CEDUNA, FOWLERS BAY AND THE NULLABOR

 

Tuesday 14^th May   -   We left Streaky Bay for our next destination Ceduna.  We stopped off at a little fishing town called Smoky Bay, 45 minutes from Streaky Bay to see what it was like.  It was in a beautiful bay with a really long beach and jetty.  The caravan park was quite small but everyone was really friendly.  There was only a small general store in the whole town.  The area is a very popular fishing spot and the jetty was pretty busy when we got there with one lucky fisherman and his wife leaving the jetty with a trolley of fishing gear and an esky full of squid.  We stopped by the jetty for morning tea and to let Sally have a long run on the beach, which she loved. 

In under an hour we had arrived in Ceduna at Shelly Beach Caravan Park, which was 3 kilometres out of town and had a 4 ½ star rating.  The bays at the park were very wide and roomy with bushes in between each caravan spot for privacy.  It was quite a large spread out park, with a camp kitchen and communal open fire each evening.  There was also a car/caravan/boat washing area for $4 which was unusual as there were stringent restrictions on water usage everywhere else.  We were in a valley at the bottom of the huge dunes which made us quite sheltered from the wind.  There was a big hill walk leading up to the long beach.

We set up and went for a drive into the main town.   Ceduna was named “Chedoona” by the aboriginals, meaning “resting place”.  It was the last main town before the Nullarbor.  We thought it was a fairly small town with probably not more than 20 shops and businesses in all.  A peculiar thing was the piped music in the street – like stepping into the Stepford Wives movie set -  really old sleepy 60’s ballads.  We thought it may be to calm the locals – or more probably deter them from coming into the main street, it was really woeful music. They host the annual “Oysterfest Event” each October, with wine, arts and seafoods on display. We didn’t really like the place much and were glad we weren’t staying there too long.  They had both Foodland and IGA supermarkets which we found quite expensive.  We saw a sign saying “footwear must be worn before entering” as we were going into the Tourist Information Centre which we found amusing.  There were lots of aboriginal people in the area.  Photo ID has to be shown before you can purchase any alcohol and the town is a dry zone.

The foreshore area has been upgraded and was very pleasant to stroll along, with grassed areas and playground equipment.  The jetty was always busy with keen anglers.  We went for a drive from Laura Bay taking in Decres Bay, Denial Bay and Davenport Creek which was very scenic.  It didn’t take us too long to see and do what we wanted.  Having said that, there was a large group of caravaners that were spending 3 months at Shelley Beach to go fishing in the bay every day.  The local racecourse was adjacent to the park and we often heard horses neighing whilst doing their training sessions. 

Friday 17^th May   -  We left Ceduna and headed to Fowlers Bay.  We passed through Penong and couldn’t help laughing at the big sign hanging from the corner of the Penong Hotel  -   “Last Cheap Beer Before the Nullarbor”.  No mention was made anywhere about food, gas or other supplies.  Get your priorities right!   Within 2 hours, we had arrived at Fowlers Bay Caravan Park. We turned off the main road and took the dirt road leading into Fowlers Bay which took us 20 minutes.  The town boasts 19 residents in total and is a very quiet place with a kiosk and caravan park. The caravan park is a short walk over the road to the beach and jetty.  From June to October the place gets very busy with tourists going out on boat trips wanting to see the Southern Right Whales that come into the Bay to have their babies.  The Bay had a whaling station until 1843.  There are miles and miles of huge sand hills at the back of the town where the adventurous tourists can do 4WD trips and visit the sea lion colony, or even walk up and down them (quite strenuous).

Fowlers Bay was named by Matthew Flinders in 1802 in honour of his First Lieutenant Robert Fowler.

The explorer John Eyre had his base camp there before taking off on his epic overland journey to Albany in1860.

When we drove into the caravan park, we pulled up wherever we could find a spot until we had been to the kiosk.  We were greeted by a red cattle dog with a ball in her mouth.  We gave her a pat and threw the ball (she kept coming back for us to play fetch with her).  She was at the front of someone’s caravan, so I went over to talk to the people, assuming it was their dog.  I was told “she’s one of the town dogs” and that there were 3 dogs that always hang around the park.  Red dog is the mother of the other two, Brutus a male and his sister.  We were later told that Brutus has his own fan club and regularly gets letters and postcards sent to him and that he saved a little boy from drowning recently when he jumped off the jetty to save him. Brutus adopted us when we’d set up and he came for a long trek along the beach with us, quite happy.  Sally was having fun chasing around with him.  

The new managers of the caravan park Darren and Jan were extremely helpful and friendly.  They’ve been there for only 3 months.  Darren walked from the kiosk to show us our spot to park and helped us back it in.  Everyone in the park was so friendly and lots of them had been coming to Fowlers Bay for their holidays for many years.  Our neighbour Bob had been coming for 3 weeks every year for the past 16 years as he knew the previous park owners and ran the park for them whilst they took their annual holidays.  It was a very quiet, quirky place and the people really made all the difference.  Power was from a big generator, and you could only use one electrical appliance at a time.  We couldn’t use any water or the shower in our van as there was absolutely no water pressure.  Water was from huge rain water tanks and bore water and showers were limited to 3 minutes each.     There was a large communal kitchen and outdoor fire pit which was brilliant and a great meeting place with a beer or wine at 5 o’clock.  Saturday night was the highlight of everyone’s social calendar with the weekly “Saturday Cook Up Night”, when all of the 19 locals got together with the park visitors around the fire for a $12 per person feed, supplied by the park managers.  We had sausages, chicken burgers, baked fish and 4 home- made salads which were delicious.  Everyone had a great time together.  We met some lovely fun people and 99% of them were all headed to the West.  We said we might meet up with some of them along the way.

