Hi all. This is an old and well flogged subject, but we have had a really unusual experience driving west across the Nullaboor from about Echla.
Nearly all RVers waved or raised a finger (not rudely I hope) and probably about a half of those driving non RV vehicles. We even counted 7 road train drivers who waved at us.
After a couple of hours of this I stopped in a rest stop to check that the roof on or van wasn't peeling back or something else drastic.......no.......all was good.
It was an interesting and fun experience (what the hell is the WA Govt putting in the tobacco??) lol
Never had so many RVers wave at us, let along truckies and cars/SUVs and utes
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Cheers Bruce
The amazing things you see when nomading Australia
Hey Bruce ad Bev, where reyu guys tonight? We are at Dumblegoggy rest top. Leave early tomorrow , see how far we get, heading to Kal, then across to Seabird!
We wave to everyone, trucks, cars, even bikes!
hows this for a sky!
-- Edited by jules47 on Thursday 24th of September 2015 08:01:14 PM
Troopy - its just Dougies feathers have mostly fallen out of his headgear because he rode so far and fast lol
Forgot to mention the cyclists - they waved as well......that was a first - although with all those hills, flies and heat and trucks (and some of us) nearly sucking them under as we pass them - who can blame them. Normally they have both hands glued to the handlebars and looking down at the road! Reckon theyre crazy - but one hellva way to see Australia and cheap as chips. Remember early this year there was a 3-4 page post from a visitor who wanted to ride around and wanted to know the gear he should carry? The thread got stuck onto how to dispose of his waste and sizes of spades - he must have thought Australians are crazy LOL
Jules - see you've been having a crack at that guy in grey with the black eye mask - good on you!! We stayed in a CP (Sandy Bay?) one night and free camped 2 nights and spent the night at the Echla CP. Sad to see this place is going to rack and ruin. The owners are still on site, but the whole place is looking scruffy through lack of maintenance. The camp area was choka by about 5pm. In the mens only one shower had handles for the showers and one shower had no shower head on it. About half the power outlets don't work and according to wikicamps, haven't been for a few months now. Reckon there was about 30 RV's in there that night and at $25 for each and many of them with no power to access...
Off topic, huh (spend too much time talking and reading KFT and Dougwes posts). Anyway, we stopped after that in a WA free camp called Baxters Rest Stop. Good clean toilets and probably the only place in the area with no flies!! We were going to run straight through to Salmon Gums CP (a community run one for $15 pn), but spent too much time mucking around in the Norseman IGA and the fantastic café (the BEST sausage rolls Ive ever had - and the cakes aren't too bad either), so now staying the night at the Norseman CP. They don't normally do seniors discounts apparently, but a bit of flirting with the owner and she gave me a 10% discount.
And love the pic!! Our sunset last night was similar. It started off as bright yellow and then the streaky reds like your photo
So Friday off to Salmon Gums - probably do 2 nights there if its as good as others have told us, then down to Esperance. Then we cut over to the west (but not on the coastline and then north up into the wheatbelt. We're house sitting a farm there for 3 months, then another house in the city from just before Xmas until the end of January, then another which is in south Perth for 3 months. After that........who knows......we're still supposed to be building a house on an empty block we have, but not sure if we're that keen on owning yet another place with all the hassles (and bad tenants when we travel)
-- Edited by Bruce and Bev on Thursday 24th of September 2015 09:24:16 PM
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Cheers Bruce
The amazing things you see when nomading Australia
The reason you will get waves or other signs of 'mateship' for instance when crossing the Nullabor is simply our survival instinct. We tend to consider the Nullabor as a remote lonely and possibly dangerous place and for survival we appreciate and acknowledge the presence of others with the wave or other sign of 'mateship'.
Same with after a major event such as a flood , earthquake, cyclone or even witnessing the aftermath of such an event we will more freely acknowledge the presence of others around us...sort of rubbing shoulders to reassure ourselves that others are around....survival of the fittest.
We're visiting Norfolk Island in November for the third time in 5 years. Every single driver on the island waves & tourists are expected to do the same. Mind you the island is only 8kms x 5kms in size. We did 400kms in our hire car on the island in a week last time. Glad to get back on the plane to come home, we were all WAVED OUT! LOL. Back in Australia, WAVERS WE APPRECIATE YOUR FRIENDSHIP! NON-WAVERS CAN PLEASE THEMSELVES!
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Cheers Desert Dweller.
Our land abounds in Natures gifts. Of beauty rich and rare.
My experience has been that the occupants of Vans wave to vans, motor homes wave to motor homes and camp trailers wave to camp trailers until you get into remote areas and then everyone waves to one and all.
I have experienced that the majority of vans give a wave anywhere accept city areas...it is particularly noticeable on the way from Alice Springs to Port Augusta, everybody bar trucks and bikes gave a wave, more prevalent than normal.
Our experience is the more remote the more likely anyone is to wave. On real outback roads where you see very few vehicles generally everybody waves at everybody. Near cities we only ever get some caravan/motorhomes waving at us, and then its generally the older ones who are out on the road a lot.
A mate of mine reckons he's surprised at the number of passengers in vehicle that pass him want to show him their wedding ring. Why the hell does he care if they are married or not.
We wave to everyone - most times we get a wave back, even from cyclists and motorcyclists, some truck drivers, some cars as well. Have always done it, it is an acknowledgement of another person on the road, hopefully enjoying themselves as much as we do when we travel, which is constant!!!
And Troopy03 - yep, the trees were waving to me - as were the clouds!
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jules "Love is good for the human being!!" (Ben, aged 10)
Way back in the mid seventies when I was young, I did a trip to Perth from Sydney with a friend, driving in a Toyota Celica, everybody waved then too That was when it wasn't a bitumen road mainly bulldust
