Sun, 17th Apr, 2016 13k Peg rest area, Nullarbor National Park, SA to Jilah Rockhole, near Mundrabilla, WA (crossing border & Eucla)

15 degrees in the van at 7.15am, windy outside. Our last South Australian sunrise.

Sent Leanne Mitchell a text for her birthday today.

Had our last banana with our cereal and made up our lunches using all the rest of the fresh food. Decided to drive back to 25k peg rest area and drive down to the coastline where it slopes down. Found the Pegs at last that the rest areas are named after.

Unhooked the van. Overlooking the water is a memorial to a trucker and his dog who died in 2010. They released his ashes here in 2011 so not sure if he died here or it was just a favourite spot of his.

Now to just work out which track is best to get down to the water. 

Headed down – me hanging on tight and Steve in control. Just a bit rocky to start!! Down we go.

Crossed over the ‘creek’ area at the bottom. Looking back up.

Stopped on an outcrop overlooking a large flat rock platform with the waves washing over it. Can’t get down to the water but this is good enough. We are about 10m from the water.

Looking east.

Watching the waves roll in as we had a cuppa.

There is a sandy beach area a bit further to the west but I think it will still be a cliff climb to get down to it.

Looking back at the track, we go down into the creek then back up that rocky track. That was a bit fun coming down as it had loose rocks – not looking forward to going back up it.

Then around the hill and continue up the hillside to the top.

Others have camped here as there is rope, crab and other shells remains and ‘a toilet’!!

I saw something dark in a wave and it turned out to be a few dolphins. Was tricky getting a photo of them.

Zoomed in further west along the coastline. The high cliffs in the distance as Wilsons Bluff which is on the border of SA/WA.

Back up the track, got stuck on that rocky bit so he had to back up and have another go. I did keep my eyes open but I held my breath, mind you, I trust him totally but still!! Hooked up the van and headed west to Border Village. Looks nice and sunny in West Australia!!

Pulled in beside Big Rooey II for a photo and to play another hole of golf.

They haven’t got Cairns on the sign. We are nearly halfway between Adelaide and Perth. Standing this side it should say SA/WA border!!

Got out our clubs and balls. Each one has a story to tell. Border Village burnt down in 2000.

Should be easy as it is a straight line to the green. Only problem is it was narrow. I zigzagged my way down and had to pick up my ball from behind bushes and trees 4 times so I ended up 12+4. Steve did much better and got it in in 7 (stuffed up getting it in the hole).

Wandered into the Roadhouse. Some great photos – all in flood. Motorbikes everywhere.

This section of WA has its own special time which is only ¾ hour behind SA.

A semi carrying semis.

Walked over to the Quarantine Station and then checked out the border info area. Needs a big makeover – it is missing the state info boards. Steve has a leg in each State.

The GPS checkpoint.

My turn.

Info boards. The Red kangaroo – the red ones are male and the females are blue/grey. The Western Grey kangaroo – brownish grey with black tips to the paws, ears, feet and tail.

My phone changed straight to Perth time (1 1/2hr behind) so we just changed to that. Sat down and had our lunch at 11.50am and a midday I changed my watch. Now it was only 10.30am – going to be a long day.

Into the Quarantine Checkpoint. Nice lady did a quick look in the truck and fridge and then I showed her where I had kept the onions and potatoes – all clean. Fridge was clear too. We were all good to go then she saw Steve’s firewood bag at the back. Took one that didn’t have any wood in it as she said it could have been a seed bag – bit of the top when you think where it has been. She let us keep the other one full of timber.

All good so off we headed, straight around the corner to the Border for a photo with the truck and van.

WA road is a bit wider as they have a bicycle lane. 110km/hr for cars but trucks and towing vehicles can only do 100km/hr.

Ten kilometres to Eucla. Eucla had a population of over 100 in the early 1900s and was the busiest telegraph station in Australia beyond the capital cities. Through the few streets passed the van park and fuel station (148.9c/l) – will top up here. Out to the Lookout. A memorial to Eyre and his men and another to two fisherman who lost their lives.

Great view over the plains and around to the highway as it heads west.

Zoomed in on the white Delisser Sand Hills.

I walked down the road a bit while Steve brought the truck and van around. Found a blowhole, but it wasn’t blowing.

Down the escarpment to check out the Eucla Telegraph Station.

Tony and Yvonne were just walking out. Chatted for a bit, they are staying in the van park. Over the dune to the Telegraph Station has been buried under the sand dunes but it is exposed at the moment. The Station opened in 1877 and helped link WA with the rest of Australia and the world, sending 11,000 messages annually (just 33 years after Samuel Morse invented the telegraph). The first message sent to Perth on 8^th Dec, 1877 stated “Eucla line opened, Hurrah”.

All silted up inside, Steve could see over the wall standing near the top of the window.