There was a big metal bird cage besides the facilities block with two of the most beautiful and unusual birds I’ve ever seen.  They had bright green bodies, really, really long tail feathers and bright red beaks.  They looked like giant parrots.   When I asked Darren what they were he told me they were Alexandrines from Africa.  Amazing colours and so unusual.

I had to walk out to the table by the jetty to get any mobile phone reception (despite having the Telstra blue tick phone that’s supposedly the best for country coverage).  We couldn’t get any tv or internet reception either. The last few places we’ve stayed, we’ve only been able to get SBS or ABC channels.   Richard is now thinking of getting a mobile tv satellite dish when we get to Perth as everyone we’ve spoken to that had one says they can pick up any station anywhere in Australia.  He also wants to get a small chainsaw for cutting down wood for bush camp fires and fit a light aluminium box under the caravan to store some wood in for when we’re bush camping.  The list of jobs “to be done when we get to Perth” is growing steadily day by day.

Sunday 19^th May  -  We left Fowlers Bay at 8.30 to get an early start on our trip towards The Nullarbor.  We passed through Nundroo and Yalata and came to Head of Bight which is the beginning of The Nullarbor.  We stopped at The Head of Bight Interpretive Centre and paid $5 to go down to see the whales that were just starting to come in from Antarctica to have their calves.  They come back to the same spot each year.  We walked down the boardwalk to the lower level viewing platform overlooking the ocean.  We were so pleased there was a whale close in swimming past and spouting and calling out.  It was a magnificent spectacle to see it so nearby.  It swam further along and out to sea all too quickly.  We waited around hopeful of seeing another one as we’d been told there were three around that day.  We were fortunate enough to see a second one but it kept blowing and disappearing under the ocean too quickly.  We’ve been told that August is the best time to visit as all the calves are born and are very interactive with their mothers and the other calves and it’s quite a spectacle. We were still very pleased to have seen two whales that day -  magnificent creatures.

We drove on to The Nullarbor Roadhouse and filled up with petrol and continued further along The Nullarbor.  The Nullarbor comes from the Latin  “nullus” and “arbor” meaning “no trees”.   The    Nullarbor covers an area of 200,000 square kilometres (77 square miles).  Going East to West is 1,100 kilometres.  It starts at Ceduna and ends at Norseman.  We stopped at 4pm at a free camp area at Bunda Cliffs.  It was a fairly small rest area, but had spectacular views of the cliffs.  Bunda Cliffs stretch along The Great Australian Bight for 200 kilometres and there is a 90 metre straight drop from the top to the ocean below.  They’re made up of startling colourful layers.  The base is made of white Wilson Bluff Limestone.  Above that are whitish grey and brown layers, capped off with a hardened layer of windblown sand.  We were quite surprised to learn from photos and information displayed by the cliffs that there are lots of underground caves under The Nullarbor.  

STUNNING  BUNDA CLIFFS

Four other caravans were parked in the rest area and after a look at the spectacular cliffs, we all gathered together for a really happy happy hour.  They were a great fun crowd and It was such a beautiful balmy night, really mild.  We sat outside until 9.30 and were very surprised just how long we had sat outside. 

Monday 20^th May  -  We set off at 8am for another long day on The Nullarbor.  We were 50 kilometres away from the SA/WA Border Village, where you have to dispose of all your fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds, honey and soils.  A Quarantine Officer went right through the car and caravan.  I had to open all the doors and drawers inside the van and she checked inside the fridge and freezer – very thorough. We were the second in line to go through the checkpoint.  The whole process took about half an hour.  Then we were officially in Western Australia.  It was quite a good feeling.

 We passed though Eucla, Mundrabilla, Madura, Cocklebiddy and Caiguna – the start of the official “Longest Straight Road” some 145 kilometres. 

At each roadhouse we stopped at, we kept bumping into “our crowd” and kept up-to-date with how they were coping and where they were headed for that night.  There was only mobile phone reception coming up to each roadhouse and shortly afterwards, otherwise reception was nil along the road.  Many travellers have CB radios for communication. By 3pm, and some 400 kilometres later, we decided to stop off at Domblegabby Rest Area (number 15 in Camps 7) at Balladonia.  It was a very large rest area with a covered shelter area.  The weather was very overcast and spitting rain and was turning quite cold.  Shortly after we’d driven into the rest area, two of “our crowd” pulled in besides us.  We were happy to see them again and to know we would have the pleasure of their company for another evening.  We gathered together, huddled under our awning, as it was raining steadily by now, and bravely had happy hours again.  

