Day 178 - Mundrabilla to Nullabor

Today dawned sunny with a cloudless sky.  This was perfect for our eastern assault.  Well assault is overdoing it a bit.  It was simply a matter of pointing the car eastward and turning the steering wheel occasionally, when the ever so many straight stretches required it.

Eucla, near the WA/SA border was our first destination.   We had expected a small community but all it was, was a roadhouse complex with all the services.  We ducked 4km off the highway to see the Old Telegraph Station, built in the late 1870's.  This brought us to the beach for the first time since Esperance.  There was another old Ford at the Eucla Roadhouse which drew a lot of attention.

011014 Looking down from Eucla - first sign of the sea since Esperance

011014 The Old Telegraph Station at Eucla circa 1877

011014 The Beach at the Old Telegraph Station looking west to an old jetty

011014 The Beach at the Old Telegraph Station looking east

011014 Memorial to the construction of the
east-west telegraph line 1877

011014 An elderly Ford on the road from Perth

To pass through Eucla required us to go up the Eucla Pass, which again put us up on the escarpment. We were then at cliff height for the soon to be viewed cliffs on the Great Australian Bight.

Shortly after Eucla we entered SA and nothing changed.  The countryside varied a bit but it was still basically flat with low shrubs or no shrubs at times.

011014 The quaratine station east of Eucla - for west bound traffic 

011014 Departure sign at WA/SA border

011014 Welcome sign to SA

Change and excitement occurred when eventually, we were able to access the edge of the continent at several places and lord over the Great Australian Bight.  The ultimate view came we were able to see the famous cliffs to the east and west - in a word spectacular.

011014 First lookout to Great Australian Bight looking west

011014 First lookout to Great Australian Bight looking east

011014 Second lookout to Great Australian Bight, looking east

011014 Fourth lookout to Great Australian Bight looking west

011014 Fourth lookout to Great Australian Bight looking east

011014 My hole and I'm goanna keep it - on the walk to the clifftops

011014 Many more miles of straight roads on the escarpment
- plain not treeless but trees are more shrub like

Not everything went according to Hoyle today.  We had to drive into an ESE wind which was, to say the least, annoying.  It nearly blew our pants off atop the cliffs.  This will probably mean poor fuel consumption for today's travels. Still, hope springs eternal in the human breast and tomorrow is another day.

Nullabor roadhouse is our overnight stop and it is at the start of the treeless plain we call "The Nullabor." A more expansive photograph of the roadhouse would show you it is surrounded by - nothing.  More of that tomorrow.

011014 Nullabor Roadhouse - can access the internet here - yippee!

As this blog "goes to bed", the wind is howling around the van.  The temperature reached a pleasant 18 degrees today but the blustery wind is spoiling the party.