I headed off only expecting to go a short distance but the places I had picked out were not suitable so I ended up 73km east of Norseman at the 10 Mile Rocks camping area. By night fall there were another 6 campers in the area, all spread out over the large area set aside. This was an uneventful afternoon drive.
Saturday, the 22nd
There was some early morning drizzle & there was limited visibility for the first hour but it soon lifted & the day was relatively fine however the wind started coming from the east & this was a far different senario than the weather forecast from the previous day. I had intended to visit the Eyre Telegraph Station & Eyre Bird Observatory, south of Cocklebiddy Roadhouse but I did not like the look of the dirt road & the overcast conditions so I gave it a miss.
The stretch between Balladonia & Caiguna has a stretch of 90 miles of complete straight road & it is the longest straight stretch of road in Australia. The heading of this road is about 2 degrees short of due East.
I headed for Moonera Tank camping area (I did not find a tank) & arrived in plenty of time to set up the sat TV to watch the footy (Aussie v NZ) from Brisbane. Pity about the result but in my humble opinion the best team on the night won.
Sunday, the 23rd
Well!, Well! You guessed it, wind & light showers that eventually turned to rain. I stayed put. I was to find out a couple of days later that 43km to the west of me at Cocklebiddy Roadhouse they had 2 inches of rain on the Saturday night. A lazy day was had by all concerned. A sleep, watch the cricket, lunch, a sleep, watch TV, coffee etc & the desperates weren't much better. How will they survive when they get home?
Monday, the 24th
There was a heavy dew & fog in the morning so I was a bit slow in getting away, but at least it was fine.
About 43km further I came through the Madura Pass. We dropped from a plateau on to the coastal plains. This was something I had not anticipated & was quite surprised by. At Madura Pass there is another Roadhouse & I could not get over the number of "motel" type units that were at this property. I'm told there were about 140 units here & I'm yet to find out why so many. We stayed on the coastal plain for another 180+kms until we reached Eucla where we once again climbed on to the plateau. Eucla is on the WA side of the border & Border Village on the SA side. Both are small towns & that is being polite about the size.
I had picked out a couple of sites to camp but the first was not suitable (too early & too open i.e. no shade) & the second was full. There were 4 vans there & anymore would have made it a bit cramped. Both of these spots were on the coast line although both were at the top of 60 to 90 metre high cliffs. Very beautiful outlooks but signs were everywhere that the edges were unstable. Definitely not the place for the "desperates"!
I moved on to the Nullabor Roadhouse & treated myself to a good hot shower & dinner in the diner. The crumbed Whiting & salad was a top meal. Earlier in the day I had met up with an ex Army fellow & he was also at Nullabor & we had a chin wag over our travels through WA & the NT.
The Nullabor Plain is a flat area devoid of trees but it is dotted with small bushes no more that 2 feet high. The sunrise reminded me of the sunset at Derby except that in Derby you looked over the sand flats out to sea.
The ground foliage from Norseman is very green, to my surprise, but I suppose I did not really know what to expect.
As in other outback regions there were a few areas set aside on the main road for the Royal Flying Doctor Service emergency landing strips. These were marked by roadside signs & normal runway markings on the road.
Tuesday, the 25th
I moved on & visited the "Head of the Bight". Very impressive cliff faces & the scenery along this coastline is very rugged. By now the wind had turned to the south west/westerly but was reasonably light. This area would no doubt do well in the winter months as the whales pass by in close proximity to the coast.
On my way back to the highway I spotted the first Dingo on my trip. He crossed the road not far in front of me & by the time I got the camera out he was among the low scrub.
About 15km west of Nundroo the landscape changed & there was grain being grown & there was an abundance of sheep. I did not expect this so far west but once again I was ignorant to this fact of our countryside. A little to the east of here at Penong there is the grain & sheep but also Gypsum is mined here & trained to Ceduna where it is exported by ship from the local port.
On the outskirts of Penong someone has set up a number of windmills (all shapes & sizes) as part of a local attraction. Right through this area there are a number of windmills supplementing the local water supply. Along the road here there was a grader doing the edges of the road & he was towing his own vehicle (a ute) behind the grader, obviously to get back to his base at night.
I moved on to Ceduna & will stay here for a couple of days & catch up on my domestics & have a look around the town.
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