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.