Day 21 - Wednesday 18 January - Crossing the Nullarbor

DAY 21

WEDNESDAY

18 January 2017 –

Baxter Rest Area – Caiguna – Cocklebiddy – Madura – Mundrabilla – Bunda Cliffs (Camps 8 ref 606 SA)–  110km lookout – 157k peg rest area  (Camps 8 ref 602 SA)– 571km journey today

Tap dancing birds woke us this morning, running this way and that over the top of our van. I could hear the fellow travellers hitting the road early. I was happy snuggled under the doona. It had got cold in the night and refuge was sought under it.

Paul was up and organising breakfast. I watched the goings on for a while, he none the wiser I had surfaced. The alarm went off at 720am and I figured I should probably get myself sorted too.

We were on the road by 8am, continuing on the 90 mile straight to Caiguna. The grey, overcast conditions had not abated over night and it was still cool. Shortly after passing Caiguna, we entered a new time zone adding 45min to our time.

We counted the k’s we were doing by the number of roo carcasses, in varying states of decay, by the side of the road. Some appeared to be recent road fatalities, while others had had their bones picked clean by the crows and no doubt, the wedge tail eagles.

We reached Cocklebiddy and refuelled. I got out and jumped around to add to the step count and to alleviate the numb bum. Once on the road again, we had a brief shower of rain. We could see that there had obviously been a substantial pour at some time, as the ground was quite damp.

The road led us to the Madura Pass. It is a great entrance, coming into sweeping corner downhill as the range lifts off to the left. You follow the range from then on, all the way to Eucla. We stopped at Mundrabilla for fuel and another stretch of legs. I wandered around taking photos of the scarp being mindful to watch I didn’t stand in the puddles, before it was back to the van and on to Eucla, the final town in WA.

Eucla’s entrance is much like Madura, except you come up the hill. We stopped here back in 2003, but a lot has changed here since then, with a major overhaul of the motel and roadhouse.  After making up lunch and cooking our vege in prep for the quarantine stop over the border, we wandered the grounds, checking out the pond garden and the pool with a view to the sea. We walked to the travelers’ lookout for the view, not much to see today unfortunately then it was back on the road.

15km down the road is the border crossing and a further hour to wind our clocks forward. No one was checking vege here, so we continued on our way. Shortly after, the Great Australian Bight came in to view. Today it was almost indiscernible, as the sky melted into the ocean blue making the distinction between the two near impossible.

We stopped at Bunda Cliffs Lookout first. The van rattled and shock as we took it along the short track, then braved the howling wind to walk to the lookout and admire the view. The waves were crashing in to the rock wall below, leaving great sprays of water droplets. After taking in the sea air, it was off to the lookout 110km from the border. Again the wind was blowing, this time so much so, it ripped the car door from Paul’s hand, and concerning him that it was broken after a bit came loose. It still shut so all good.

We followed the path around the edge, seeing the rock formation and noting how standing on it may well be the death of you. Once at he lookout, I stood on the bench to afford a better view. If Paul had tied a rope to me I could quite easily have been a human kite, being blown and battered by the hefty breeze. We admired the sheerness of the cliff faces, its ruggedness, the thrashing and heaving of the water below, bubbling and frothing around the base. The English tourists doing sit ups on their yoga mat! Not so interesting, but did give us a laugh.

Our next stop was home for the night, the 157k peg rest stop. Paul had battled the breeze for long enough and was glad to finally pull off to the right and find cover amongst the bushes. With the usual night routine done, we wandered around the camp area. A couple with a caravan also called the spot home for the night along with two nutters pushing trolleys across the Nullarbor. What would possess you to want to do that?

We returned to the van, picking up a couple of interesting rocks and then having dinner. A quick evening stroll to settle the dinner and then it was off to bed. Our watches said 6.45pm, which meant it was 8.30pm, so we figured it was best to get into SA time and get some z’s.