Day 33, Esperance to Balladonia

Wednesday 31st August, 2011 Day 33…

Odo start, 16,584 K's

Odo end,  17,365 K's

Distance Travelled.  781 K's

Accommodation, Balladonia Roadhouse Donga $35…

I woke to a beautiful fresh morning…

I was on the bike at 7:45am, heading North. Today's plan was to visit Kalgoorlie, then double back to Norseman and finally start the Nullabor Crossing.

On the way to Norseman from Esperance, i was amazed at the scale of the trains, the grain trains were of an equivalent scale to the Mining trains of Qld and the Pilbara!

I fuelled up at Norseman at 9:40am, the bike took 20.23L @$1.59.9/L $32.35 for 317K's

I arrived at Kalgoorlie at 11:45 via Kambalda. I had a quick ride around town, then stopped for a Bundy and Coke at the Exchange Hotel…

After the refreshing drink, i ducked into the chemist for a fresh pair of earplugs, as my Zumo still wasn't working when in the cradle. Whilst in town i had to visit the "Superpit" …

Photo's don't convey the scale very well, if you look closely at the water tank near the bottom Left hand side of the pic, you will see a small white shape in front of the tanker, that is a Landcruiser!

It was now time to head South and start the trip back East. 1:20pm and it was time for a quick fuel stop at "Widgemooltha". The bike took 17.27L @ $1.67.9/L $29.00 for 290 K's

At Norseman, i turned left and finally the compass was pointing East.. I had no idea what the crossing was going to be like, The "Nullabor" translates for "Treeless Plain" but there was over 700 K's before i reached the actual Nullabor Plain..

The ride to Balladonia looked like this...

I finally arrived at Balladonia at 4:00 pm, i was debating whether to camp at the side of the road or grab a Donga, rain and a cold night forecast was enough to sway me towards the Donga, $35.00 for the night, checkout the luxury accommodation…

The bike took 16.94 L @ $1.90.1/L $32.20 for 283 K's

I had showered and was transferring photo's when i heard another bike passing, it was John on a Super Tenere, he was riding home to Perth, he had been riding in Central Aus, part of his story is here http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=712478

About an hour later another bike rolled up in the dark!! It was Steve on his new ST1300. He had just bought it from Brisbane and was riding it home to Perth. He had covered 1,500 K's for the day, riding from Port Augusta! WOW big risks..

Sunset at Balladonia...