The Nullabor Plain.....so far

Yeah I finally have Internet coverage, for a little while anyway.

The Norseman Camels bid us farewell as we started our Nullabor Adventure

Well here we are our fourth night on the Nullabor Plain. We were both a bit excited about this part of our adventure as we had never travelled across this vast expanse of land before and really didn't know what to expect. The name Nullabor was given to this area  by a surveyor, E. A. Delisser back in 1867. The name came from the Latin "Nullus" and Arbor" meaning no trees. The aboriginal name for the Nullabor Plain was "Oondiri" meaning "the waterless" as the average rainfall of the areas about 8 inches per year. The Nullabor stretches approx. 724 kms (450 miles) from east to west and from the coast it extends 321 kms (200 miles) to the Great Victorian Desert in the North.

Our first night on the Plain was spent at Fraser Range Station. Traditionally Fraser Range has run Merino sheep, but due to the rainfall and inaccessibility of the range and Hardwood forest they are planning to run cattle in the future. We originally thought we would spend two nights here but due to the tremendous wind we decided on just one night. 

The sun starts to peek through the clouds at Fraser Range Station

Our second night was at a Roadhouse called Cocklebiddy Wedgetail Inn. It was an OK place to stay. But what got me was that this area has it's own time zone called the Central Western Standard Time. It's the only part of Western Australia that is 45 mins different to the rest of WA. I found it very confusing not knowing what time we were WA time, Central West time or South Australia time!!

We were greeted by this amusing sign.....but we didn't see one kangaroo!

......and yes it was a very loooong straight road......

Then last night our third night was spent at the Western Australia/South Australia border. Once again it was a road house and again OK. We decided to have a meal in their bar and it was very yummy. 

These signs are at regular intervals along the Eyre Highway. But we didn't see any camels. wombats or kangaroos....but we did see a family of Emu's that thought they would try and get across the road before I got there. I had to almost stop to let them pass. Luckily there were no other cars around.

One foot in South Australia and one foot in Western Australia

Today we hit the Nullabor Plain as I had imagined, very flat and barren. This part of it is also closer to the southern coastline so we got to view the famous Bunda Cliffs and they certainly didn't disappoint. The plain drops 90 metres into the pounding Southern Ocean. The Bunda Cliffs stretch for over 200 kms. 

What a spectacular sight greeted us

Tonight we are staying at yet another roadhouse this time it's called the Nullabor Roadhouse. The roadhouse is pretty basic and just somewhere to lay our head, but this part of the world is amazing. The land is very flat with low growing tough vegetation and this huge expanse of glorious blue sky. I have never been in a place where there is so much sky. I am really looking forward to sitting looking at the stars tonight. 

The land is so flat and vast you can actually see the curvature of the earth

The Nullabor treated us to a spectacular sunset tonight.

Goodbye Esperance, Hello Nullabor

Today is our last day in beautiful Esperance, so as usual it was a day of shopping, getting petrol and getting Myrtle ready for the next part of our journey. But this time we have had to organise ourselves just a little more, because our next few days we will be travelling across the Nullabor Plain. Being from the other side of Australia in Melbourne, the Nullabor has always had a bit of an elusive feel to me. I am pretty excited about this part of our Aussie Adventure. I'm presuming I may not have much phone or Internet reception for the next few days so if I don't I may have quite a few photos to share with you next week. So for my farewell to Esperance I will share a few random photos from the Esperance area.

Here fishy, fishy fishy

Someone told me this was a Native Honeysuckle.... but I'm not sure, I don't think it is.
Does anyone know what anyone know what this plant is?

Mmmmm I'm off on a mission......

......and off he goes.....

Someone has erected a small stone mound in front of this rock formation. I know these little rock towers are from the American Indians.
I think they could be called Inukshucks but not sure.
Can anyone verify the name and any other information for me?

