26th September – Nullarbor crossing continued

We set off again for a full day of driving and sight seeing. Not much to see really as we were crossing what they call the treeless plain of the Nullarbor.(See the link and read all about it)

After leaving Caiguna we advanced our clocks by 45 minutes. We were driving through what was mostly just scrub land along the Hampton Tablelands.

They do have signs up warning that the roads were unfenced and that there was the possibility that we could encounter either Camels,Emus or Wombats and kangaroos. We only saw a kangaroo and that was a road kill just off in the gravel.  We drove on passing by the Madura  Pass and Roadhouse.

We encountered many road trains that thunder along this stretch of road that seems at the maximum speed that they can get away with. They loom up behind you and pass by at  great speed causing the car to sway from side to side so you have to ensure that you have a strong steady grip of the steering wheel and keeping as steady as you can whilst maintaining your speed. Having your UHF radio on channel 40 you can hear the drivers talking and there is the possibility they could call you and let you know they are about to pass. 

We stopped off at Eucla to have a look at the view and walk around the gardens of the motel.Here there was also the ruins of one of the original telegraph stations that first opened in 1877 which helped link WA with the rest of Australia sending 11000 messages annually

We had our break and lunch just past the WA/SA border check point and advanced our clocks another 45 minutes so we would be in SA time. We didn’t have to go through the quarantine checks here as they do when travelling west as the east bound travellers go through at Ceduna, another days driving away. We will have to ensure that we have eaten all our fruit and vegies by then.               www.quarantinedomestic.gov.au

We stopped off to see some of the magnificent views of the cliffs and coastal beaches from the top of the cliffs which were all well sign posted as being unstable and could possibly fall away. We kept well clear from the edges as we didn’t fancy plunging down the +50 odd feet to the bottom.

We finally stopped for the night at the Nullarbor Motel/Hotel Caravan park (see map) at about 6.30 pm new time. It was quite cold though fortunately for us there was no rain. Tomorrow we will try and reach Streaky Bay and then go on to Port Lincoln.