Tuesday 21^st May   -   Balladonia to Norseman (188 kilometres).  We were all up early and ready to leave by 8am for the last league of our mammoth journey across The Nullarbor.  By now, it was raining very heavily and visibility was extremely difficult.  We had to slow down to 80kpm or under to feel safe.  There were numerous grooves and ruts along the side of the road from the high temperatures and constant heavy road trains that zoom past 24/7.    We were surprised by the number of wide loads travelling along the road and we had to pull over to the side to let them pass us by both ways. Thankfully, after a few hours, the weather cleared and we could see where we were going once again. The scenery all the way was constantly changing from a flat plain to dense shrub to scrawny thin leafless trees, with such a variation in colours of greens, yellows and browns everywhere.  One side of the road was different to the other, so there was always something to look at.  There were also lots of places to stop with interesting things to see.  We went up and down hills at The Fraser Ranges, scenic black granite hills.  After “The Longest Straight Road” it was a pleasant change to have a few twists in the road to break up the monotony.  Interestingly enough, the road surface colour constantly changed from black , some with yellow patches, to yellow, again some with black patches, which kept us alert noting the changes.  We were told later that the amount of rainfall we’d seen was an unusual phenomenon on The Nullarbor.  The sides of the roads were flooded ditches.  By 1pm we reached Norseman and went to BP to fill up with petrol yet again.  Hooray – we’d “crossed The Nullarbor”.  Three of “our crowd” were inside having lunch.  We joined them for home-made soup and really nice hot chips which I really fancied.  We chatted to our friends and said our farewells to all but two who were going via Kalgoorlie.  We swapped email addresses and phone numbers and promised to keep in touch

CAMELS ON A ROUNDABOUT AT NORSEMAN

.Alan and Sandra (poms from Clacton-On-Sea 45 years ago) who now live in Busselton, were going to Salmon Gums about an hour further on from Norseman. We decided that sounded pretty good and arranged to meet them there.  The road from Norseman to Salmon Gums was long and straight (not as long as “The longest Straight Road”) and quite isolated.  We passed by an iron ore train that had derailed earlier in the day caused by the wet conditions.  News helicopters were flying overhead.  It was quite a sight to see, with 32 carriages overturned and about 2,000 tonnes of iron ore wasted.  A real mess that would take a long time to sort out!!!

We arrived in the tiny town of Salmon Gums and drove to the Community Caravan Park  at the back of town.  The townspeople had made a tremendous effort with the park, with immaculately kept toilets and showers (albeit older style), all with nice liquid soaps, sticky fly paper hanging from the light fittings and slip-proof mats in the showers.  There was an indoor/outdoor laundry in the alcove between the male and female toilets.  There was a large undercover seating area and brick fire pit/bbq (some scoundrel had previously taken a liking to their heavy metal bbq plate).  The whole place was very neat and tidy with native plants growing inside tyre beds around each tree.  Geraniums were planted underneath the trees.  The place looked loved and well maintained.  It was $15 for a powered site with water.  We got set up and used the wheelbarrow provided to collect wood for a toasty fire.  Alan and Richard went off to get enough wood for the night and soon we had a blazing fire going.  Three other vans pulled in for the night – they were all people we recognised from our stops along The Nullarbor.  It didn’t take long to gather around the fire and enjoy their company.  The local Ranger came by later to collect our money and have a chat by the fire.

Wednesday 22^nd May   -   Alan and Sandra were going to Esperance to the Pink Lake Caravan Park  where they had stayed before.  We were headed for Esperance also, so arranged to meet them there.  We left at 8.30 and arrived at the caravan park by 10.30.  The park was small with narrow parking bays and 10 minutes from town.  We went for a drive around the town and looked at the Tanker Jetty and pure white sandy beaches surrounding the harbour.  We went on the 40 kilometre Great Ocean Drive with stunning views along the coastline and cliffs and huge peaked granite boulders of different shapes in the sea.  We stopped at Twilight Beach which was voted Australia’s best beach in 2006, it wasn’t hard to see why – the sand was so white it looked like snow and the water was absolutely clear deep aqua blue. One bay meandered into another stunning vista.   We passed along Nine Mile Beach, Ten Mile Lagoon and Eleven Mile Beach, past the Pink Lake (which is only slightly tinged pink) and back to the caravan park.  It was a lovely drive.

We were parked nearby another young couple that we’d met last week at Fowlers Bay and invited them for drinks in the enclosed camp kitchen area with Alan and Sandra.  We cracked open a bottle of bubbly to celebrate “Crossing The Nullarbor” and being in WA.  As you can see, it’s very strenuous being a “grey nomad” and you have to have a strong constitution for the constant happy hours.

TRIVIA:     Kilometres travelled 11.3.13 – 23.05.13          9,400

                   Cost of Petrol                                                    $3,000

                   Cost of Accommodation                                    $1,000

                   Average cost per night                                       $20

                   Number of nights free/cheap (under $10)           23

NEXT WEEK:   We will be visiting Bremmer Bay and Albany.  Thanks for your company so far.  It  would be pretty boring chattering away to myself with nobody listening.