Day 5 – Eucla to Balladonia

Guest bloggers Karen and Sharon for this day. Sorry we were all too tired to blog last night. On reflection today we are struggling to know why we were so tired but it may be as simple as how much talking we are doing. We have a lot of years to catch up on. If you have ever played cricket or golf with us there is every chance you have been the topic of conversation!

The start of the day had Tammy emerge in an old Richmond rugby jumper that we all used to wear when playing cricket for Richmond. We also jumped in a boat with a big Moby Dick chasing us.

We left Eucla, headed for Balladonia, looking forward to driving along the straightest stretch of road in Australia. On our to do/see list today was a beer at Cocklebiddy and the elusive, live wombat. Our first encounter of the weirdest kind was the herd of cattle crossing in front of us on the road and then crossing in front of the green we were playing. How rude they didn’t ask us to play through.

The beer was had at the very classy Cocklebiddy Hotel. The artwork displayed may have said it all. If you are over 18 and would like a photo of the phallic tree stump on display, please submit your request.

We got very excited when Shaz at the wheel realised she was turning the wheel for the first time in two hours, following the straight stretch of highway.

We arrived at our destination, Balladonia, in need of a coffee and chocolate. Despite us being the only customers in the roadhouse with hundreds of kilometres between us and the next customers, the French man serving us still announced our drinks as “Number 6” and we were stupid enough to look around before claiming our drinks.

Tam didn’t have much luck with gluten free choices at the Balladonia Roadhouse even after her interrogation of the chef. He was so scared of Tam by the end of her interrogation he was not prepared to say yes or no to whether there was gluten in the meals she was asking about.

Shaz stuck to cider and Kaz stuck to beer as the “classic white” was too much of a risk. At least the sculpture was a step up from the R rated Cocklebiddy, with a piece of Skylab on display. It hit Balladonia in 1972 putting it on the map.

At our accomodation we had a greater sense of other travellers as we had at other roadhouses as it was such a beautiful evening. Many of us were sitting outside our rooms. This beautiful evening followed quite a warm day and we are all a bit sunburnt but we could not afford the sunscreen on sale in the Roadhouse at $24 a tube.

Thanks Tam, for letting us be guest bloggers.

Kaz and Shaz.

PS – Still no wombat.