Nullarbor

We have been on edge a little bit for the last week with so much uncertainty about the pathway home with Covid making state-crossings awkward. Today, is (was) Sunday and we are at Kalgoorlie. We had contemplated staying longer in WA, perhaps imposing ourselves on the good citizens of Esperance till things settled down. But for now we are committed to making a bolt for home, taking three days to cross the WA part of the Nullarbor, then on to Ceduna, Port Augusta, Broken Hill and a dash for home through Covid-ridden New South Wales.

Anyway, just to refresh on the last week, we had a lovely few days at Cervantes, about halfway between Geraldton and Perth. Heading South, we got further into the unsettled weather that has impacted the South West for the past month. On the News one night, the weather presenter made the remarkable claim that that day had been the first in 30 days without rain. The evidence certainly suggests that is true with lakes and ponds and water everywhere, and the fields of wheat a vibrant green. Unfortunately, the rains are accompanied by some pretty strong winds and on one evening with gusts of up to 90 km, our little motorhome was rocked and buffeted during the night.

While Cervantes is a pretty little spot, there is not a great deal to do there. I suspect it is a lovely getaway spot for Perth folk who have a short drive up the coast with plenty of fishing. One highlight is the lobster industry and the local Lobster Shack put on a pretty good lunch menu. One of the local highlights is Lake Thetis which apparently is abundant in stromatolites – you will have to Google this. There must have been a bit too much recent rain, as we did not identify anything resembling these ancient organisms. A few kilometres out of town are The Pinnacles, an unusual series of dunes decorated with phallic rocks. It was coming on to rain, so we did not stay long.

We criss-crossed the verdant countryside, making our way slowly Eastward through the Wheat belt, firstly to Meckering for some free camping and then to Southern Cross. These were just overnight stops along the road to Kalgoorlie, but the way through this part of Western Australia gives a pretty good view of the scale of the WA wheat belt. It is truly enormous. The odd sheep or cow grazed contentedly in belly-deep grass.

Kalgoorlie gave us a chance to catch up on restocking, washing, attending to repairs and so on. On the strength of a promised morning tea, we attended a salvation army church on Sunday. It has been a while since we have had International Roast was served at a church morning tea, but at least it was hot, and the fellowship was warm. We also did a tour of the huge open pit gold mine which was quite interesting. The scale of it is gigantic. Our friend Satoshi in Japan will be impressed with some of the pictures of the machinery. He has written a book on mining machinery.

From Kalgoorlie we head South for a couple of hundred kilometres to Norseman, where we turn sharp left to head East along the Nullarbor. The Nullarbor is relentless, becoming increasingly sparse and dead flat. One thing that is not sparse is the litter. The phenomenon of roadside litter seems peculiar to the Nullarbor, and for the most part, WA roads seem remarkably litter-free. There would not be a 20 metre stretch where there is a not a can or bottle, plastic bag or tissue. It is almost as if a garbage truck has spewed its contents for a thousand kilometres. For those long stretches of straight road with nothing much to occupy my mind, I found myself becoming increasingly irritated and wondering just who could possibly be doing so much littering. We stopped for coffee at one of the way points and Anne busied herself doing the seemingly pointless job of picking some of it up.

Anyway, as of now we are near the end of the Nullarbor, at the Nullarbor Roadhouse, a dusty haven in the middle of emptiness. The low scrubby saltbush stretches to a dead flat horizon in all directions. However there is an airstrip boasting “scenic flights” but it is hard to imagine anything to view that is not visible from the ground. The runway is also one of the holes of the Nullarbor Links Golf Course. It was a bit windy to play it here, especially in the gathering gloom and we would be certain to lose our golf balls. However we have dragged a bag of clubs for 12,000 kilometres. We did play a hole at Madura. It was a par three across a barren car park. It was almost as if we had not picked up a club in three months – in fact it was exactly like that! It would normally be impossible to lose a golf ball in 150 metres of gravel, but somehow we managed just that. It was all a bit embarrassing.

Tomorrow we head for Ceduna, via Head of Bight where we hope to see some whales. We took a small detour today to one of the viewing sites along the Bight with magnificent views along the coast and pods of whales playing in the waters below the cliffs. After this it becomes a reasonably straightforward trip home. Still, we are keeping anxious eyes on the news and the travel restrictions lurking.

I am intrigued by the last image in the gallery below – the trees through the window. This morning when I woke the breeze was pushing the branches around, and when they momentarily came to rest I saw the image of the lady. Can you see it?