Nullabor Adventures

Here is a photo I lifted of the internet...........no idea who took it...looks to be early 60's of Ivy Tanks Road House.



I have another photo that I will include in my next 'adventure'

G'day Werk, those photos would be about a decade or more earlier than when I went across for the first time, but yes, there is a similar look about that country.

That old Vanguard coming out from the right, is the same type of car I learn to drive in.

regards greenie [smiley=vrolijk_1.gif]

Here is some of Christie's Ford and Inter out there in about 1955














Colin

There was an article on those badges some where previous

G'day Dazza
I called in at Ivy tanks last year ,the new road bypasses the tanks now the only thing left standing at the site is the tree in front of the tarped semi pointing east towards the left of the photo.
Over the back the wrecked car yard still has some interesting old stuff in it including a Hudson and a rag top Morris Minor with a good frame

Oldbob 70

Hi Oldbob

Yeah I Googled the OLD EYRE HWY and found the site of the old Ivy Tanks (Google Ref -31.260412,131.294695) ..........you can see the car wrecks out the back.
Did you get a Permit to get there............Ive have rung the Indiginous people that control the area several times and and no ones answered.
The road also goes into the Old Koonalda(Google Ref -31.45611,129.858393).......the homestead has been restored and you can camp there if you get a Permit from the Parks people in Ceduna. This is not Indiginous Land. there are car wrecks there too.........quite a few photos on the net too.
I am driving over to Perth in about 10 days time and coming back early Nov..........unfortunately I will only have enough time to visit one of them.

geoffb this was the article

users.picknowl.com.au/~gloaming_agnet/gurneys.html

G'day Dazza
you should be able to visit Koonalda and Ivy tanks no hassel on the way back from WA
Koonalda is not far off the bitumen coast road east of Eucla.
Ivy tanks is best approached on the old dirt road east of Nullarbour homestead...have a look around then continue on east... on the dirt to Yalata to rejoin the Eyre Highway
[ going east to west you will get lost trying to find your way out of Yalata]
We never had permits
Yalata has/had admin problems and is often closed so don't depend on it for fuel.
PM me if you want further info on Phone.

Oldbob70

Back in 1956 I had a bit of an adventure on the Nullarbor.

My dad was State sales manager for Standard Cars at Mortlock Motors in Perth and decided to drive to Melbourne for the Xmas holidays. What did he choose, a nice comfortable Vanguard? No he decided to take the runt of the litter the little Standard 8.

The Standard 8 is reputedly a four seater but in our case, as you will see only had one door. To make matters worse the Poms decided to save money by providing no boot lid, so to put things in the back you had to fold down the back seat and crawl into the car to get at the boot.

This actually was quite good for our trip as Dad removed the back seat entirely, stacked our bags on the floor and put a light mattress over the lot extending into the boot. Here was the travelling section for me (9 years old), my 8 year old sister and Bonnie, our well fed Labrador!

The car was equipped with a roof rack which was loaded like one of those Sahara trucks, a spotlight in case there was a really slow wombat unable to get out of our way before we arrived at the scene and of course the canvas waterbag.

The trip to Melbourne was uneventful although very dusty. We soon had only the driver's door to enter and exit as Dad taped up the passenger's door in a futile attempt to keep out the dust. When the Poms tested the Standard 8 on leafy English lanes it did not cross their minds some colonials would actually be taking this thing off made roads.

The sliding windows gave no relief from the 45 degree heat and after Dad hit his fingers on the blades of the fantastic after-market hot air stirrer attached to the dash, he ripped it out by the roots and flung it out the window.

About 5 days in Melbourne (more than enough for most people) we headed west again. The bitumen only went to Port Augusta and did not start until Kalgoorlie. In those days the road was truly a remote adventure and in summer half a dozen vehicles a day going past was not unusual.

The little overloaded car plugged on, disappearing into bulldust holes and sending us deaf with bangs and rattles. Standard had saved money by providing absolutely zero insulation or even door trims on the Standard 8.

For some reason Dad decided to get an oil change at Nullarbor station by the "mechanic" in his dirt floor tin shed. About 30 miles west the engine started to make a noise and we discovered the mechanic had not done up the sump plug.

Dad cut a stick and with a bit of rag blocked the hole and Mum came up with about 2 litres of cooking oil. At walking pace we returned to Nullabor where a bolt with the right thread was found to replace the plug.

Off we went with the bearings making ever increasing noise. In the interests of saving the engine our speed was dropped from 30 miles an hour to 20, making it a long trip.

By the time we got to Kalgoorlie the car was stuffed so Dad called into the Standard dealer who gave us a new vehicle to take on to Perth.

No doubt he washed the Standard 8 and sold it to an old lady as a lightly used demonstrator, explaining the sound of a machine gun under the bonnet was the latest mechanical advance in engineering.

This is Nullarbor Homestead. You might note our Labrador hanging out the window checking the local hound. You can also see the tape on the doors and even on the body seams which were not dust-proof either.

This is me at Ceduna. The hubcaps were not removed - you had to pay extra if you wanted them on a Standard 8. The sun visor was certainly a paid extra.

The rest of the crew "somewhere on the Nullarbor" A bit blurred as I had not mastered my Brownie box camera.

Lang

I went across to Kalgoorlie by train in about !962 or 63 and was met by an old school mate whose family had a couple of Stations South of Meekathara. After a scenic drive down Hay St we set off North, had a camp along the way and arrived at their place. I still remember the family's delight at the 1/2 cases of tomatoes and fruit we brought with us from Kalgoorlie, something us Southerners take for granted. It rained while I was there, and with nothing else to do my mate took the SWB Landrover out for a run and drove into pooled water and bogged it just for fun. We spent most of that day cutting wood to build a track to get it out again.
After a couple of weeks his Father and I left the Station to head back to S.A. where his Mother lived. Out on the Nullabor the first bit was good as they had been sealing it from the W.A. side. When we came to the unsealed section it was corrugations and bull-dust holes(some of the big ones had branches or other warning things to stay clear). The rain at the Station had also gone across the Nullabor, so there were plenty of places with water laying. In these places the traffic had headed into the bush for a detour, and in some place there were detours around detours.
We carried pretty much everything we needed, and only bought fuel. At each stop my mate's 'bushie' Father would light a fire, boil the billy, bring out some food from home or cook up some tucker. Sleeping was in old style swags, not the fancy ones you can buy today. I was a teenager at that time, and the memory of that adventure is still an enjoyable one.
Interesting that the house they lived in on the Station is now a big hole in the ground. They were living on a gold deposit and didn't know it.