Given that it 380km from Onslow to Exmouth we decided to break the drive up with an overnighter at the Nanutarra Roadhouse, which is an easy 125km from Onslow and situated beside the bridge at Nanutarra. We got there fairly early and had our choice of sites so we snaffled the easiest, flattest site and hooked up to get the air-conditioner on as quickly as possible.

There’s not much at Nanutarra other than the roadhouse and the bridge(s) over the Ashburton River that we visited back at the Old Onslow ruins. So we hunkered down in the cool of the van’s air-conditioning and had a lazy day resting up before the drive to Exmouth the following day.

Towards sunset we wandered down to the bridge(s) to watch the sunset before dinner at the roadhouse. Whilst it wasn’t blowing a gale the wind was strong and constant but the views were stunning. I say bridge(s) because there is an old and new bridge at Nanutarra. The old traffic bridge has been retained as a viewing platform over the Ashburton River and has a cute little shade structure with a seat beneath it for those who want to just sit and take in the views.

Whilst the river itself is fairly shallow it did have a reasonable amount of water in it. The steep bank on the roadhouse side was tree-lined and the bank on shallow side was lined with boulders sitting on a red sand base. With the bridge being quite high we were treated to a stunning landscape especially with the golden light of the setting sun.

A ghost gum on the roadhouse side provided a photo reminiscent of an Albert Namatjira lanscape painting… albeit nowhere near the Northern Territory. The wind seemed quite fitting as we stood there on the bridge and we braved it until the sun dipped over the horizon. Then back to the roadhouse for some roadhouse cuisine before a quiet night to rest up for the 250km drive to Exmouth the next day.