We thought that we were taking it slow as we got going from the Nullabor Roadhouse this morning but we were still on our way by 0830. We only had a short distance of 195 kilometres to travel today so we had plenty of time.
Some of the road signs are quite different from those we see at home. There aren’t many camels, for example, in Victoria.
The road continued across the flat plain which was covered by only shrubs and small bushes. In one place, some signs indicated a wider section of road (without marker posts) that was used as an emergency airstrip by the Royal Flying Doctor Service. Whenever it is needed, local police block the road so that planes can land and take off safely.
Leaving so early meant that we were well ahead of schedule and we had plenty of time to visit three of the outstanding lookouts across the Bight.
We travelled this way in reverse about 15 years ago and the lookouts were then informal areas at the edge of the cliffs and accessed by a rough unmade road. Some of the old lookouts have been closed because they were dangerous and the three that now exist are well kept with fenced walkways and formed lookout points.
These Bunda Cliffs extend for 210 kilometres from the Head of the Bight in the east to Eucla, Western Australia in the west. There are some local cliff-line breaks towards the eastern and western ends, with a 160 kilometres long uninterrupted cliff line from near the eastern end to a point 28 km west of the South Australia–Western Australia border. The cliffs are some 60–120 metres (200–390 ft) in height.
I found that I had packed the most valuable piece of clothing by accident. At the last moment, I threw a rain jacket into the car. While it hasn’t rained, the wind along this exposed area is exceptionally strong and a jacket is a necessity to stay warm.
Our second stop shows just how dangerous these cliffs can be. The limestone rock is easily eroded and you can see an area where the cliff top has collapsed. You would not want to be standing on that area as it fell into the sea!
At our third stop (just before Eucla), the cliffs had become a less rugged coastline.
There is a strange time phenomena here. The locals have adopted an informal 45 minute time difference – halfway beteeen the official South Aiustralian time and Western Australia time. This area is so remote that it doesn’t really matter but it stops the sun from rising too early in the morning. Because of this, we ended up reaching our destination just before lunch, even though we had tried to fill in a couple of hours looking at the scenery. We were too early to check into our room so we filled in time by eating lunch at a picnic table near the large Kangaroo at the entrance to the motel.
This motel hosts one of the golf holes that is part of the longest golf course in the world. Nullarbor Links is an 18-hole, par-72 golf course spanning 1,365 kilometers along the Eyre Highway from Kalgoorlie, Western Australia to Ceduna in South Australia. The course features one single hole at each participating town or roadhouse along the highway.These holes are made from synthetic greens, tees, and rugged outback natural-terrain fairways. The course was built with the idea of giving drivers something to do instrad of non-stop driving and getting bored.
We were eventually able to check in early and drop our things in our room. This mean that we wouldn’t have a few pieces of our fruit confiscated by the WA Quarantine Service at their check point 100 metres from the motel as we travelled on to Eucla. We will have eaten it all for breakfast by tomorrow morning when we pack up and continue acrss the Western Australian Border to Balladonia.
We drove up to the town of Eucla, just 12 kilometres away to see the old Telegraph Station. It was only 33 years after Samuel Morse, in 1844, invented the “electric telegraph” to the world that Australia with its previously unconquerable vast open spaces became part of the great international telegraph system.
Eucla was a vital key in the chain of relay stations across Australia. Built and opened in 1877, the telegraph station here became a vital part of the chain of relay stations stretching from Esperance, Western Australia to Port Augusta in South Australia. We found it down this road that leads from the escarpment to the location of the original town.
At that time, the town of Eucla was located closer to the ocean and had, at its peak, a large population of 70 people, 4 streets, several sandstone and wooden buildings, a long jetty and of course the telegraph station. The telegraph station is now just a ruin and gradually being overwhelmed by sand from the coastal dunes.
Before heading back, we stopped at a site on the escarpment where memorials to Australian Servicemen and explorer John Eyre are located.
Thanks Bruce, as always an enjoyable read and at the same time an insight into the past.