26 – 27 April. 4475kms.
Yalata – Ngadju country.
Crossing the Nullabor, epic in the truest sense of the word. Vast and flat, with lush green, low lying shrubs. A stop at a humpback whale sanctuary at the Head of the Bight. No whales at this time but soaking in their breeding ground. Casting eyes and hearts out across the Great Australian Bight, imagining their migration, their calves, breaching, singing. Camping at Bunda Cliffs, edge of the earth feels, sheerest of sheer, for miles. Terrifying to look over the edge. Spectacular to inhale their immensity. The northerly wind calms just in time for us to nestle amongst the dunes, light a fire, cook, and sing songs about the trip so far. Off to bed, senses heightened by the very fact of being at this point on the map. No sooner did heads hit the pillow than a sudden and forceful southerly had us leaping up, holding the camper frame to prevent it from buckling. Talia asleep and blissfully unaware. Poppy fretting. Alex and I practical and focused. We pack up and ship out, joining the road trains back on the highway, in the dark of the night, we make it to a road stop by the WA border. Big breath out. The next morning spent fretting about border restrictions, and then alongside road trains at border village, cooking veggies and munching on fruit and salad, so as not to have to chuck it out at the quarantine station! All works out and across the border we go. Another big breath out. And breath in, a big long day of driving. Huge flat plains, the longest stretch of straight road in Australia if not the world. 146kms without a bend in the road, ‘the 90 mile straight’. The first town is 721kms away – Norseman. Showers, restock, refill. Imaginary play and journal writing.
This continent! This journey.
Border Village & Norseman
