Today was the day we started our trek across the Nullarbor. We left Kalgoorlie at 9.45 heading for Norseman. There were lots of wild goats on the roadside around Kambalda.

We stopped at Norseman for petrol, and then continued on to Balladonia, where we refuelled and got a powered tent site for the night. At Balladonia is a Roadhouse which includes a café, hotel, motel, caravan park and museum.

The caravan park is very stark, the ground is gravel, but there are a few trees for shade. The camp kitchen has a sink, two burners and a barbeque hotplate, no fridge or microwave. There’s no television reception or mobile phone service but we’re only staying for one night so we’ll cope. We watched a movie on DVD and had an early night.

We left Balladonia by about 7.40am. There were a lot of dead kangaroos on the road and lots of wedgetailed eagles feasting on the roadkill. We haven’t seen that many dead roos in ages. We did see a couple of live kangaroos hiding under bushes away from the edge of the road.

Today we travelled the “90 Mile Straight” the longest straight stretch of road in Australia. It stretches out like a ribbon in front of you as far as the eye can see. It started from about 30km after Balladonia and continued until Caiguna. 

The country side we rode through varied from quite woody to areas that were almost treeless but with eromophilas and grasses growing in the pale soil. The ground isn’t a rich red like it was in the deserts of the north.

We refuelled at Caiguna and then realised that we probably should have continued on to Cocklebiddy and got fuel there. The next leg of the trip would be too long for the capacity of the tank. We had to add 45minutes to the time on our clocks here.

So after travelling a further 64km to Cocklebiddy we got petrol there as well. I asked about the road to look at the Cocklebiddy Caves and was told it was not suitable for the bike. We had some lunch at the roadhouse before continuing on our way.

The Madura Pass provides spectacular views of the plains ahead from the lookout at the top of the pass; we stopped here for a couple of photos.

Approaching Eucla we could see white cliffs and as we got closer we could also see white sand dunes and the ocean.

Since today is Tony’s birthday we decided as a treat we’d stay in a room for the night. For a basic room with all bedding and even towels provided it cost $45 for the night, usually we pay about $22 for a powered tent site. It didn’t have it’s own bathroom we used the caravan park showers and toilets but that’s ok, we don’t need to pack up a tent in the morning! The showers here require $1 and run for quite a while, it didn’t run out on me, but at least it was hot, unlike this morning.

Once we got settled in our room and had a cup of tea we went for a ride down to the ruins of the Eucla Telegraph Station. It was in operation from 1877 to 1927 and was one of the busiest telegraph stations in the country sending 11,000 telegraphs in a year. When it was built it linked WA with the rest of the country and the world for the first time.

The Telegraph Station is near the coast and the sand dunes are gradually overtaking the remains of the old stone buildings. We went for a walk through the dunes and took some photos, but we’re going to go back in the morning when the sun is low. The low sun accentuates the lines left by the wind on the dunes.

At the roadhouse complex there is a monument to Edward John Eyre, the explorer, who travelled across the continent from Fowlers Bay to Albany in 1841, another to the people who served at the Telegraph Station, a Travellers Cross and a small museum. They give you something to look at to pass the time. At the cross there are wonderful view towards the sand dunes and the sea.

Back in our room we watched some tele before going to the café for dinner.

The sand dunes looked amazing, although I must admit I’m a bit of a fan of sand dunes.  In the early morning light one side of the dunes were bright and the other in shade. The wind had produced ripples in the sand that were more pronounced by the low sun, and there were tracks left by animals out for their morning feed.

After our photography session we went back to our room, had some breakfast and then packed up. We were on the road by 8.30.

Border Village 12km from Eucla was our first stop. We took photos in front of the WA / SA border sign and the dotted line that marks the border. We had to add another 45 minutes to our clocks here.

The road gets nearer the coast after Border Village and there are many opportunities to photograph the Bunda Cliffs of the Great Australian Bite. The cliffs are a beautiful site, the turquoise sea crashing against the cliffs that are white at the bottom and brown towards the top.

Next stop was Nullarbor Roadhouse for petrol. Just before the roadhouse is a sign that denotes the start of the Nullarbor Plain. Nullarbor is from Latin, meaning no trees. After riding for 25 kilometres there were trees again, so I guess the actual Nullarbor Plain only lasts for about 25km. I always thought of the entire stretch between WA and SA as the Nullarbor.

One thing we noticed today was the lack of dead animals on the roads.

The last 150km was more like regular landscape that we’re used to, farms and areas of bush. There are many deserted farms with tumble down stone cottages and lots and lots of windmills.

We pulled over at a rest area about 80km from Ceduna and put the petrol from the jerry can into the tank, we didn’t need the spare fuel, because there are plenty of petrol stations along the highway. We had a late lunch here before continuing on.

At Ceduna there is a quarantine station where they check for fruit, vegetables and honey.

The caravan park we’re staying at tonight, Shelly Beach Caravan Park, is excellent; they have a camp kitchen, a TV room, a games room with air hockey, foosball, table tennis and a computer game table that operates with 20c. The toilets and showers are male and female combined and are more like a bathroom in your home. The beach is just over the sand dunes via a walking track.

We’ve spent exactly 10 weeks in Western Australia. We’ve got South Australia to explore and then we’ll be home for a little while before visiting Tasmania.

Some things we’ve noticed:

• Mining

The entire state of Western Australia seems to be being mined. There are Gold, Silver, Nickel and Iron Ore mines everywhere. There seems to be huge employment opportunities in the mining industry and big money to be earned.

• Waving

• Smells

One thing that is really obvious when you’re riding a motorbike is the smells in the air. The smell of the roadkill is probably the most pungent, but then there are really nice smells like flowers blooming, Darwin and Wollongong both smelled really strongly of Frangipani. Impending rain, the smell of a forest or the sea, pine & eucalypt trees, cattle & sheep, freshly cut grass, pizza shops and bakeries, all these aromas are wafting though the air and once you take yourself out of a car and onto a bike they are there to be noticed.

• Television in WA

It’s like WA is one big city. The television stations run advertisements for the whole state. You can be in Kununurra and see ads on TV for Kalgoorlie thousands of km away, the radio stations are the same. We were in Kalgoorlie and there were ads for shops in Broome. The regional TV we’re used to at home only advertise things in cities in about a 100km radius.

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