May 2 ... Eucla

Got away pretty early and it looked like a much better day weather wise. We were glad because we knew we would be stopping a fair bit as this is the scenic part of the drive. Garry and I actually enjoy the whole Nullabor crossing but this coastal stretch is particularly good.

The Nullabor "treeless" Plain

Our first brief stop was at Penong to photograph the windmills. Not wonderfully impressive, but interesting. Every house in Penong had its own windmill so they could access the water which is in small underground basins. Water is now brought in from Ceduna and many of the mills are in disrepair.

From there we drove through to The Head of Bight. Last time we travelled across, this was a dirt road and it was closed as we were too early in the season. We were still too early for the whales (June to September) but the road was sealed and the structure was still worth stopping at as the views were excellent. From here you can look west to the cliffs and east towards huge white sand dunes. To the south is just ocean until you hit Antartica! The ocean was an incredible blue and we were lucky to see it in the sunshine as heavy showers had been about all morning.

The Bunda Cliffs

An amazing-blue sea

Sandhills from Head of Bight

We had been told by the tourist guy in Ceduna that all the other cliff roadside lookouts had been closed but he was wrong. Of the seven, two were closed, possibly because the cliffs had become unstable, but we were still able to stop regularly and enjoy the amazing views of the Bunda Cliffs that form the southern edge of the continent's landmass.

The edge of the Great Australian Bight

This activity happily took us through to Eucla where we had decided to stay even though it was quite early in the day. We found a great site, with excellent views of the coast, in an almost empty park. But within a few hours we had three families camping practically on top of us and I guess we will have a "pleasant" evening listening to their conversations!
Another thing to remember for next time is that, as well as the price of fuel varying by up to 50cents/litre at various roadhouses, not all of them stock premium unleaded, so it is a good idea to fill up when you can. Garry paid the most EVER for fuel today, $1.89 / litre! Let's see what tomorrow brings.

The view from our van at the Eucla Park