Crossing the Nullarbor - 11th July

We left  Fowlers Bay and aimed for Western Australia. Our intention was to get to Eucla. We had been warned by the locals that the weather was deteriorating. It didn't take long for their predictions to be proven right. About 100km on our way the rain started. I expected the Nullarbor Plain to be flat, dry and treeless. Flat it was. Treeless it was. Dry it was not. The rain varied from heavy showers to torrential downpours. Ocassionally the rain stopped and the clouds would even begin to break up to the point of us believing the worst was over. Our hopes were soon shattered by clouds quickly closing in and the rain once again dominating the landscape.We made it to Head of Bight, where the Eyre Highway meets the water and a viewing area has been set up to see the Southern Right whales as they migrate into warmer waters. We were blessed by a break in the rain (but it was bitterly cold) and we spent an hour on the cliff top watching about twenty whales. Mothers and their calves were together on the surface only 10-15 metres from the viewing platforms. They floated in the swell, sometimes blowing and sometimes slowly changing position. They were big, barnacled and noisy. The South Australia/Western Australia border is not far from Head of Bight and after crossing into WA  Eucla is another short distance. Unfortunately the break in rain we enjoyed at Head of Bight was short lived and as we ventured into WA it all started again. We were amazed by the amount of surface water on the road verge and on the Nullarbor Plain. As we pulled into Eucla in persistent rain we had to spend a night in the roadhouse motel.

On the road again

Venturing out of the car at Head of Bight