Across the Nullarbor

Last time we came across the Nullarbor we were a bit pushed for time, so this time we wanted to go slower and enjoy the expanse. It turns out we still ended up having to go faster than we would have liked... but that just means there are still some places on our list to visit next time!

About an hour in (of the 1200km from Norseman to Ceduna) we noticed a clay pan with some water in it, and there was a rest area sign, so we stopped for photos. 

The western end of the 90 Mile Straight - Australia's longest straight road.

The vegetation changed regularly.

We camped at "Taylor's Maze" on night 1. When we went for a walk there was a maze of tracks out the back. We woke up in the morning to misty fog, so Dazz went out to take photos before it cleared.

Grey Currawong

Red Wattlebird

The early morning moon.

Open plains and big sky.

A bit further along at another roadside break Dazz found some flowers.

The Eyre Bird Observatory looked interesting so we took a detour towards the coast. It was about 20km of rough 2WD track to the scarp lookout, and then 10km of sand to the observatory, so we left our van at the beginning and set off to see what it was like. The view from the scarp was interesting and we could just see the ocean in the distance. We could also hear a lot more birds down below. The sand track looked quite soft through the binoculars, and it was narrow with no where to turn around going up the dunes, so we decided that it was not worth chancing without a rear diff locker. There are a number of places we haven't gone because we no longer have the rear locker, so we're now planning to get another one fitted, and the observatory is on our list for next time.

We camped a little past the turnoff to the observatory and when we went for a walk came across a dog fence (but not the same one that starts in Queensland).

The highlight of the driving the next day was the Madura Pass.

The Roe Plains had less vegetation than up on the Hampton Tableland.

We fuelled up at Eucla then headed down the hill to camp near the Old Telegraph Station.

The ruins are being slowly overtaken by the dunes.

Pied Cormorants hanging out on the jetty ruins.

Little Crow

Grey Shrike Thrush

We crossed the WA-SA border at Border Village, then went a few kilometres up the road to Tomato Cliff.

It was quite windy, but we went for an explore along the cliffs and enjoyed the beautiful sunny day.

A hot northerly change was forecast to come through with temperatures in the mid to high 30s and winds around 40-50kph. We didn't want to be inland for the heat, so decided to stay two nights at Tomato Cliff, right on the coast, hoping for some moderating influence from the sea. The morning started off quite pleasant, but as the day progressed clouds built, along with the temperature. By mid afternoon we had the generator and aircon running.

There were some storms forecast so Dazz was watching the lightning tracker on his phone and was hoping for a shot over the cliffs. When we next looked out the window we noticed another caravan had pulled in - right in front of where he was planning to set up. Not to be deterred, he went out and picked another spot... and then it started raining - before the lightning was close enough to capture. So he came back inside and set the camera up on a stack of plastic containers to shoot through the kitchen window. 

The following morning as Dazz was getting a coffee a bird was hopping around outside, looking and behaving a bit unusual. He raced out with his camera and captured the Crested Bellbird. We had been hearing it on and off since the Kennedy Ranges, but this was the first time we'd spotted it.

A few kilometres up the road from the Tomato Cliffs are the sheer Bunda Cliffs.  We stopped at one of the unofficial camp/lookout areas first. We didn't think it was very exciting as a camp spot as the only view was straight out to sea...

... or straight over the edge. Not that you'd want to get too close in case another chunk decided to break off!

We also stopped at the official lookouts, with nice safety barriers.

The Nullarbor Roadhouse had signs up all around saying not to feed the dingos, but this one seemed to think she might score something if she hung around long enough.

The signs gave us false hope - we didn't see any wildlife.

The actual Nullarbor Plain - no trees on the plain after the Nullarbor Roadhouse.

As we got closer to Penong the agricultural country started. There weren't any photos of the farmland, though, because the clouds were too interesting!

The windmill display at Penong.

And all too soon the Nullarbor was over... and our desire to spend even more time going across in future is even greater,