Chris n Shirley's 2025 WA Trip: Chapter 2

Day 1 – Thursday 29 May – Home to Horsham - 330 km

All items on a multi-page checklist were marked off, the two fridges were filled with enough food for a small army, neighbours were hugged and kissed, and the cat was sent to the kennel - or it would have if we had one.

Double checks were double checked.

We looked at each other and said "Yep, let's go". And we did.

It was 10:30 am as we pulled away from the kerb, and about an hour later when we stopped for coffee. It was an excellent coffee, just off the Western Freeway.

Ballarat was bypassed and we stopped for homemade corned beef rolls for lunch at Beaufort. Well, the corned beef was home cooked last night and the rolls were bought at a bakery that had great looking pies.

The driving conditions were ideal - dry, sunny, no wind - so we pressed on to Horsham and camped beside the Wimmera River.

My first photo of the trip was of the Ballarat Silo Art. However the sun was in the wrong spot so I will try again in the morning.

There is a lovely park beside the Wimmera River that had some great art pieces - included below.

Art. Say no more.

We thought that this was a bit 'fishy'

First Kookaburra of the Trip

Shirley conjured up some spag for dinner while I sat back and relaxed. Life is all about sharing. By 8pm it was down to 8 degrees.

Day 2 – Friday 30 May – Horsham to Tailem Bend - 360 km

It was a chilly 2 degree start to the day, and a 9am departure from our spot for the night. Diesel was the first priority and silo art was the next - with a better photo than from last night.

Horsham Silo Art

Our next stop was not far away at Arkona, 10 km north of Dimboola.

Arkona Silo Art

While on an art theme we stopped for some street art in Dimboola.

Street art in Dimboola

Onwards we pressed. Shirley wanted a photo at Pink Lake so I obliged.

Shirley inspecting the pink 'stuff' at Pink Lake

We pressed on to Kaniva for more silo art and some psychedelic sheep.

Kaniva Silo Art

Not much wool from these sheep

We stopped in Bordertown and bought some great rolls then stopped in Keith and ate them. By this time we were devoid of all fruit and veggies, courtesy of cross-border regulations.

A stop then occurred in Tintinara to get some advice on a sick battery in the caravan. More on that tomorrow.

Coonalpyn was another silo art installation but that had been previously done and dusted - so on we pressed. Click here if you want to see those earlier exploits from 2019.

Tailem Bend was the stop for the night, 100 metres from the great Murray River.

Murray River from near the caravan

Shank and veggie soup, and sourdough roll, was the main menu item for dinner, as the temperature headed south of 11 degrees.

Day 3 – Saturday 31 May – Tailem Bend to Port Broughton - 285 km

Yesterday it was a very chilly start to the day. Today it was downright icy cold with a pea-soup fog. Our departure at 8:30 am was dictated by the need to drive 30 km by 9am to invest serious holiday $ into a new deep-cycle battery for the caravan. The existing battery picked a poor time to call it a day.

The guys at Bridge Batteries in Murray Bridge were excellent and had us on our way again in 25 minutes.

The rest of the day (except for about 10 km) was on roads that we had never driven before. The first section had had us weaving through the hills and passing through pretty little towns like Palmer, Tungkillo, Mount Pleasant & Williamstown. There was plenty of gum trees along the way, many overhanging the road.

A sample of the road before lunch

We stopped for a coffee at Gawler and bought some fruit.

Soon after we moved into grain growing country and the gum trees disappeared. We stopped at Owen and admired the beer-label mural and silo art, the latter recognising the role of wheat bags in both country life and war - one filled with grain and one filled with sand.

Above - Beer label mural at Owen
Below - Owen Silo Art

We then happened on another example of silo art in the small grain town of Bute, after passing through Balaklava and Lochleil.

This photo does not do justice to the magnificent wrap-around mural

By 3pm we had camp established at Port Broughton, about 100 metres from the estuarine beach. It was around 20 degrees. Within 20 minutes I had loaned my cordless drill to a neighbour who unwisely tried to tackle the Oodnadatta Track - but only for 20 km.

A walk on our first beach of the trip was in order [Beach 1, Walks 1].

After a drive around town I was able to get a sunset photo from a similar spot to the above photo, aiming a bit to the left/south.

Shirley made it 3 from 3 - dinner was stew and rice. I just sat there, shiraz in hand.

Just under 1000 km in 3 days - it is time for a rest. We have had three days of very good driving conditions. Time to smell some roses.

Day 4 – Sunday 1 June – Port Broughton

And on the fourth day they rested. The first day of winter was scheduled as a quiet & restful day with a need to catch up on some exercises - lest a bolt of lightening cause us much grief.

As the clock headed towards 8:30 (9am in Victoria) the only noises were sleep noises from Shirley's bed and water running into the waste 'trap' from a neighbours caravan. It was around 10 degrees.

By 10:30 showers, breakfast and exercises were done. It was hard work turning the caravan into a two-person gym - but we got there. Not sure how we will go on wet days.

We headed to the jetty and took some photos of the local rays, which I believe are "Southern Fiddler Rays". We saw maybe 8 or 9 rays from around 600 mm to over one metre.

Above & Below: Southern Fiddler Rays

Shirley & Chris on the Port Broughton Jetty

Some lunch, some relaxation, some planning, then a 3 km beach walk. [Beach 1, Walk 2]

Then more relaxation.

We had dinner at the Port Broughton Hotel, the first part of which was constructed in 1870. It is an impressive building. We both had seafood and jointly had local garfish, prawns, flathead and squid. It was excellent.

Port Broughton Hotel

Day 5 – Monday 2 June – Port Broughton to Cowell - 380 km

The birthday girl had a sleep in after her early birthday dinner last night. Our departure was around 9 am.

Not long after that we stopped at Port Germain, because we have never been there. It is a small town and has the longest wooden jetty in Australia - 1680 metres long. It was closed so that saved some exercise.

Port Germain - Longest Wooden Jetty in Australia

Beside the jetty is a pre-loved 'tide indicator' that was used by mariners in days gone by to see the current height of the tide. It used cables and pulley and maybe smoke and mirrors. Technology made it obsolete.

Port Germain - Tide Indicator

We had a cuppa and then moved through Port Augusta and down the west side of Spencer's Gulf. The scenery was uninspiring but the driving conditions were superb.

Scrubby scenery south of Port Augusta

We stopped at Whyalla for a birthday lunch of pastie (Shirley) pie (Chris) and vanilla slice. They were all superb.

Birthday Lunch for Shirley

We had been advised to stop at Lucky Bay, so we did. It was lucky that we had not booked there for the night as we were less than impressed. Still, we had our third walk on a beach [Beach 2, Walk 3].