Monday 30 April 2012
Sunday 29 April 2012
Days 31 - 35: Eucla to Esperance and Back
We started Wednesday by attending the ANZAC Dawn Service at Eucla. Surprisingly there were about 50 people there, a mix of travellers and locals. It was a simple and heartfelt ceremony which had strange parallels to the one we attended at Gallipoli two years ago as the sun slowly rose over the ocean behind the memorial.
Before heading off on a 700 klms epic drive to Norseman we drove down to the site of the old telegraph station. The original settlement of Eucla was close to the beach and subject to winds from the southern ocean shifting the fine white sands - to the extent where the telegraph station was reclaimed by the sand and the settlement of Eucla was shifted up onto a high ridge.
There is little to see between Eucla and Norseman except the longest, straight stretch of road in the country between Caiguna and Balladonia and some Skylab space junk at Balladonia. To be fair there are a few other places that can be accessed by 4WD only.
We stayed at Norseman for the night and spent 15 minutes touring the town before heading off to Esperance, one of the highlights of our trip so far. We arrived at Esperance at lunchtime and after a quick restock of fresh fruit and vegetables we headed off on the Great Ocean Drive. The pictures on this blog tell part of the story of the Great Ocean Drive but they can't do it justice. You have to see it for yourselves.
Following the ocean drive we travelled 63 klms to Cape Le Grand, a fantastic national park which we wished we had more time to explore. There are great bitumen roads to the highlights in the park and once again the aquamarine waters on white sandy beaches featured. There are also camping grounds in this national park if you wanted to spend more time exploring.
On Friday we took a morning boat trip through the Recherche Archipelago spotting Australian sea lions, NZ fur seals, white breasted sea eagles and Cape Barren geese on islands and rocky outcrops before making landfall on Woody Island for morning tea and a short bushwalk. On our return to Esperance, we spent the afternoon wandering around the town before walking back to the caravan park. We really want to stress how beautiful Esperance is and you could easily spend a week exploring the region.
Saturday was notable for nothing much except for a big drive from Esperance to Caiguna for an overnight stop before heading back to Eucla.
A friend of Barbara's had mentioned that it was worthwhile to walk on the beach at Eucla. As we arrived early afternoon, we decided would would take the firend's advice. Even Christine agrees it was worhwhile despite the kilometre trek over hard and soft sand dunes, in the blazing sun and shooing flies the whole way.
Tomorrow we plan to visit the Bunda Cliffs as we recross the Nullarbor and head to Penong.
Before heading off on a 700 klms epic drive to Norseman we drove down to the site of the old telegraph station. The original settlement of Eucla was close to the beach and subject to winds from the southern ocean shifting the fine white sands - to the extent where the telegraph station was reclaimed by the sand and the settlement of Eucla was shifted up onto a high ridge.
There is little to see between Eucla and Norseman except the longest, straight stretch of road in the country between Caiguna and Balladonia and some Skylab space junk at Balladonia. To be fair there are a few other places that can be accessed by 4WD only.
We stayed at Norseman for the night and spent 15 minutes touring the town before heading off to Esperance, one of the highlights of our trip so far. We arrived at Esperance at lunchtime and after a quick restock of fresh fruit and vegetables we headed off on the Great Ocean Drive. The pictures on this blog tell part of the story of the Great Ocean Drive but they can't do it justice. You have to see it for yourselves.
Following the ocean drive we travelled 63 klms to Cape Le Grand, a fantastic national park which we wished we had more time to explore. There are great bitumen roads to the highlights in the park and once again the aquamarine waters on white sandy beaches featured. There are also camping grounds in this national park if you wanted to spend more time exploring.
On Friday we took a morning boat trip through the Recherche Archipelago spotting Australian sea lions, NZ fur seals, white breasted sea eagles and Cape Barren geese on islands and rocky outcrops before making landfall on Woody Island for morning tea and a short bushwalk. On our return to Esperance, we spent the afternoon wandering around the town before walking back to the caravan park. We really want to stress how beautiful Esperance is and you could easily spend a week exploring the region.
Saturday was notable for nothing much except for a big drive from Esperance to Caiguna for an overnight stop before heading back to Eucla.
A friend of Barbara's had mentioned that it was worthwhile to walk on the beach at Eucla. As we arrived early afternoon, we decided would would take the firend's advice. Even Christine agrees it was worhwhile despite the kilometre trek over hard and soft sand dunes, in the blazing sun and shooing flies the whole way.
Tomorrow we plan to visit the Bunda Cliffs as we recross the Nullarbor and head to Penong.
Saturday 28 April 2012
Thursday 26 April 2012
Tuesday 24 April 2012
Day 30: G'day WA (Ceduna to Eucla)
We had an early start to the day so we could make the 500 klm drive to Eucla. The highlights of the trip were the Nullarbor Plain and the Bunda Cliffs of the Great Australian Bight. The Nullarbor is exactly what we expected - no vegetation over 50 cms in height, flat, flat, did I say flat, and yet far from boring. The expansiveness of the land and sky scapes gave a great sense of space and there were times when we pulled over where the only sounds we could hear were the birds, the wind and our footsteps. It was a great time to travel the Nullarbor due to the lack of crowds.
We called into the Head of the Bight about 10klms south of the Nullarbor Roadhouse. Unfortunately it was too early for the whales which don't arrive until May, however, it was here that we had our first look at the Bunda Cliffs. It was a 10 times "wow" moment. The cliffs just loop into the distance like a backdrop to a fantasy movie. It was $5 to enter the Head of the Bight however we discovered two further vantage points to view the cliffs as we headed west which were free to enter. The cliffs still surprised us each time we saw them and we both think that the cliffs are more beautiful than the 12 Apostles.
