Long Off

It had not occurred to me that Perth’s afternoon breeze, known as the Fremantle Doctor, famous amongst the cricket following community for disrupting the momentum of a days’ play, was not solely aimed in a narrow beam at the WACA Ground and in operation only on game days.

Surely it blows over other western sporting venues, postcodes and suburbs. Even other Local Government Areas, farming districts and mobile phone coverage regions.

Like dozens of cricketing elevens, I have been caught out by the afternoon breeze coming off the Indian Ocean. Unprepared at first, and unorganised of late, for the predictable change in conditions, I failed to adapt my game to suit the conditions. I tried to combat it head on. Bazball camping, they might call it. Parking straight on into the wind instead of square. Audaciously unfurling awnings into the breeze without first laying out the guy-ropes. Bazcamp was not going to be successful in the West.

Mergard, I c. Doctor, F b. Ocean, I 17(40)

Yours truly has experienced some wind this trip. Everyday has featured wind. It’s usually OK in the mornings but I wind up getting wind every afternoon and into the evening. It’s a wind up, this wind.

The road was like a lifeless pitch after lunch on the second day.

Straight drive

It offered no surprises: gun-barrel straight.

Straight drive

The longest straight stretch of road in Australia.

Straight drive

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Caiguna to Balladonia

Straight drive

At the famous Nullarbor Roadhouse is this old fashioned bowser and petrol station. It’s not the actual petrol pump; it’s within a fenced off area for tourists to take a photo. It’s the equivalent of all Australians telling Americans that we all ride kangaroos.

What were the skies like when you were young?

They went on forever

And the skies always had little fluffy clouds in them and, er
They were long and clear and

There were lots of stars at night
And, er, when it would rain it would all turn, it, they were beautiful
The most beautiful skies, as a matter of fact
Uh, the sunsets were
Purple and red and yellow and on fire
And the clouds would catch the colors everywhere

That’s unique, ’cause I used to look at them all the time when I was little…

With a bed of stone and sand, the ephemeral creeks of this area still support large trees and unique ecosystems. When they are not carrying water, the trees along the banks provide shade; an important commodity in its own right.