The Nullabor Experience

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DAY 1 :

I begin this entry from Eucla - a town ... well more of a “property” .... about 700kms east of Norseman. I left Norseman this morning at around 7.30am, and as expected, I hit some light rain for the first hour or so on the road. Whilst not a huge amount of water, it was enough to raise a spray from the wheels of the road trains heading down the highway both east and west. Let me assure you that this does not make passing these beasts any easier - but most of the truckies are good and will flash their right indicators to specify when it is safe to pass.

I have to say that the Nullabor so far is all it was written up to be - a mind numbing drive through rocky, bushy terrain interspersed with sections of low level gum forest. None-the-less, waving at cars travelling west helped pass the time (something which I hope I will not do when I return to Sydney after having fallen into this habit upon passing into the Northern Territory some 2 months ago). Whilst I am sure that the “second half” of the Nullabor is more interesting than the first, I have to say that the most interesting things that the Nullabor has offered thus far are all man made. The first was the sign indicating that I was entering “90 Mile Straight” - a 146.6km (or 90 miles I guess) stretch of perfectly straight road. Now if you thought that driving along the Nullabor was mind numbing enough - try doing it without a single turn. At least a slight twitch of the steering wheel every now and then was something to get mildly excited about before this stretch!

The second man-made item of interest were the signs indicating wildlife prevalent in the area - roos, emus and .... camels! I saw plenty of roos - all squished on the side of the road unfortunately. I spotted several emus feeding by the roadside - these appeared very much alive. I have to report that camels were nowhere to be found however.

My final point of interest came as I noticed a large yellow sign approaching containing a picture of an aircraft. A landing strip must be in the area. Coming closer, I noticed that the sign indicated that the area housed an emergency landing strip for the Royal Flying Doctor Service - that is when I realised that the landing strip just happened to be the road upon which I was driving. Now this is a great idea - multi-use is always efficient, except when you are driving a car and you have a solid roof through which you cannot see an approaching plane! Needless to say I did not hang around to await a possible landing.

I did stop at the Caiguna Blowhole - apparently the Nullabor is undermined by various limestone caves. These caves emit air as differences in air pressure between the cave and the outside atmosphere equalise. During my visit however, the blowhole was simply a hole in the ground - there was no discernible “blowing” on offer (no comments please Heth!).

The scenery along the Nullabor is fairly plain I have to confess - there is fauna : bushes, the occasional tree, and a few unique trees which I had not before seen. The first of these was the “hat tree”, closely followed by the “bottle and boot tree” and finally came the “glove tree”. Now I did state earlier that the Nullabor was a rather mind-numbing drive - I guess this is the kind of thing you do if you are a bored traveller!

Upon reaching Eucla this afternoon, I decided to continue on an additional 12 kilometres to Border Village - if only to compare facilities. This meant crossing briefly into South Australia - all to no avail however as the accommodation was not too flash, and the LPG bowsers at the BP service station were out of order (as were the ones in Eucla for that matter). So back across the border into WA I went to book a bed for the night in Eucla. Of course, crossing into WA meant passing through the Agricultural Checkpoint as I had earlier done near Kununurra. I declared the wildflower seeds I held to the rather abrupt female inspector, and was allowed to pass through. Then as I was approaching Eucla, I was flagged down by a police roadblock for a “license inspection and breath test”. No problem I thought. I handed the WA officer my drivers license which he inspected and enquired if my address still remained the same and if my license was still current. He could have looked at the expiry date to work that much out for himself! He then proceeded to inform me that the car air fresheners which I had hanging from my rear vision mirror, along with the Bundaberg Rum badge (all of which had been attached in that same spot for the entire 15,000kms I had just driven through WA) were illegal and that I could be fined $100 if they were not removed. I chose to remove them (well at least till tomorrow when I get back into SA J). The officer then proceeded to tell me that my window tint was illegal (which I knew - but if it prevents some low life breaking into the JGG to help himself to some of my gear, then its well worth it). Why don’t you guys go and chase some real criminals?? I should have stayed across the border!

So tonight I am in a room which can be best described as a prison cell. It has a cold hard floor, a front door, a rear window and a bed. Nothing else! Brings back memories of Hughenden! Where are the Matts, Quinny and Tools when you need them? Needless to say, I think it will be an early night tonight, followed by an early start tomorrow morning. Lets hope that the next stretch is a tad more interesting than todays run - by all accounts it will be!

