Day 242, Thursday, 26 November, 2009


Distance travelled –  93.8 km
Avg speed –  21.2 kph
Max speed –  40.0 kph

Cocklebiddy to Madura

A cool change came through overnight and began to blow a gale during the early hours of this morning. Previously with winds this strong we have stayed put and waited for them to calm down, but a cool change at this time of the year should bring SW winds which would help us on our way to Madura. So the first thing we checked when we woke was the direction our trailer flags were blowing and yes we had SW winds.

The country between Cocklebiddy and Madura was pretty flat and with the wind mostly behind us we were in Madura before 12.30pm, a very pleasing new record for our time in Western Australia. We spent some time discussing the option of continuing and bush camping but after checking the weather forecast we decided to stay put for the night. The forecast wind direction for the next few days is for more of the same so we could not see any advantage in doing any more kilometres today. The easterly head winds are forecast to return on Sunday after we have stopped at Border Village. Let’s hope the forecast is right!

Last night Denise had been told by one of the road workers staying at Cocklebiddy about an old camel train well which was just off the highway. Its location was coincidentally marked by a car parked permanently up a tree, but as much as we looked for the car wreck we did not find it. He had told Denise there are many of these wells along the Eyre Highway so it would have been nice to have found it.

The road was very quiet today, particularly in the east to west direction. When we got to Madura we learnt that there had been a serious crash between two road trains near Ceduna, which is 670 km, or 6 hours drive east. The roadhouses know something has happened even before they hear the news as they start to see a drop in custom.

Madura Roadhouse has the most expensive water we have paid for so far on our journey. A staggering $5.30 for 1.5 litre bottle. Prior to discovering the price we were going to buy 20 litres. They run their water through a desalination process but it does not seem to be working as the tap water still remains too salty for drinking. A cheaper option is milk at $5.25 for 1.5 litres!

Zoom into the map and use the 'Satellite' layer to see our new location.

 

 

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