Fishing Success

Today we headed out to a location that another traveller had recommended to us. So off we started on the 80 km drive to a location that we weren't really sure how to find! We came to the dirt road he had told us about , opened the gate as it is private property and continued along the road that didn't take long before it was a starting to become quite a rough track. After driving quite a while we are starting to wonder if maybe this wasn't the road as we couldn't see any water. Then all of a sudden we came around a corner and there was not only the beautiful Young River but another couple preparing to head out fishing on their canoe.  We continued on a bit further and found a rocky outcrop that looked like it was just the right spot for a bit of fishing. Boy, were we right every single cast we landed a fish. They were all Black Bream and we ended up getting 11 fish, all over 25cm which is the minimum size for Black Bream. We caught a lot more than that but threw quite a few back as they were either undersized or because 6 per person is the bag limit. I don't have shot of the fish as they are already in the freezer but I will share a shot of one on a plate.

Young River

I love fishing but I hate putting bait on the hook. So I try and convince Shane into doing it!!

Then we decided to go and have a look at Stokes Inlet to see if it would be OK to have a bit of a fish.  Oh my I don't think so. The wind was blowing into this inlet and swirling around like a washing machine. The rough seas was swirling so much it creating a huge amount of foam all along the coast line. It actually looked quite amazing. 

A very frothy Stokes Inlet

Esperance's Amazing Beaches

Today was a very lazy day in Esperance and we really didn't do anything. So I thought I would share some shots of a couple of the beaches we visited yesterday. While we have been in Western Australia we have visited some pretty good beaches and the ones in this area have not disappointed us at all. Every beach we have seen without fail have the whitest of white sand and the bluest of blue water.

Hellfire Bay

Feathers in the Sand

Frenchman Peak

Love Life

Whistling Rock

Thistle Cove

Lucky Bay

Esperance Stonehenge ??

Yes you read right Esperance Stonehenge.

In 2009 the Australasian Granite Company were commissioned to sculpture and complete Stonehenge for a client in Margaret River, WA. After 12 months the project was in trouble due to financial problems for the initial owner. In stepped the now owners Kim and Jillian Beale. With 6weeks of quarrying work to be completed they took on the project with the last stone being place at 3.15pm on 26 October 2011.

FACTS

• It is a full size replica of the original "Stonehenge" in the UK, as it would have looked around 1950BC.
• 137 stones of Esperance pink granite quarried adjacent to the Beale's property, in Esperance, WA.
• The 10 Trilithon Stones in a horseshoe pattern weigh between 38 - 50 tonnes each, standing with the 18 tonne lintels to a height of 8 metres.
• Inside the Trilithon horseshoe stands another Horseshoe of 19 Blue Stones.
• The Trilithon Stones are surrounded by a circle of 30 Sarsen Stones weighing 28 tonnes each and standing almost 5 metres high including the 7 tonne lintels on top.
• Positioned between the Sarsen Circle and the Trilithon Stones is a full circle of 40 smaller stones, referred to as the Bluestone Circle.
• The Altar Stone weighs 9 tonne and lies in front of the tallest Trilithon Stones.
• The structure is aligned with the Summer Solstice Sunrise -Esperance time. The Station Stones are positioned on this line to allow the sun rays to pass through to the Altar. The summer solstice is the longest day of the year (22nd December). The sunset on the winter solstice (which is the shortest day of the year - 21 June). This is the same line as the Summer Solstice Sunrise.

Prior to actually seeing this replica Stonehenge I thought it might be a bit tacky. But I was definitely wrong and also very pleasantly surprised. This structure is very impressive and has a bit of a spiritual feel about it. I would definitely recommend paying it a visit.

Wharton Beach

Esperance is a regional town situated on the south coast of Western Australia, with a population of around 10,000 people. It's major industries are tourism, agriculture and fishing. This region is also well known for having some of the nicest beaches with their snow white sands and turquoise waters.
Today was a day of fishing, yes that's fishing not catching just fishing. So needless to say I cooked hamburgers for dinner. Even though no fish were caught it was a very nice day in a couple of magnificent locations. As I sat there looking out over the Southern Ocean I was amazed by the amount of islands I could see in the distance. These island are all part of the Recherche Archipelago and they comprise of 105 islands, and more than 1500 islets.

First stop was at Alexander Beach. We had a few bites here but the fish were to crafty for us.

Next was a lunch stop overlooking the beautiful Wharton Beach

Time for another fish at Wharton Beach........

......not a bite. But who cares this location is magnificent. We will definitely be back here.