Climbed up on the wall for a good look over the building.

Looking back up to Eucla.

Behind the Station were huge eucalyptus trees. Steve thought there might have been a bore here for them to be growing so well compared with the others.

Continued down the track towards the beach – another building.

Out onto the flat salt pans. We found two bottle dumps that Steve thinks could have been thrown into a couple of tanks which have since rusted away.

Out to the beach where the remains of the old jetty still stand. When the telegraph station was in operation all the goods etc had to come to them via ships, then carted to the station using camels.

Lots of seagrass here too. Looking east to the Delisser Sand hills then around to Wilsons Bluff.

We made it down to the water’s edge of the Southern Ocean.

Walked up to the jetty. Looking further west along the beach.

Back up over the dunes following the remains of the other parts of the jetty platform.

No shells on the beach but Steve found me an urchin. Got our exercise today with that walk.

Back to the van, it is now midday!! Where’s my lunch – oh yeah we had that!! Drove back but instead of going back up to the lookout we went around to the west and came up the Eucla Pass where you climb up from the plain back up to the high plateau.

On the Hema it showed another roadhouse which is where I thought the golf tee was but there was no roadhouse and the golf course was further 5km north along a dirt road, passed the rubbish dump. Eventually we found it. The pistol and clay shooting club was there too.

Interesting story of the Nullarbor Nymph.

We should do ok here as it is nice and wide and straight down to the green.

Found the old golf tee. I made it in 7 and Steve did very well with 4 to the green but then missed the hole a few times and ended up on 9.

Back into Eucla for a cuppa with a cracker and cheese to keep us going till dinner. Good internet reception here so I uploaded 4 days to the blog and updated Facebook. Ian sent a text saying he was watching the V8s with Brian. We will have to watch the highlights online later. Topped up the fuel. Walked across to check out the distance sign.

The Leeuwin Way Whale. It is approximately 10 metres long, 3 metres wide and 3 metres high, weighing approximately 4 tonne. It is constructed of Ferro Concrete, after the fashion of concrete yachts. The construction, transport and erection of the whale was undertaken as a community effort by the people of Albany, with the project being co-ordinated by the Albany Promotion Committee. Albany, founded in 1826, is the oldest town in WA and was the only shore-based whaling station in the Southern Hemisphere – it is now a museum.

Met Tony & Yvonne again as we headed to the Museum. It is a small room with lots to read and check out.

Sad story of two trucks colliding on the Eucla Pass.

The first settlers at Eucla – the Muirs.

A story about travelling across the Nullarbor in 1953. In it he mentions Koonalda Station which was owned by the Gurneys. They ran 1200 sheep and 100 head of cattle on 1124 square miles as they only had water from two wells. The water is called ‘Two ounce’ as it contains 2oz of salt to the gallon. He went into the limestone Koonalda Caves and saw an amphitheatre underground the size of the Colosseum at Rome.

There was the Gurney’s family history book with lots of info about the station and Eucla and the Telegraph Station.

Headed off again down the Eucla Pass onto the Roe Plains.

New animal sign – emus replace the wombats. I wonder why they don’t cross the border!!

Another RFDS Airstrip on the road.

We are now travelling alongside the Hampton Ranges/Tableland and still continuing with the open plains.

Passed our first roadkill, a Western Grey kangaroo. Next rest stop, 30km west, is called Najada Rockhole but when we pulled in there was no rockhole. Chatted with a couple with a Qld numberplate and they were from Yorkeys Knob. We kept driving. I changed the GPS to the Hema 4WD maps and noticed that Najada Rockhole was actually on top of the range so the rest area was just named after it. Very good road so far considering all the trucks that use it. Next roadkill had a Wedge Tailed Eagle and crows on it but I wasn’t quick enough to get a photo.

Continued on to Mundrabilla for another hole of golf. It is behind the van park and the roadhouse so a few people came out to watch thinking we knew what we were doing. Steve got a 9 and I got a 10.

A couple of Novas are here too.

Dark clouds have come over and the wind has gotten quite cool. Nasty burrs around here.

I went into the roadhouse to find out about the meteorite that was discovered nearby. It weighed over 10 tonnes and was Australia’s largest. The lady said that it was about 200km north on the Mundrabilla Station. Parts were chipped off and sent to museums. I took this photo of the big rock out front. You would think they would have a ‘Big’ rock for the tourists.

Got a blurry shot of the next eagle.

Next rest stop was at Kathala Pass (which was up on the range again). A roofed area over two water tanks provides water for travellers. A bit rusty now though so we gave it a miss.

Stopped at Jilah Rockhole Rest Stop for the night. The Rockhole is up there somewhere.

Malcolm and Kerry rang for a chat after seeing my Facebook update of heading into WA. They had heard there was a caravan crash so wanted to check we were ok. Such great friends.

The Map.