Day 208 Penong, (Great Australian Bight) South Australia

We have made it across the Nullarbor and now ensconced in a little wheatbelt town called Penong in South Australia.   It was a long day made even longer by losing 2.5 hours as we crossed the border into South Australia.  We are now Queensland time plus half an hour, so my time now is 7.00pm but in Queensland it is now 6.30pm.

We travelled more than 400 kilometres today from Eucla to Penong and followed the Great Australian Bight.  But first we have to cross the border into South Australia at Bordertown and are surprised that we are not stopped.  We later found out that there is still a checkpoint, but it is located at Ceduna where we will be staying tomorrow. It seems strange to have the checkpoint so far from the border but the border is in a very isolated area.  Speaking of isolated, todays landscape changed dramatically and there were very long distances between roadhouses.  In our 400 kilometre journey I think that there were only three or four major roadhouses to re-fuel, but I will have to check to make certain.

But today it was all about the Great Australian Bight.  Those magnificent soaring cliffs, up to 80 metres in height, are highlighted in many travel brochures and often feature on Instagram.  They are everything I expected to see plus a whole lot more.  It is just a magical feeling to be standing above those cliffs and so very close to the cliff face.  There are three major lookouts along the highway and we drove into all three.  There are lots of other minor lookouts, of course, but these are the three that have been set up for the benefit of anyone towing a van because they have big turnaround areas.  The first lookout is only twenty kilometres from Eucla then the next three are spaced out evenly over a distance of around 150 kilometres.  

However the best is yet to come when we reach the Head of Bight Lookout.  It is a paid lookout for the princely sum of $7/senior and for your dollar you get, by far and away, the best views of the Bunda Cliffs. In the whale season, whales can be seen frolicking in the ocean below the boardwalks that extend right along the cliff face.  Shame we are too late for the whale season.

As we look towards the east from the boardwalk we can see the extraordinarily white sand dunes.  We read that they are moving inland by 11 metres each year!  We have seen over our journey through the south of Western Australia how much these incredible dunes encroach on the landscape and just gobble up everything in their path.  Here is a little GoPro from today.....

This time change has really thrown me.  I am now looking at the clock and it is almost 8pm but the sun is still high in the sky (I very much dislike daylight saving!).  I went for a short walk before I started on the blog because just across the road from our caravan park is a field full of Windmills.  I'm feeling a little sentimental as I take photographs of these massive structures because my dad was a plumber and he specialised in repairing windmills.  So Dad, these are for you........