Day 3 - Camp 10km west of Mundrabilla to Ceduna

Saturday 19th March 2016

Today we woke at 6.00am Perth time / 6.45am Central Western Time. In another 66kms we’ll cross the border into South Australia where the clocks will advance another 45 mins. We planned to stay in a motel in Ceduna however so we can get an early start tomorrow we need to be in Ceduna before 5.00pm to get our Googs Track camping permit from the Ceduna Visitor Information Centre. With the 1½ hr time advance we decided to have breaky on the go to save some time. We crossed the border at 10.00am SA time, or so we thought. Listening to the radio we discovered SA was still on daylight saving so it was actually 11.00am, oh well we’ll still be in Ceduna on time even with sightseeing stops.

One of the issues facing road travelers in Australia is the possibility of coming across semi trailers transporting stock, mining equipment or other large loads. These loads which can be as wide as both lanes or over 30 meters long and should be treated with extreme care whether passing from behind or as oncoming traffic. If you have a UHF you can call up the pilot vehicles on CH 40 and have a chat to them about the convoy.  We were fortunate when passing through Border Village ( WA/SA border) that a convoy of dump truck trays that were traveling in our direction were parked up which saved us the prospect/risk of having to pass them.

Another risk when traveling in the outback is the risk of encountering animals on the road or crossing the road. Here along the Nullabor there are signs that warn of Kangaroos, Wombats and Camels however there are other animals you should be cautious of including our magnificent Wedge Tailed Eagle. Even though these signs warn you of camels which aren’t native to Australia they can still cause serious injury or worse if you strike one with your vehicle.

The Great Australian Bight is a fantastic sight and has to be seen to be believed. When we pulled in it was very, very windy and slightly overcast but the view was worth braving the wind. The walls of the Bunda Cliffs of the Great Australian Bight are reported to be between 65 and 100 metres high. Another sight you can enjoy along here between May and October is the Southern Right Whales who visit the area with their calves because it’s relatively sheltered. This is a sight we were fortunate to witness in 1998 although back then there were no boundary fences along the look out points of the Bight. There was however a raised viewing platform near the Head of the Bight Visitor’s Centre. Today there are signs warning of cliff falls and barriers have been erected to stop visitors getting too close to the edge.
Be Careful!

It’s interesting to note that the Great Australian Bight was declared a Marine Park in 1998. Sadly, despite this it’s been reported that BP have a plan to drill two of four exploratory wells later this year (2016). So much for being a Marine Park, what protection does this offer the area.

As we drove out we saw a pair of Pacific Gulls and stopped for some photos.

After a couple of hours driving we pulled into a parking bay to have some lunch and were immediately greeted by a family of inquisitive maggies. The Maggies (Magpies) were very friendly but unfortunately we were quickly surrounded by march flies which weren’t so friendly and it didn’t take long before they started biting (devouring?) us. That’s when we started slapping and swatting ourselves to remove them. Quick as a flash our little maggie friends came over and ate the dead flies as quick as we could swat them and trust us we were swatting them pretty quickly. While we were in the process of the pat and slap a young family in 4WD and camper trailer pulled so the kiddies could have some lunch. They were out of the vehicle for about 2 minutes before they were quickly bundled back in. As they were driving out Dad stuck his head out the window and said the kids couldn’t stand the bloody march flies

As you approach Ceduna there is a quarantine station – no worries we ate our apples and bananas a couple of hundered kilometers back. We stop and the officer asks “Do you have a fridge or esky” , “yes we do”, “ may I have a look”, “yep no worries”. “ello, ello, ello, what’s this? A tomato”, “Oops we forgot about it” It was just 1 tomato and the chap chuckled and said it happens all the time, he threw it out. It was too late to get to the Ceduna Visitor Information Centre so we’ll get our camping permit tomorrow before we leave. As we have a Gold Chain discount card ( it’s free to join, just ask ) we opted to stay at the Ceduna Motor Inn which is part of the chain.
Tomorrow we head down Googs Track….. 🙂

Total Time : 7.30
Total Distance: 568 kms
Average Speed : 75 KPH

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