Day 8 Border Village to Norseman

We were up very early today as we hadn't adjusted to WA time (I still haven't and am getting up at 4:30am).  The WA/SA border and Quarantine Station was right outside the caravan park so we had to open the van and the boxes on the back of the ute for inspection.  You cannot take any fruit and vegetables, honey or nuts in shells to WA.  We passed inspection and were finally in Western Australian.

The quarantine station at the WA border

SA/WA Border

Should have mentioned this in the previous post but we had expected the Nullarbor Plain to be barren, flat and boring but it was quite the opposite.  Initially it was undulating and we were anticipating what was going to be over the next hill.  Parts of it were the treeless plains and the straight roads that we expected but there was so much more.  Along the way you got teased with glimpes of the Southern Ocean in the Great Australian Bight until finally about 40kms from the WA border  you drive parallel to the ocean and all you can see is ocean as far as the eye can see.  No islands or anything, just ocean and sometimes amazing escarpments.  The vegetation also changes several times, from low shrubs and satlbush to taller shrubs and trees and back again.  We found that we mainly shared the road with road trains with up to 3 trailers and other caravans.  We saw very few cars.

First stop was Eucla where we refuelled.  We then took a short 4km detour to the old telegraph station which is slowly being buried by sand.  It is made out of sandstone and would have been a beautiful building in its time.  We also looked at the John Eyre Memorial Lookout, the Traveller's Cross and a memorial to two fishermen who were lost at sea.  There was also another hole of the Nullarbor Links Golf Course here.

The ruins of the old telegraph station at Eucla

We continued driving to Madura across the Roe Plains.  We were pleasantly surprised to find that someone had decorated various trees along the way.  Each one had a theme; one was full of bras, one with shoes, one with caps, one with bottles and lots more.  They were a long way apart so it really added some interest to the drive waiting for the next one and wondering what it would be.

As we were driving across the Nullarbor, the only wildlife we saw was two emus.  There was also hardly any road kill considering that a lot of it was unfenced and there were road trains travelling day and night.

One of the signs, after a while the wombat changed to an emu on the signs

Next stop was Madura where we refuelled.  It was almost as expensive as Nullarbor at 192 cents per litre.  There was another Nullarbor Links Golf Course hole here.

We travelled on through Cocklebiddy and then to Caiguna with yet another Nullarbor Links Golf Course hole.  The “90 mile (146.6kms) straight” starts at Caiguna and goes to Balladonia.  It is the longest straight stretch of highway in Australia. 

We refuelled at Balladonia and diesel was a bit cheaper at 1889.1 cents per litre.  The name Balladonia comes from an aboriginal word meaning “big red rock”.  It made world headlines in 1979 when space debris from Skylab landed 40km east on Woorlba Sheep Station.  The hotel complex has a cultural Heritage Museum which has pieces of Skylab on display.  Balladonia has one of the world’s oldest and dense landscapes.

A piece of Skylab

We were considering staying the night at Fraser Range Station but there was no phone reception and we wanted to call Lauren so pressed on to Norseman.  It was a really big day as we did 713kms and I definitely had a numb bum by the time we got there.  The caravan park at Norseman was the most expensive yet at $33 for the night for a powered site.  I was up early the next morning so went for a walk around Norseman which is a historical gold mining town and Western Australia’s gateway to the Nullarbor.  Over 5 million ounces of gold have been taken out of Norseman making it the second richest goldfield in WA.   There are camels made out of corrugated iron and a sculpture of a horse “Norseman” that the town is named after.   The horse allegedly was tethered to a tree overnight and by morning the horse had unearthed a piece of gold bearing quartz by pawing the ground.   

The statue of Norseman

The tin camels at Norseman

Next stop Kalgoorlie.

Cheers

Pete and Roz