Our final stint to Perth & our longest drive yet - 910km in about 10 hours, then it's time to chill :)

Up at at 5.30am to cloudy skies & coolness which should make driving a bit easier although there is something lovely about sticking your head out of the window and feeling hot wind in your face (or maybe that's just me!) Yesterday we didn't use the aircon once through the desert as we wanted to 'feel' it properly & not just watch it passing by from a cool box & it was an amazing experience even though I arrived here with a heat rash & a mass of dreadlocks that would have made Bob Marleys eyes turn green :)

Set off at 7.30am after 2 video calls with good friends from home - the ability to communicate so clearly with people the other side of the world never ceases to amaze me - technology really is fantastic sometimes!

The landscape remained the same for a hundred kilometres or so with the bush stretching as far as the eye can see.

A view I've become very familiar with & have grown to love; the feeling of being in the middle of nowhere, miles from civilisation is liberating :)

Fly heaven - this actually makes it look more appealing than it was.

Stopped at a loo stop to conserve our van water & this one is typical of a desert 'dunnie' - a gaping hole with a loo seat on top. I wanted to stay longer to read all of the witty anecdotes on the back of the door (& maybe add my own) but the smell was too overpowering so I beat a hasty retreat back to the van!

I can just make out the word Strychnine....?

The nearer we got to Norseman the more red the soil; the kind of red I have always associated with Australia.

Lee had taken a selection of rocks from our site at Balladonia and just past the Norseman 50km sign, we pulled over & placed them under a tree so hopefully one day in years to come we can go back and find them still there :)

The Eyre Highway, the only road on which you could play chicken and die of boredom first :)

We were also treated to some hills & some open desert type land which I was actually expecting to see more of across the Nullarbor but there is much more vegetation there than you may think.

The nearer we got to civilisation the more reversed index fingers I was handing out but I guess the last thing people want to see on their way to work is happy waving holiday makers so I've decided to limit the waving to fellow campervanners only from now on!

Norseman where we turned right to head across country to Perth

Lake Cowan

Just can't imagine it right now (34c & rising!)

Coolgardie, first proper town in miles; reminds us of a Wild West town.

Ive been reading for the last 2 hours but we are now in Merridin and it's 38c! Stopped for something to eat & drink & to break up the monotony of this part of this massive drive! I miss the desert!!

Merredin

More innovative Aussie Christmas decs!

I asked for an iced coffee and they brought me what could only be described as a milk shake with caramel sauce & cream on top - flippin eck the way I'm going plus being parked on my backside for 8 hours a day in the van I'm not going to fit in the plane on the way home! I did spoon most of the cream off into Lees flat white tho' as I do have a modicum of self-control ;)

Back to the van & when we opened the doors it was like opening the oven door at home when I nearly singe my eyelashes on a regular basis! Driving along its 40c - The aircon is on full and I'm melting like a rubber snowman! How people can work outside in this heat is beyond me although maybe they don't and that's why we haven't seen anyone working outside...

As we get nearer to Perth the scenery is becoming much more tame & agricultural.

We're getting there..

These huge water pipes run for hundreds of miles alongside the roads all over Australia; I feel sorry for the poor devils who had to lay them!

Closer!

Monkey with a hat on sat on a tractor - why not!

Well, exactly 12 hours later, we've arrived!

Arrived safe and sound at Jamie & Claires, It was lovely to see them all again and to know that for the next few days we have a comfy bed to sleep in and a pool to swim in!

Also we arrived to a hamper from Lees cousin in Melbourne who we sadly missed, as our timings clashed with his work commitments and it's edible so we will enjoy that a lot, thanks Darren x

Not sure what's happening over Christmas but it will be lovely for Lee to spend it with Jamie for the first time in 30 years or so, so if it's spent at home or on the beach it will be great :)

We're really shattered now and are off to bed so night x