Over the next 5 days we will retrace our steps across the Nullarbor back to Bendigo. Our first hop is Balladonia to Eucla. We spend 2 nights in Eucla mainly to have a bit of a rest and to try and find the ruins of the old telegraph station. The ruins disappear on a regular basis, covered by huge sand dunes only to be uncovered again over time. We found them, only partially covered and found them interesting.
 |
| Old Wharf Great Australian Bight Eucla |
 |
| Old Telegraph Station ruins Eucla |
 |
| Old Telegraph Station ruins Eucla |
 |
| Old Telegraph Station ruins Eucla |
The workmanship required to build these structures which remain standing in the most adverse conditions was remarkable. From the ruins we found a track which wound its way over the sand dunes and on to the beach. The water was crystal clear and pretty much untouched. We did find the remnants of an old jetty but information about it was scarse. From here we took another track out on to the flats between the sea and the Eucla cliffs. It was pretty short but again we found things that throw up a lot of questions but not many answers.
We left Eucla early because we knew 10 km down the road we would lose 1.5 hours because of the time zones and pointed our noses to Ceduna, a 500km drive. Not much to say about this leg just a lot of retraced kilometres. We did stop at Nullarbor and Nundroo both of which featured in the out bound leg. Ceduna seems like a nice place and at the moment there is an oyster festival happening so sites at caravan parks are at a premium.
 |
| Ceduna Peir |
The first place we went to was full so we ended up at the Big 4. A bit of a surprise I must say. Very friendly people and at $27 one of the cheapest parks we have come across. Worth considering if you come this way.
Another reasonable start to another day and we have fell into a bit of a rhythm with the set up and pack up. Di looks after the inside of the van, I do the outside and Wendy pretty much packs the Oztent on her own. So it takes about half an hour and we are ready to roll. So we were ready to leave Ceduna for Port Augusta by 8.30. Around 480 kms today with morning tea at a town called Poochera (which is famous for dinosaur ants). It’s pretty small place and not much there but the toilets are clean and it has a really nice area (by Nullarbor standards) to pull off for a break. Found a quondong tree with fruit and a tree covered in yellow lady bugs. Morning tea over, we headed east again and stopped for lunch at Kimba.
 |
| Lady Birds doing what nature does |
 |
| Giant Gala – Where’s Dougal |
On our way over we stopped here looking for the big gala and never found it (and before you open your mouth no it was not me they were looking for), disconcerting given it is 9 meters tall. However, we managed to find him this time and whilst he is in need of some TLC he still stands in all his glory. We had a bit of lunch here and were entertained for a little while by his real life cousin, who could utter a few words and almost had a conversation lined up. Back on the road and the last leg for today into Port Augusta. From here Gaz and Chaz head for Adelaide and we are heading for Renmark. It seems we have been over this leg many times so this will probably be the last post for this trip. So if anyone has actually been reading this blog I hope you got some enjoyment or even a laugh from it. We are well into planning for our next trip but more on that later.
