Driving north, the distant plume of smoke on the horizon began to grow, turning that dark grey that could only mean one thing…… Bushfire!. But it’s not uncommon up here, where the Milli Milli grow, and the outside temp is currently 45°C. The bitumen is quietly melting as we drive onwards, with the road so straight that the smoke seems ages away and then….suddenly…it’s there, right beside us, snatching at the scrub, twisting and turning looking for it’s next small snack.

But this seems like a planned burn, designed to reduce the fuel load. So, it’s not too bad, and something interesting to witness as we trundle on. But, we do keep an eye out for critters of the furry, the feathered, and the scaled kind as they get attracted to, or try to escape from, the flames. Surprisingly, we saw none.

Then the road veers inland away from the coast and it’s cooling breeze, so for lunch we snuggle up in what shade we can find under a tree, whilst munching on apple, cheese vegemite and peanut butter crackers…no cooking in here today, then it’s back on the road.

The land we move through now is flat, salty, and dry, more suited to camels than  a French built camper van…even with air-conditioning going flat out… but hey, we knew it was going to be getting hot, and still, the road stretches on.