day 7 Nullarbor: Head of Bight and Koonalda Homestead

In the centre of Australia, time seems to disappear. The sun rises later and more spectacularly, as I saw this morning. In my sleep addled state around 7am, I pointed to the grand circle of light in the east and said to Jeremy, ‘Look, the moon!’ It was the sun, a translucent rice paper pink disc as it tipped up and over the horizon.

The Bunda Cliffs surprised me. I have seen pictures of them, but it’s all theory until you are standing there, in the same way a visit to Uluṟu or the Taj Mahal shows you absolute beauty. 

As with all wonders, they are… well, truly a wonder. Spectacular and breathtaking. True wow factor. From the vantage point at the designated Head of Bight viewing area ($10 per adult) the cliffs stretch to the west until they are almost out of sight, as if on a postcard. 

Today, the wind was strong as the ocean pummelled the limestone rock platforms at the base of the cliffs, a reminder of human frailty when faced with nature’s force and power. It’s humbling to consider the force of the seasons and time and weather and a changing climate. 

The Nullarbor is remarkable. The plains and the road through them are both incredible. The space and distance and vastness, the heath and sky stretch for miles and miles, and are anything but dull. 

The Nullarbor Plain was so named because of the absence of trees and, while this is true, I found the landscape to be mesmerising. Spell-binding in its boundless expanse. The light changes as you travel through, with slight undulations and varieties of shrub and heath carpeting the hard chalky ground. 

We stopped off at the Nullabor Roadhouse for breakfast. And we spent almost three hours there! It was our first shower in days. Dave gave us the tip that for $1 you can shower and another dollar will buy 25 litres of water that they have desalinated and treated. A reasonable deal. It is probably the most expensive roadhouse in Australia with diesel costing $2.82 a litre but it’s little wonder. They make their own power using diesel generators and desalinate their water. The staff were very friendly and there was a fun vibe here, with many caravaners and truckies stopping here for a diversion from the long stretches of road. 

A few days back our little gas bottle for the camper cooker ran out. How did we let that happen?! 

We have another gas bottle for the shower and BBQ, a jet boil, and a back-up single burner induction stove which we can use with our 240 volt iTechworld powerbank. Jeremy, the planning and ideas guy, organised this for emergencies. The powerbank also allows us to charge devices and helps to run the fridge/freezer in the car. So we have enough power. 

We assumed that gas refills would be easy to come by… but they aren’t. On several Facebook forums, people have commented that the swap and go option is best for the long trip in and around remote Australia. Refills are few and far between as we are learning. So we have been on the hunt for days now. 

We decided to stop at every roadhouse in the hope of refilling. So far, no good. 

Back to the Nullarbor Roadhouse, the shower was so sweet, after a few days going without to conserve water, my bacon and egg hamburger delicious and we enjoyed two coffees here. We topped up our water and recharged the powerbank. 

The signs here are from a bygone era, with fonts rarely seen except on kitsch and retro items. It provided a lot of  subject matter for Jeremy. 

The traditional owners of the Nullarbor are the Mirning people who achieved native title in 2013. The Mirning are comprised of several nations and colonisation has changed the fabric of this society including many names. I found this informative site for information regarding the traditional owners:  https://mirning.org 

And here is some interesting information of park management in SA. https://www.environment.sa.gov.au/topics/park-management/co-management-of-parks 

After the roadhouse, we headed for our second Nullarbor camp spot, the Koonalda Homestead which used to be aheep station and then road stop later. There are a handful of rustic dwellings and a graveyard of dead cars and old machinery parts around.  

The day ended with a beautiful sunset. I feel like I’ll be saying that a lot over the coming months.