This is the road closure sign when we finished the Hyden Norsman Road. When we were planning to take this route we always said we would take advice about the conditions and not travel this way if there was heavy rain. We rang the Visitor Centre before we left and there was no warning about heavy rain. The weather forecast was mixed, some rain in some areas, none in others, and it wasn’t clear where exactly we were.

When we were leaving the Breakaways this morning although there were small puddles there weren’t any extra muddy pools where other vehicles had left. So, we weren’t prepared for the next 50 kms to be muddy. It was raining as well, though not heavily, and I guess we weren’t in any danger, but the condition of our Sherwood towards the end shows just how much mud we went through. I had to concentrate very hard as we still had the usual corrugations to deal with and felt them more than the on first day due to having to drive more slowly.

However, after the 50 kms the road condition did improve. The road wasn’t as wet and was firmer. So, we were a bit surprised to find the road had been closed. We had seen a few cars coming from the Norseman direction. We saw a car and caravan on the side of the road and are still not sure if the driver meant to drive into the ditch due to mechanical problems or because he slid off the road. It was when the road was firmer, so it would have been strange if it had been accidental. There was another car with them so we didn’t feel the need to stop.

We stopped a couple of times on the journey, once for coffee and once for lunch. It was at the later stop when driving conditions had improved that we saw the state of the Sherwood. Awful!

This is what our back window looked like from the inside and I quite like the effect of the patterns. We’ve been able to do a bit of a washdown here in Norseman, but I don’t know if we will be able to get rid of it all.

At Norseman you are advised to fill up with water for the journey across the Nullabour. Of course, the Visitor Centre was closed by the time we arrived so we couldn’t get tokens for filling up. They won’t open again until Monday morning. We asked at the supermarket and they had two tokens, all we needed, but they were the last two tokens they had, and I felt a bit guilty. Each is for 60 litres, and if we can’t use all of the water the next person who comes to fill up gets on a bonus.

Fortunately the dump point is free and we used the hose to do a bit of a preliminary cleanup. Our rear vision camera is now clear enough to see what’s behind.

The free RV camp was full by the time we got here, but another camper let us share their pitch. Caravans need a wide bay for the van and car, but vans only take up half. We feel tired by the day of driving, only about 160kms, but we needed to concentrate all of the time.

An Easter Saturday to remember.

Two trucks shared our parking bay with us on Thursday night, one of them running the engine all night. It wasn’t as bad as you’d think. The constant noise wasn’t disturbing and we slept well. We woke up to a bright, sunny morning and felt good about heading off towards our next destination.

The gravel road was mostly an easy drive and we travelled at just under 80kms an hour most of the time. We stopped at the various wayside markers along the way, which made for quite nice little breaks to get out in the sunshine and take a break from the bumps.

We arrived here at the Breakaways at about midday. First off, we had a cup of tea near the entrance, then drove around to find a flat spot. We settled on a sandy area away from the cliffs. There was a deep, muddy hole in the main part, but all cars had taken a chicken track beside it, so we did too. By evening we counted about seven people here, including us, but we a dispersed enough to have a sense of privacy.

I set up the Starlink fairly close to us and after a couple of hours of up and down internet access I realised that it really did need to be moved. The next spot I chose was behind the Sherwood where no one would drive, but beyond the small trees. That worked really well and we had good internet for the rest of the day.

In the evening just before sunset we took a walk over to take photos of the beautiful ‘breakaways’. Nowhere near as spectacular as Wave Rock in Hyden, they are nevertheless special because of the colouring.

We had a few drops of rain and the forecast was for some rain in our region, but we were still not expecting how wet it was overnight. Our gas bottle ran out at about 9.00 p.m. and Stephen had to get out to do the changeover. I decided to bring the Starlink in for the night, I was worried about some small animal chewing the cord, or something. Later I was so glad I had because the rain came in and has persisted until this morning. A sandy patch behind us is now a small pond.

One of our neighbours had asked us about the weather forecast because he was worried about his chosen campsite. To me it looks like the centre of a shallow lake. We are a bit higher than that, but could still get flooded out if the rain was very heavy. I wasn’t able to give him a good answer, other than rain was forecast, but the forecast area is so large that it’s hard to know if it will rain in your particular area.

We have woken up to a grey morning, with the sound of rain on the Sherwood. It’s quite loud, though it doesn’t appear to be really heavy rain when you look out of the window. No one has driven off in a hurry because of the wet, so I guess we are OK to wait and have breakfast.

So, that was our Good Friday and I hope you have a peaceful and interesting day as well.

Dishy is off in the bush, but you can see the cord.