The Great Australian Bight (Nullarbor, Cactus, Streaky Bay and Nelson)

We booked the car in for a service in Esperance before we crossed the Nullarbor. Unfortunately the mechanics found a coolant leak in a screw at the back of the engine. It is relatively simple to fix, simply unscrew, add some sealant and screw it back up. However, it's in a really difficult spot to access. There's just a couple centimetres in between the back of the engine and the firewall.

Added to this it had happened about 12 months ago and it didn't get fixed properly. The previous mechanic in Noosa cross threaded the screw as they put it back in. This necessitated that the whole engine be taken out so they could rethread it and put it back in so it seals properly. In the end it held us up an extra four days in Esperance and cost us an extra 26hrs labour at the mechanics. The mechanics in Esperance were good to deal with and worked over the weekend to get it fixed for us as soon as possible and ensured in was done properly.

During the extra couple of days we were in Esperance there was a festival and skate comp on the foreshore. We also went to the races so there was plenty to do to fill in the time.

As soon as the car was fixed we packed up and headed across the Nullarbor. We were looking forward to a road house bain-marie crawl (you can't take fresh vegetables across the WA/SA border) but every where we stopped they were empty, not a dim sim, potato cake, wing ding or chiko roll to be found anywhere!

We chanced upon a ripper audio book called Castaway by Robert Macklin to keep us entertained on the drive. Its a true story about a French teenager castaway who lived with an indigenous community for 17yrs in Cape York around the 1870s. We highly recommend it!

After two days of dimmy disappointment we rolled into Cactus- SA's classic surf camp. A lovely campsite and some great waves greeted us. There's also some spectacular coastal scenery here and Nada managed to pick up a squid on the nearby pier. We moved onto Streaky Bay where we had some hot weather and picked up some more waves. Streaky is a lovely little town with some spectacular coastal scenery in the area. It was good to catch up with Kerrie's cousin Kimberley, her husband Shaun and the kids. They came over from Kimba to spend the day at the beach.

From Streaky Bay we did a big days drive across to Nelson, Victoria. We had intended to spend more time in SA but the hold up with the car and a grim weather forecast for the next few days spurred us on. In Nelson we stayed in Nada's brothers fishing shack. We were glad to have a solid roof over our heads and a pot belly heater after 6 months under canvas as the weather was filthy. Heavy rain, gale winds, max temp of 10 degrees but felt like 4! A good old fashioned winter style southern ocean low pressure system from Antarctica. A friendly reminder of why we live QLD? After this passed we headed over to Warrnambool for the Christmas and New Years festivities with family and friends and to meet our new nephew, Jack.

Overall the trip has been a great opportunity to spend an extended time experiencing the vastly diverse and spectacular landscapes of our great country. We have also met some lovely people along the way. People have been asking what our favourite part of the trip is and at the risk of sounding corny - its just spending quality time together (and not working haha).