Day 16 (November 18)
Road sign outside of Norseman. Such a long way to go!
Today we began the next big phase of the trip – the Eyre Highway. Also known as Highway 1, this is the only road that goes all the way across the southern part of Australia. The Nullarbor Plain segment of it stretches about 1200 km from Norseman in the west to Ceduna in the east. Approximately half of that distance crosses the treeless Nullarbor Plain.
We got a 6:30 am start in Norseman and stopped at the gas station at the start of the Eyre Highway to refill the fuel bottle for our camp stove. It’s a little 1/2 liter bottle, and the three gas station employees had quite a laugh at me dispensing 37 cents worth of gasoline (they don’t have pennies in Australia, so the total was rounded up to 40 cents). In all likelihood, it was the smallest gas sale they’ve ever had.
We then headed east on the Eyre, stopping briefly to take a photo of a road sign showing the distance to Adelaide – 1,986 kilometers. We have to cover that distance by December 10 in order to catch the train (The Ghan) to Darwin on the 11th.
Throughout the day, we had fairly favorable riding conditions. There was an occassional, slight headwind, but nothing like what we had on the Wave Rock-Norseman road. And the temperature was fairly mild – cool for several hours in the morning, followed by a moderately warm afternoon. We don’t have anything to measure the temperature with, but we estimated that the afternoon temperature was around 28-30 degrees Celsius.
A view of one of our typical roadside pullout camp sites
Our goal today was to get a bit past the halfway point between Norseman and Balladonia, a distance of 190 km. At the 100 km mark, we came across Fraser Station. It’s a former sheep ranch that has been converted to a caravan park and campground. We weren’t too keen on shelling out $30 or more for a campsite, so we instead just purchased cold drinks and ice cream bars, and got back on the road. We ended up going only 5 more kilometers (for a total of 113 km today) where we found a roadside pullout that made for a very nice free campsite for the night. It’s just Mattie and I here, and a trucker who just pulled in for the night in his three-trailer road train.
With some 1200 km between Norseman and Ceduna, we’ll be on the Eyre Highway for the next 12-13 days or so. Then it’s another 800 km to Adelaide.
Posted by Scott
Indian to Pacific 
Hello Mattie and Scott,
Thank you so much for your awesome updates. My students are enjoying reading about how your trip is going so far and some have questions for you both.
Dustin is curious to know, “What will you do if you don’t make it in time? Like when your plane leaves and you guys are still biking.”
Ryder wonders, “What makes a marsupial a marsupial (such as features and traits)? Do you see dead predators as well? and How much water do you consume a day?”
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Dustin, if we do not make our flights, then we will have to reschedule them. (Scott is saying in the background “Missing MY flights is NOT an option! So we WILL make our flights!”)
Ryder, as for marsupials, I am sure Wikipedia would do a better job anwering than I, but they do have a front “pouch” and hop on their hind legs for fast travel. I believe they are nocturnal herbivores. The only dead predators we have seen are raptors (hawks, eagles) and snakes (Australia has very few native predators). For water consumption, I drink about 1.5 to 2 gallons a day while Scott is drinking a tad less.
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