Day 207 Eucla, WA

 It is day two of our journey across the mighty Nullabor.  There is so much hype surrounding the Nullarbor.  All the talk of long distances and incredibly straight roads with very few towns would get a lot of people excited I guess.  But guess what?  I lived that scenario for most of my married life while living in  North West Queensland at Julia Creek!  I said yesterday that the scenery looks very familiar and certainly the great long stretches of highway are also familiar.  But today the scenery changed quite significantly when we reached the Madura Pass.  The views from the top of the pass at a height of more than 200m above sea level were extraordinary.  

As we made our decent from the top of the pass my ears popped.  We went from 200m altitude to 20m in just a few kilometres!  The Escarpment is now on our left and stays there all the way to Eucla.  In fact the escarpment runs right down to the oceans edge in South Australia and that is why you have those 80 metre cliffs right along the Great Australian Bight.  We will be following the edge of the Bight on our journey tomorrow.  It is only 250km from Cocklebiddy to Eucla so we took our time and stopped whenever we thought the view (or wildflowers) deserved it.  

It's not long before we can see the sand dunes in the distance.  They almost look like a mirage and I'm looking forward to being close to the ocean once again.  We are staying at the Eucla Motel and Caravan Park and it is like an oasis in the middle of the desert.  Eucla sits high on the escarpment that I mentioned and it is probably a good thing as the ever moving sand dunes are slowly moving inland and gobbling up everything in their way.  The caravan park has lots of trees, albeit small, but it's nice to have some greenery.  The sites are gravel for easy maintenance.  But the big surprise is the main reception/restaurant/bar  that has sweeping views of the ocean and a lovely garden area. It is unexpected.

Once we have unhooked the van and eaten our chop chop salad for lunch we get back in the car and head five kilometres back down the escarpment towards the ocean.  The old telegraph station ruins are situated here and a short walk over the sand dunes brings you to the old Eucla jetty.  These two relics are a reminder of a bygone era and remind us of what it was like to live back in the 1800's. Both ruins were vital to the survival of the people who lived here and their only link to the rest of Australia.

The shifting sands are slowly devouring the old telegraph station and it won't be too many years before nothing will remain to be seen.  The walk across the sand dunes towards the ocean is heavy going for the first kilometre but soon we are on hard rock and then on the beach where it is easy walking.  There are markers along the way so that you don't become disorientated but we just kept the very large tree at the telegraph station in our vision and that was our guide.  There is not much left of the old jetty but the birds find it a great place to roost.  As we look towards the east we can just make out the towering cliffs of the Bight.  I'm really looking forward to seeing them tomorrow.

Making our way back to the car we are once again driving up the long escarpment and we stop at the Lookout to read about Edward John Eyre - the great explorer - who camped in this area on his journey from Fowler Bay to Albany in 1841.

I have really enjoyed our day today and can look forward to more of the same tomorrow.  I have been cooking up a storm in my little kitchen this afternoon to use up all remaining fruit and vegetables.  I hate waste and the thought of good food going into the border disposal bins is very hard for me to see.  Anyway, I will not be contributing to the waste...