There were a few more opportunities to call in and view different parts of the coast line that we will see on the return journey.
We arrived at the fruit inspection point on the WA border (this inspection point is only for westward bound travellers). Virtually all fruit, vegetables and honey has to be handed in at this point. We had already eaten or disposed of most of our fruit and veg and we declared the remaining honey. Whilst it was heat treated Capilano honey we still had to hand it in. Following the inspection we only had a short drive to Eucla, our overnight stop. The caravan park here is much nicer than the airport one at Ceduna. It has clean modern facilities and is situated on a high ridge above the coastline with great views a short walk away.
We are experiencing some confusion about time zones in Eucla with both our mobiles showing Perth time (2 hours behind EST), the motorhome and Chris's watch on EST and Eucla time is 1 and a quarter hours behind EST. It doesn't help that the ABC is on Perth time and we still haven't worked out what time time zone GWN 7 is operating on. If we manage to figure it all out we hope to attend the ANZAC Dawn Service tomorrow at 6.15am local time. Finally, we were pleasantly surprised by the availability of mobile service at Head of the Bight / Nullarbor Roadhouse and Eucla. There is nothing between these places though.
We called into the Head of the Bight about 10klms south of the Nullarbor Roadhouse. Unfortunately it was too early for the whales which don't arrive until May, however, it was here that we had our first look at the Bunda Cliffs. It was a 10 times "wow" moment. The cliffs just loop into the distance like a backdrop to a fantasy movie. It was $5 to enter the Head of the Bight however we discovered two further vantage points to view the cliffs as we headed west which were free to enter. The cliffs still surprised us each time we saw them and we both think that the cliffs are more beautiful than the 12 Apostles.
There were a few more opportunities to call in and view different parts of the coast line that we will see on the return journey.
We arrived at the fruit inspection point on the WA border (this inspection point is only for westward bound travellers). Virtually all fruit, vegetables and honey has to be handed in at this point. We had already eaten or disposed of most of our fruit and veg and we declared the remaining honey. Whilst it was heat treated Capilano honey we still had to hand it in. Following the inspection we only had a short drive to Eucla, our overnight stop. The caravan park here is much nicer than the airport one at Ceduna. It has clean modern facilities and is situated on a high ridge above the coastline with great views a short walk away.
We are experiencing some confusion about time zones in Eucla with both our mobiles showing Perth time (2 hours behind EST), the motorhome and Chris's watch on EST and Eucla time is 1 and a quarter hours behind EST. It doesn't help that the ABC is on Perth time and we still haven't worked out what time time zone GWN 7 is operating on. If we manage to figure it all out we hope to attend the ANZAC Dawn Service tomorrow at 6.15am local time. Finally, we were pleasantly surprised by the availability of mobile service at Head of the Bight / Nullarbor Roadhouse and Eucla. There is nothing between these places though.
Monday 23 April 2012
Days 27 to 29: From Prime Real Estate to the airport back blocks (Elliston to Streaky Bay to Ceduna)
Saturday morning the weather set in and we had a rainy trip from Elliston to Streaky Bay. We were told about a roadside stall on the way which sold great woodfired bread and payment was by way of an honesty box. We didn't buy much as we'd never eat it all before it went stale, however we did buy some delicious fruit buns.
We also called into Venus Bay, a small fishing village, and Murphy's Haystacks, a series of red granite inselberg formations mottled green/grey with lichen. When we finally arrived at Streaky Bay, the clouds parted just in time for us to set up the motorhome on a slice of prime beachfront real estate. It was well worth delaying our arrival by a night in order to secure a beachfront site. Book ahead if you plan to stay in Streaky Bay!
We spent Sunday wandering round the small and pretty village and catching up on domestic chores. This morning we drove the Cape Bauer tourist drive out of Streaky Bay. "Drove" doesn't really describe the rattling, rolling ride we had over 30k of corrugated dirt road - we were defintely shaken not stirred. The drive is doable, albeit slowly, in a Motorhome and would be easy for a standard car. The highlights of the drive are Hally's Beach, Whistling Rocks and the Blowhole. The wave action on the rock formations cause eerie air whooshing sounds at Whistling Rocks, but unfortunately the waves weren't large enough to get the Blowhole working. One thing which really caught our eye was the colours in the dune vegetation - reds, yellows, whites, greys and greens.
Ceduna is just over an hour from Streaky Bay so we had plenty of time to see the limited sights in Ceduna. There is a nice foreshore area and Chris was taken with the oyster bar just west of town on the Eyre Highway. It's oysters for entree tonight for Chris and prawns for Barbara who has an inexplicable aversion to oysters!
One tip for travellers planning to stay in Ceduna, book the Top Tourist or Big 4 Parks as they fill quickly each day. We chanced our luck and consequently are camped in a very basic van park adjacent to the airport - a huge contrast with our site at Streaky Bay.
We start the Nullarbor crossing tomorrow and plan to stay a night at Eucla and a night at Caiguna or Balladonia before arriving in Norseman for a night where we turn around and head back east, aiming for Wudinna and the Gawler Ranges in about 3 days on the return trip. We will have little or no mobile/internet access whilst crossing the Nullarbor, but rest assured we will post pictures and updates when we can.
Sunday 22 April 2012
Saturday 21 April 2012
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