We woke in Coober Pedy to the news that Queen Elizabeth II had died and we had a new king – King Charles III. There was no television reception and I’d heard through a message from my sister in Scotland. The news filtered through the campers as they passed each other on the way to the showers. Over the following days we did see some of the pomp and ceremony online and on tv that goes along with such a momentous occasion. It was certainly something steeped in history and tradition.

Speaking of history, this is the land of the Kokatha Tribe which extends approximately 140,000 sq kms and is mostly very harsh and waterless land. Of course it was colonised and many of the roads and towns are named after the explorers and pioneers of the 1830s and beyond. For example the Eyre Peninsula after John Eyre, the city of Sturt and the flower, the Sturt Desert Pea, after Charles Sturt. (Woomera, however, translates to a rod that is used by Aboriginal people to throw a spear further!)

When we left Coober Pedy we stayed again at Woomera where we enjoyed another stunning sunset.

We continued to drive on Kokatha country heading towards the coast. On our way we stopped for lunch at Kimba on the Eyre Highway. Kimba is the half way mark across Australia but is also home to great silo art and The Big Galah.

We pulled into the showgrounds at Wudinna to camp for the night. It was quite busy with caravans probably because it was good value at $15 per night with power ($10 without power) and they had very clean amenities.

After a good sleep, we took off for a few days at Streaky Bay, a little town we had visited some years before and vowed to return to. It was lovely to see the sea again after having been in the dry and dusty outback. Everything looked very bright, clean and fresh! We pulled into Venus Bay for coffee. It was such a pretty little town right on the water.

We arrived in Streaky Bay to a forecast of cold winds and rain but we managed to dodge much of the bad weather and have a look around. The caravan park was right on the beach and the pelicans reminded us of Kalbarri. We enjoyed coffee at the bakery in town and wandered through the shops and Visitors’ Centre. John also had a look at the golf course but decided he wasn’t interested in playing in the rain. But the windy weather was a chance to catch up with laundry before starting across the Nullarbor.

One place that was ideal to visit in the wind was the ‘Whistling Rocks and Blow Holes’ which was quite spectacular with the ocean pushing up through the blow holes and making a whistling sound.

All to soon it was time to move on towards Western Australia and home.