J18.33 Ceduna to Balladonia

This post is part of a series called Journey 18 ● PolArt 2015

Today’s drive was rather daunting: forecast weather of thunderstorms with potential for hail, flash flooding and strong winds, add to that the task of driving almost 1000km to check-in by sunset in Balladonia before the kangaroos start hopping around.

Thankfully the weather out of Ceduna held back and was partly cloudy till crossing into Western Australia after Border Village,where the blue skies opened up.

Before that though, I made sure to visit a few lookouts along the Great Australian Bight where the Bunda Cliffs meet with the Southern Ocean and in a stroke of genius and by coincidence, the westbound shuffle through time zones worked to my advantage to reach Balladonia in good time.

The lookouts at Head of Bight are privately managed and worth visiting for a small entry fee, though the free lookouts further west are just as great.

Today was also the longest day of driving and longest stretch between fillups so I finally made full use of those fuel jerry cans before filling up with premium-priced V-Power at $1.87/L. Not to be outdone, Balladonia BP are charging $1.899/L which from memory is the highest price paid on this roadtrip.

I briefly stopped by the Caiguna Blowhole but with my typical luck, there was no show for me today! Caiguna also marks the western end of the Ninety-Mile Straight, but the novelty of Australia’s longest straight stretch of tarmac was lost on me while first battling with direct light from the setting sun then a hard-hitting thunderstorm and aquaplaning that comes with flash flooding.

Those forecast storms did come and they hit hard about 60km west of Balladonia and again over the roadhouse as I type this while dinner is being prepared. I’ve always been fascinated and excited by storms, however these outback thunderstorms seem to have an epic presence impact that we don’t enjoy in the cities, as the thunder rolls on and never seems to end.

Glad I made it here in one piece, with the plan of spending more time tomorrow exploring a region that’s well regarded by West-Aussies for weekend getaways. More to come tomorrow!