Whale of a time

Morning rituals completed, I drove out of our Ceduna campsite a little before 8 am. Majella had found the location of a bakery in town so we drove there first to buy fresh bread. Then I drove out of town and headed toward Penong, site of Majella’s next golfing adventure.

There had been some rain overnight and there were clouds in the east but the sky to the west where we were headed was clear blue. The countryside included some cultivation and we saw flocks of sheep as we drove. There were trees by the roadside much of the way so it was a pleasant drive.

At Penong we found the tee for golf alongside the Windmill museum. Majella played her hole from start to finish and then we walked among the windmills before driving to the roadhouse to get her card marked. The windmills were in a small park rather than a controlled museum and included what was claimed to be the largest windmill in Australia. That was a Comet, similar to one we saw in Hughenden on our 2020 trip. There was also at least one Southern Cross windmill and a couple of unusually configured specimens.

While in the roadhouse Majella asked about the pink lake, Lake Macdonnell, specifically whether it was pink at present since we had heard it varied. The roadhouse attendant was noncommittal but the police officer Majella asked assured her it was pink and the gravel road was OK. We drove the 15 kilometres or so out to the lake. On the way we passed heaps of earth piled up by a mining operation that did not seem to be operating at present.

As we approached the lake a sign advised that there was a u-turn facility 2 kilometres ahead. I drove there across a low causeway that ran between two bodies of water, one a shade of blue and the other a faint pink. We turned at the end where we could and headed back toward Penong, pausing for a closer look at the pink lake which was not as impressively pink as one we saw in Victoria in 2022. The water on the other side was throwing up impressive amounts of froth.

We drove the few kilometres off the highway to visit Fowlers Bay, a tiny settlement on the coast being slowly erased by large sand dunes. Some parts have already been engulfed and despite efforts to vegetate the dunes and slow their progress the future of the town seems limited. We had morning coffee there and went for a short walk into the dunes. Majella saw a whale spouting in the distance.

Our next stop at Nundroo was for Majella’s second hole of the day. That accomplished it was almost time for lunch but the surroundings were not exciting and we had not long had our coffee break. We filled up with diesel before driving on.

I drove on for 30 minutes or so until we found a large rest area where we could park in the shade to eat lunch of banana sandwiches with our fresh bread, the only way Majella will eat banana. We need to consume all our fruit before crossing into WA tomorrow. By then the sun had warmed things and the van was reporting an outside temperature of 24 degrees. It did not feel that warm outside because there was a strong wind to cool things and make driving more challenging.

The next stretch of driving was through dry country. We had seen the last of the cultivation and were soon on the treeless saltbush plains of the Nullarbor. The wind gusts occasionally rocked the van and it was an effort at times not to be blown off course.

Apart from golf our key point of interest today was Head of Bight. I drove the 10 km off the highway to the coast and paid our admission. We walked down to the boardwalk and lookout that run along and a little down the cliff face. There were several whales, mothers with calves, relaxing in the waters below the cliffs. We watched for quite a while and saw a little activity as the youngsters moved around. We also enjoyed the clear view of the Bunda Cliffs.

Our stop for tonight, Nullarbor Roadhouse, was only about 30 minutes further on and we arrived around 3:30 pm. Our previous campsites had been booked ahead but I was uncertain of how far we might travel on these days across the Nullarbor and had not booked. We were able to get a powered site for the night and filled up with diesel before setting up.

Once we were parked we set off for Majella to play her third hole of day. For the first time she encountered other ‘golfers’ on the course and they improved her game by lending her a putter to finish the hole. We had time for a drink at the bar before heading back to the van where I had a Zoom meeting from 4:30 pm. I stuck at that for a little more than an hour before my phone battery was run down and I had to leave them to it.

Majella made dinner of pork medallions we had bought in Port Augusta with vegetables. In another effort to consume our fresh food before we cross the border to Western Australia, she cooked plenty of potatoes for dinner tonight. She paused cooking and we slipped out briefly to enjoy the sunset colours before returning to eat dinner. BOM was reporting the temperature at 19ºC, feels like 11ºC.

Once I had completed the washing up we were done for the day and settled down to enjoy the evening.