As a final note I have to say that I have no idea what time it is! The time zones crossing from WA into SA along the Eyre Highway change in two stages - each of 45 minutes. I know I have passed through one of these, making the time difference between home (Sydney) and me 1 ¼ hours now. I think that I may have passed through the second one as well - although this may be Border Village - so maybe I will pass through it again tomorrow morning. Either way, by tomorrow I will be only half an hour behind Sydney again!

DAY 2 :

I left Eucla at the crack of dawn and headed into SA again - glad to see the back of my WA police friends! My first task was to return my car fresheners and Bundaberg Rum badge to my rear vision mirror - come and get me now fellas!

My only plans as I continued along the Nullabor were to stop at the various cliff lookouts along the Eyre Highway, and to spend some time at the Head of the Bight, where I was informed by a couple I met in Exmouth that I would be assured of seeing whales. They were 100% spot on! More on that in a moment!

Most of the lookouts along the Eyre Highway were closed due to safety concerns as a result of the eroding cliff face - although I did stop at several taking a few photos before rushing back to the warmth of the car. It was a bitterly cold morning - the strong wind contributing to the chill. I stopped at the Nullabor roadhouse for an LPG fill ($1.20/L), and I along with my fellow travellers, were lost for words as a small aircraft taxied in past the petrol bowsers of the Roadhouse! Not something you see everyday I have to admit! The pilot pulled up just past the bowsers where a sign indicated scenic flights on offer - where to?? I had no idea! I can only assume in hindsight that they were over the whales at the Head of the Bight.

Onto the Head of the Bight then. This vantage point is on aboriginal owned land, and it overlooks a bay within the Great Australian Bight. The bay is used by Southern Right Whales (as opposed to the Humpbacks I saw in Broome and Exmouth) as a breeding ground. The whales spend time in the semi-protected waters here with their calves during the winter months, before heading south into the Antarctic waters when the calves are strong enough. There is a $12 entrance fee - but well worth it! The sign at the entrance indicated that there were currently 56 whales in the bay. Whilst I did not see that many from my vantage point ..... there were certainly plenty to see.

As I approached the cliff, I noticed what I thought were about 5 or 6 rocky outcrops amongst the choppy waters. In fact they were whales! They were just floating there with their calves enjoying the scenery. One calf decided that lying next to mum was not enough fun in isolation, so he decided to flap his tail incessantly into the water to the delight of myself and the many other whale watchers there. It was fantastic! They were so close to the shoreline that you could hear them blowing through their blowholes, and splashing in the water. After taking well over 100 photos, I decided that it was time to continue on my journey - even though I could have stayed for several more hours easily. A pit stop before I left, and I could not resist but to take a photograph of the urinal in the mens toilets ... in particular the sign above it! I am sure that the author had a military background.

I passed through the Agricultural checkpoint at Ceduna just after lunch (what a piece of cake compared to WA!), and decided that my target for the day was Port Augusta, where I arrived just after 6pm, some 12 hours and just under 1,000 kilometres after my departure from Eucla that morning.

Now for those of you who have not read the comments posted by others on my blog, my good friend Heather from the UK was amused by my visit to Willie Creek. For her benefit, just prior to hitting Port Augusta, I felt compelled to stop in to Iron Knob and take a photo of the Visitor Information Sign. Hope you enjoy Heth! I look forward to the comment on this one. :-)

DAY 3 :

I completed the last 300 odd kilometres to Adelaide today. South Australia has turned on brilliant weather for me .... NOT! The most sustained rain I have had since I left the not-so-Sunshine Coast greeted me on my way into Adelaide. However as I was informed by an old workmate residing in Adelaide - they need it! So I can’t complain. My plans are to spend 3 - 4 days here before heading into Victoria.

Hope you enjoy the pics!

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Photos

Head of the Bight
If you click on this photo you will see just how close the whales are to shore .... this one is for you Sandra!

Military Urinal
Sounds more like the enemy than a toilet!

Comments

[sandy]

has to be said!
ok Rich I have to comment, firstly on the blow hole - I thought it was a toilet, and it certainly would live up to it's name!! (sorry, don't mean to offend) secondly, nice to see you still struggle with time zones! thirdly, Iron Knob, remember the stinger suit in the cold water Heth? lastly stop boasting about the whales who clearly appear to be following you on your trip, so maybe you should think of coming back to Brissie. ;-)

[Heather]

Speechless....
What can I say! Iron Knob, hat trees, glove trees, bottle and boot trees. Do the hills have eyes too? Is there a toothless banjo playing tree? Rich, come back to civilisation immediately should some hillbilly say to you "sure have a purdy mouth boy". Run Rich, run for your life.....