31:27  S   130:53.8 E

 

We left the pristine wilderness of Lincoln National Park, having climbed the very hill that Matthew Flinders climbed (through impenetrable bush at that time) to survey the surrounding seas and coastline.  In their search for water, a cutter from his ship Investigator with 8 men was smashed on the rocks with loss of all 8.  There are fast flowing rips and unpredictable winds; it is incredible that anyone ever did manage to land.

 

We stopped at a roadhouse which happened to be run by an artist, called Sandra Saunders, who was doing a series of historical panels commissioned by the University of Adelaide, telling the story of the local aborigines and their fight for land rights.  She didnt want us to photograph them so I did a quick sketch just to get the story.  Then it was overnight in Ceduna where we I chatted to an aboriginal lady painting in the art centre.  She told me she was painting the 7 sisters, and said “all women can paint this because all women know the story” and when I pointed out that I didnt know it, she said “well you’re not an aboriginal woman!”

 

Ceduna is last stop before the Eyre Highway that crosses the Nullarbor (“no trees”) plain, a really interesting drive, both for the people and the places:

 

-  Cactus beach, an amazing surf beach, Sandy says it is the best place he has ever been, ever.  There is a pink lagoon on the way in, why???

-  Head of Bight Whalewatching Centre.  It is in fenced off aboriginal land which you have to walk through a little way to the cliffs overlooking the Bight.  We arrived at 1.55 along with a hippy looking bearded chap with a lady from Melbourne.  The whale man said NO you cant come in, we close at 2, and we asked to just come in quickly to take a photo and he was really unpleasant and refused and told us to get outta there.  The hippy chap  (not Sandy!!) decided he would hop over the fence and go take his photo, and the whale man shouted “I’ll call the cops!”, ran off and came back with a stick!  Then his wife (?) came out and took photos of all 4 of us and our cars, and I took a photo of him shaking his fist.  First bit of aggro we have had on this trip.

-  limestone caves – the Nullarbor Plain is the biggest lump of limestone in the world and although it is dry as a bone, beneath it is a network of caves, rivers and lakes.

-  Nullarbor Roadhouse – big barman Ben having a game of pool with the driver of a road train – age 33, married since 17, 3 kids at private schoold, drives back & forth from Brisbane to Perth and watches dvds in his truck.  It takes 800m to stop.  Going to retire at 50, owns 2 houses, rented out, and has almost paid for the 3rd.

-  Barman from Kathmandu, Bikash “here to get his residency”, doesnt like Australian food, “all cheese and steak”, and has been studying industrial cookery.  Ben the barman likes to bully him, we noticed.

-  Ate dinner with Max, a Harley driver who’s been on a Harley convention (along with hundreds of others), who very kindly gave us his room key when he left early in the morning for a shower & cup of tea in comfort!

-  Budgies!  Tiny native lime green budgies are everywhere, they fly in lairy flocks straight across in front of you.  The truck driver showed us a video of about 80 that had splatted his windscreen, and in places the road was littered with tiny lime green splodges.