31/12/2024
WEST AUSTRALIA AND CHRISTMAS IN THE NULLARBOR, I knew Australia was complicated, but I didn't imagine it this way.
My arrival on December 7th, the Vespa cleared customs on the 8th, but we still have to wait for Biosecurity. In the meantime, just to be on the safe side, I check what needs to be done: Temporary driving permit to pick up the Vespa, Inspection (our MOT), registration of the vehicle at the Department of Transportation and finally insurance. On December 13th the Biosecurity check passes (they also open all the attached luggage), on the 16th the MOT passes and on the 17th I register and insure the Vespa. I've done everything, miscellaneous expenses (extra flight) AU$ 1,600 (no comment), at least I can finally leave.
In parallel with the formalities, I live in Perth and the surrounding areas called suburban. I sleep in Fremantle, a very pretty town in the south, old English style, a beautiful beach with a large lawn right behind it, a destination for backpackers who sleep in cars, vans, vans, the luckiest ones in campers and in fact live there. It is also an opportunity to meet Italian friends, Raffaella who came for a few months to visit her daughter and Mauro, who has lived in Perth for 11 years now. To the north of the city there are immense beaches, with the ocean that gives them that charm so different from our beaches..., then the kangaroos, lots of them.
On the 18th I leave, I decide to go along the coast, up to Esperance, three days of travel, about 1000 km, I immediately begin to understand the size of Australia, different spaces that I am not used to, I realize that it is normal to travel 200/300 km in the middle of nowhere without finding a house. It is afternoon, it is 16.00 and I still have to travel 130 km to get to where I booked, I realize that I made a mistake, too much road, too late, in the middle of a forest without meeting a car the whole way, too dangerous, I have to be more careful. Finally I arrive in Esperance which gives me the 16 km of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen in my life and I have seen so many beaches.
I can't find a place to sleep in Esperance, I head towards the next day's stop, hoping to find something, but nothing, it's already 4pm today and I have at least 100km before the next tiny town, I'm already angry with myself, here we go again. One of the few motorbikes I've seen in these days passes me, a Honda 250, he waves, I wave back, shortly after he stops and I follow him. He has a farm and in no time he invites me to sleep at his place, I follow him, 25km and we arrive at a warehouse, he leaves his motorbike and I leave the Vespa, then another 10km with the jeep. He is John Sanderson, he is 32 years old and with his father he runs three farms, two close to each other and one 300km away, which he reaches with a private plane that lands in front of the house, he says it's more comfortable and faster. I live a unique experience of hospitality and knowing him, his wife, two children and parents, I enter their world of which they open the doors to me. We go with the jeep along these endless fields to look for the 129 sheep of the sister that graze somewhere, we stop after dinner to talk and the next morning at the parents' house. It is now midday and it is time to leave, I can only thank for the help and hospitality, hoping one day to be able to reciprocate in Italy.
CHRISTMAS IN THE NULLARBOR, I finally arrive in Norseman, the town where the Nullarbor begins, a 1200 km desert area that leads out of West Australia and ends in Ceduna in South Australia. Everyone here in Australia has always tried to dissuade me from going there, too many dangers and that's why for the first time, contrary to usual, I feel particularly nervous and fearful about what I'm about to do. It's afternoon, very hot, the motel that's hosting me is deserted, there's only me and a truck driver, he fills up without skimping on the risks I'm about to face:
- Temperatures always above 40 degrees, bring water, lots of water
- Kangaroos suddenly cross the road
- Road trains, trucks with three trailers up to 49 meters long that create very strong air changes
I spend the night sleepless, they say two hot days but I can't postpone, the only place I found to sleep 640 km away is full on all the other days, I'm forced to leave anyway. It's 5.00 in the morning, the Vespa is ready with the normal luggage + 27 liters of gasoline and 9 liters of water, I enjoy a fairytale sunrise and I leave, come on we can do it, we've crossed four deserts, we'll get through this too. 640 km, 12 continuous hours of driving with stops only to get gasoline when possible or to top it up from the cans. The stops are very quick, I don't know why but flies attack me in droves. The temperature rises to 41 degrees, deserted road, hours go by without crossing or seeing me passed by another vehicle, I don't want to think about the possibility of a problem with the Vespa. It's 5:00 p.m., the temperature starts to drop, at 6:00 p.m. I arrive at the road house in Mundrabilla where I booked to sleep, the room is ok, I'm exhausted and I don't even have dinner. The Vespa is in the room with me, I'm more relaxed. At 8:00 p.m. I'm already asleep, I set the alarm for 3:30 in the morning
Today only 560 km, at 4.00 I'm already on the road, enjoying the second sunrise in two days. After an hour the time zone changes, 1 hour and 45 minutes ahead, damn all that time less. I find the first road house closed, today is Christmas, I continue to the second which luckily is open. I feel that it is warmer, too much, at 12.00 it is 42 degrees, I stop at the Nullarbor road house and I am worried, too hot, the tires will not hold. I cannot stop, I still have 300 km before arriving in Ceduna, no less than 6 or 7 hours. I decide to set off again but I lower the speed from 60 to 50 km/h, to reduce the heating of the engine and tires. The temperature continues to rise, I am very worried about a failure, how can the tires resist at this temperature. I open the last bottle of water of the 6 I brought, I have drained them all. At 6:00 pm it is still 42 degrees but I only have 60 km to go. I arrive in Ceduna, it is 7:30 pm, after many road houses in the middle of nowhere I find a “normal” village, I stop where I booked, I drop everything and go to bed, my head is exploding but I am happy and relieved, I made it, I crossed the Nullarbor desert in just two days.
The Vespa, very large, no sign of failure in the engine or even the tires, with the wind always against it it has consumed quite a bit, 21.5 km/l, I would say that is fine like this.
The adventure continues, in South Australia.
