Crossing the Nullarbor Plain Part II

The Eyre Highway is named after Edward John Eyre, an English born explorer who was the first European to cross the Nullarbor Plain in 1840-41.  There are various plaques commemorating his achievement along the way.

Tragically, just six weeks after they camped near this spot at Eucla; Joey and Yarry murdered Baxter, stole all the supplies and ran off.   Eyre and Whylie only survived when they came across a French whaling ship near Esperance.  Over 175 years later, it’s still pretty difficult to get supplies while travelling across the Nullarbor.

After a long featureless drive (the Nullarbor does mean ‘no trees’ after all), it was a surprise to reach the Madura Pass where there are spectacular views across the plains.  Climbing on top of the van made for a better photo.

There is a news article at the museum in Eucla, written by a traveller driving across the Nullarbor in his Holden in August 1953 who stopped at Madura to refuel: “I boiled my billy in the skimpy shade of a sandalwood tree, chewed some chops and pushed on another 180 miles of monotony to Balladonia.” This could have been us, except we had cake.  I can’t imagine what it must have been like driving all that way before the highway was sealed, let alone setting out into the unknown in the 1840s.

Jonathan was keen to stop at Mundrabilla as Australia’s biggest meteorite was discovered nearby, which weighed over 10 tonnes.  There was no mention of it anywhere though.

Night 3, we stopped at Eucla, which is 12km from the SA border, to spend our last night in WA  We’ve been exploring WA for over 3 months which shows how big it is.  The van park is high on the range and we camped up in a glorious spot overlooking the ocean and plains below.  We soon had the chairs out and were enjoying the warm afternoon sun and views with a glass of wine.

Eucla Caravan Park

In the early 1900s, Eucla was a busy telegraph station.  The first message sent to Perth on 8th December 1877 was ‘Eucla line opened.  Hurrah’.  The station now lies in ruins and buried in the sands.

Today, Eucla seems to have the best phone reception along the Nullarbor and we were able to have a long Skype chat with video to my sister and brother in law in the UK, with no connection issues at all.

Goodbye WA

We were back in South Australia soon after setting off the next morning.  If you’re travelling West, there’s a quarantine checkpoint here.  A big kangaroo holding a jar of vegemite marks the border crossing.

Only saw a few roadkill roos
Handy poo recognition display Balladonia museum

The Great Australian Bight

For the next 150km, the highway runs alongside the Great Australian Bight.  There are four lookouts along this stretch.  Number 2 made for a scenic morning tea stop.

The Head of Bight is the best place to see Southern Right Whales between June and October.  The females come into the sheltered waters to give birth and then spend some time there with their calves.  The road down to the ‘interpretative centre’ is sealed.  There is a $15 entry fee per adult to go through to the lookouts.  We did see whales at the other lookouts, high up on the cliffs but this was worth it as the boardwalk takes you down the cliffs and there were five mothers with their calves close to shore.

Fowler’s Bay

A little fishing village, south west of Ceduna which sounded the perfect place to spend a lazy day and plan the next stage of our trip.  It was sunny and warm but the gusty winds blasted you with sand and made walking a bit challenging.   It was fun walking amongst the dunes.   Jonathan caught quite a haul of squid from the jetty.

 

 

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