty! We are quite used to seeing signs along the highway warning us of the danger of kangaroos on the road, but along the Eyre Highway we saw signs warning us of emus, wombats and even camels on the road! Fortunately we didn't see any camels, dead or alive, though we saw many, many dead kangaroos and a dead emu. We also saw a dead snake with a wedgetail eagle feeding on the remains. Waste not, want not.

Another unusual sign we came across a few times warned us that a stretch of the road on which we were travelling was an emergency landing strip for Royal Flying Doctor Service aircraft - one such sign is pictured below. But why not? The road is straight enough and wide enough. Beats waiting twelve hours for the nearest ambulance if there's an accident. What we did find rather disconcerting was that there was a "Road Narrows" sign on the right hand verge at around the point where an aircraft would touch down. So unless the R.F.D.S. aircraft had very high wings or a very alert pilot, it would stand a good chance of losing a wing tip at the very least. If you look carefully at the photo (below right) you can just about make out the white 'piano key' markings on the highway signifying the runway threshold.

The Eyre Highway almost clips the coast where it runs adjacent to the Great Australia Bight. Along that stretch there are a succession of lookout points where you can walk right to the edge of the unfenced cliffs and look down at the waves of the Southern Ocean crashing against the rocks far below. It's about then that you notice just how undercut the next cliff is and realise what might be underneath you. Or rather, what might not be underneath you!