The wonders of Wikicamps never cease to amaze! (for those not in the know, Wikicamps is an incredible free app that has real time reviews from campers who rate free and paid accommodation) Here's a sheep and grain farm in the middle of nowhere offering accommodation (with showers and camp kitchen) to weary Nullarbor travellers. They don't advertise anywhere but have a regular stream of 'clients' who generously spread their kind words to others in cyberspace, creating a little income and lots of fireside chats. Poggy and Debbie (farm owners) were gracious hosts and entertained the kids for hours with tall tales and a tour of their working shearing sheds.
Their story was one of typical outback resilience. A fourth generation farmer on the family farm, Poggy was staring down the barrel of bankruptcy in the 80's. He convinced the banks to 'give him a fair go' and made some changes to what and how they farmed. Fast forward 30 years and they are "doin' alright now". Somewhat of an understatement if you believe even half of what he told us about the myriad of activities he juggles across his 50,000 acres.
Water is such a precious resource in these parts so although they offered showers, they couldn't supply fresh water to refill our tanks so we moved on after a day - ever mindful of our need to ration our supplies from Ceduna to Norseman.
I have definitely flagged it as somewhere to visit again. The Nullarbor is full of fascinating and interesting places (totally unexpected but rather exciting). Using the knowledge of locals to explore the diversity and beauty of this place would be well worth another trip. Just spending time with the local characters would be the making of a truely outback adventure!
PS - we made a friend in Ceduna who decided to come with us to the farm...see the picture below. He was as big as Michael's palm. The kids were a little hysterical when they saw it but Michael bravely 'rescued' it from the screams and let it run free amongst the sheep.
From left to right
farm relics of a bygone era
the kids feeding the friendly ponies
Jesse trying his hardest to pull the old wagon
Coorabie farm's reliable weather forecaster
the kids being 'herded' up the sheep run
our new friend from Ceduna...we decided he'd be happier staying at the farm!