Thursday, March 22, 2018

15 March 2018 - Day 12 - Ceduna to Border Village


I was eager to get on to the Eyre Highway to experience the Nullarbor Plains. Ghastly stories of this area I have come to know from the Internet and people who had more hearsay information than firsthand knowledge. The Nullarbor, so known because of the vast expanse of drab terrain that has no trees – Nullus and Bor, is supposed to be foreboding. Along with the Eyre Highway, many sites on the Internet cite this as one of the most dangerous roads in the world. The Eyre Highway runs from Port Augusta to Norseman, a distance of over 1660 km and named after the intrepid explorer who crossed these vast plains to chart them. The Nullarbor Plains has varying geographical reaches. Some define it as concurrent to the Eyre Highway, some others from Ceduna to Norseman and still some others from Ceduna to Balladonia. The landscape from Port Augusta to Ceduna was also pretty much the same as that to the Border Village today – drab with uninteresting shrubs, though green. Satellite images, if to be relied upon, give more credence to the last of the three geographical boundaries for the Nullarbor Plains, which is a large, desert-like limestone patch of unfertile flat, and in some parts, undulating land.

I was warned about non-availability of fuel, water, ration and communication. A friend mentioned how he had equipped his parents with a Satellite phone prior to a drive on some parts of the Eyre Highway and the Outbacks. Ranjana told me in Melbourne how they had a fabulous offer of a Campervan from Perth to Melbourne at AUD 1 a day and that they finally didn’t take the offer wondering what would happen if they ran out of fuel, as they also had a small child with them. Worries were expressed about the possibility of a vehicle breakdown and how dangerous that could be on lonely roads. The possibility of Kangaroos, Emus and such other animals causing damage to the car and self were other causes of concern. Last, but not the least, is the problem with Road Trains that bully smaller vehicles on the two way road.

I waited with intense anticipation, as I recapped all the above, for the day to break. As soon as I saw the bushfire like lighting up of the sky I thought it was time to set off. The combination of colors in the sky was stunning. All through the drive up to the Border Roadhouse the landscape was indeed very drab, but was green for the most part with shrubs and small trees. The road was as straight as a ruler in many places, except for the undulations. And the surfacing was superb almost all along the way. There were a few ‘rough patches’, but not a single pothole or dangerous shoulder. As has been the feature of roads in Australia thus far, there are parking places at frequent intervals for drivers to relax and there are small ‘roadhouses’ for fuel, provisions and toilet. En route to the Border Village there were such facilities at Penong, Coorabie and Yalata. Therefore, there are really no worries about being out of fuel on this stretch or being without food and ration. Moreover, save a very short stretch, I was connected on the Telstra network right through. I did encounter road trains, long vehicles and oversize vehicles during the day, but almost all of them were in the opposite direction! One feature of all these vehicles is that they are in extremely good condition and more or less match the section speed, which invariably was 110 kph.

Almost halfway to the Border Village is a 12 km detour to The Head of Bight lookout. This is the place where the Southern right whales come every season between May and September to breed and calve. They seek out the warmer climates suitable for calving and hence, the migration from Antarctica. During off-season a reduced entrance fee is charged – AUD 7 for an adult. At the ticket complex there is a lot of information about the whales and their peculiar migratory behavior. One is also strictly warned to enjoy the environs from within the confines of the two walkways. One is a boardwalk and the other is a lookout. The cliffs, for the most part, are dunes that have been pushed up over thousands of years due to wave action. The sheer magnificence of the Head of Bight is worth many hours of stay and contemplation, just to enjoy the magic of Nature that she provides free of cost. Since I had a destination to the day I had to, after a short stay, get back on to the Eyre Highway for the rest of the journey to Border Village.

About 130 km short of the Border Village the mobile phone clock went back 150 minutes! I thought that the time change would happen in Western Australia, but here I was quite some distance away from the divide. The puzzle was solved at the Border Village when I heard, for the first time, about the ‘compromise’ central western time.


The Border Village Roadhouse is a facility, fairly large, bang on the Southern Australian border. Besides a large section allotted for ration and supplies the roadhouse has a large bar and restaurant, both of which are awfully busy. Truckers come in for their fill and the portions served in the restaurant suit their requirement. Toilets and showers have been made available just for the truckers. The complex has a large area with Camping facilities, cottages and accommodation of various other types. I had asked for backpacker accommodation with shared toilet and shower. After paying the charges for accommodation I was given the key to cabin 48. This small sized cabin had a double bed and two single beds besides a TV, heater and AC. Since I was not sharing the room with anyone I was okay with the space. What got my goat was the toilet complex, which was 50 feet away from my cabin. At the entrance to the toilet was a warning; that door must be kept closed at all times as snakes have been sighted! I almost booted from the place. The door also had photos and description of a couple of them for more effect, I presumed. The toilets were neat and clean, though. Then came another shocker – I could avail of a shower after activating it with AUD 2 coin, which would luxuriate me for 10 minutes! I was indeed very cheesed off.

Most of the evening I spent in the roadhouse restaurant, making myself many cups of coffee and catching up on documentation and information that may be useful for the next day’s drive. However, the non-availability of Wi-Fi stopped me from completing all I wanted to. By late evening the complex was almost fully covered by campers. I had the last can of Canadian Club and went back to the restaurant for dinner. I opted for one of the Chef’s options from the dinner menu – the roast pork. I was indeed very hungry having survived on a sandwich, biscuits and dry fruits the whole day. The huge portion of roast pork was embellished with boiled vegetables such as broccoli, potatoes, carrots, cauliflower and sweet potato. The sauce was delectable. I took my time but got through the whole meal.

It was only 8 pm locally but the yawns were too wide to suppress. I also decided to leave early the next day in case day breaks early, as I had over 600 km to cover up to the Frazer Range Station, described as “Oasis In The Outback”.

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