Coorabie to Kalgoorlie

Today's drive was a long one but, as we gained time crossing back into Western Australia, we arrived at our overnight stop in good time. On our way across the Nullarbor, we stopped at a couple of rest areas before reaching the border, one of which gave some good views of the Bunda Cliffs.

Two views looking east along the cliffs

Looking back towards where we had come from

A Nullarbor skink

On reaching the border, we took a break for coffee and to take photos of the Big Kangaroo which marks the start of Hole 6, the Border Kangaroo, on the Nullarbor Links Golf Course.

The Big Kangaroo

The fairway looks a bit rough!

Name and details of this hole

Additional hazards are encountered

Continuing on our way west, we stopped just after Mundrabilla at Jillah Waterhole Rest Area. This was quite pleasant and we found a few flowers amidst the fresher growth. We heard plenty of birds but didn't see many and none in photographic range.

Two big Beasts at the rest area

Some of the attractively treed part of the rest area

The bush looks a bit greener now

And it contains some attractive flowers including this zygophyllum billardierei

Shortly after arrival at Madura Pass Oasis Motel, we found the tee for hole 9 of the Nullarbor Golf Links Course, Brumby's Run, just by the motel. This had changed management since we stayed last year and although the accommodation was much the same, the service in the restaurant was appalling. I hope they sort that out as it is a useful stopping point.

The tee for hole 9, Brumby's Run

The information board for Brumby's Run

The bush does look a little greener and it would seem the birds enjoy the recent rains as, on a short late afternoon walk into the woodland behind the motel, I came across fairy-wrens (too skittish for photographs), weebills (very close up) and sittellas which are a first for us.

A weebill

A pair of sittellas

On Tuesday, we made an early start and as we travelled along the Eyre Highway had an escort of a black kite parallelling us for a while quite close to the vehicle. We've seen plenty of these birds in our travels but none quite so close. Just after having a very good breakfast at Cocklebiddy, where we found Hole 10 of the Nullarbor Golf Links Course, Eagle's Nest, we saw a couple of birds in a tree and they turned out to be, very appropriately, wedge-tailed eagles, a cause for further delay! While looking at the eagles, we also spotted a little wildflower which thus far remains unidentified - any help would be welcomed.

Wedgetail Inn Hotel

Population statistics!

Tee and information sign for Eagle's Nest hole

Pair of wedge-tailed eagles

Wedge-tailed eagle in flight

Little white wildflower!

Once again we encountered the Ninety Mile Straight, just before reaching Caiguna. We took a break from the straight, beyond Caiguna, at Domblegabby Rest Area and enjoyed a cup of coffee. I wandered off to see what wildflowers there may be, a few but there was not a great deal other than eremophila which was nice to see as we grew several varieties in our garden in Perth. I came back and found Judith chatting up a young Danish cyclist, Mats. He was taking a break from cycling from Perth to Sydney (and the Blue Mountains)! Understandably, he was glad of some company and a cup of coffee. He had already run a marathon and after his bike ride, he planned on climbing Mount Doom (aka Ngauruhoe) in New Zealand. He is evidently a Lord of the Rings fan as well as someone who needs a regular challenge. He was very keen but told us that the headwinds he had experienced along the Nullarbor had reduced him to tears - let's hope he made it all the way. Just before leaving we had a visit from some friendly galahs.

The eastern end of the longest straight road in Australia

Eremophila shrub, also known as emu or poverty bush)

Flowers of the eremophila

We can never resist taking pics of galahs

We continued to Balladonia which seemed to have smartened itself up since we came through last year. We enjoyed coffee and toasted sandwiches there before pressing on to Fraser Range Station where we had planned to spend two nights. At this stage of our journey we were brassed off with a shambles of a check-in process and although the room was nice enough, we decided that one night would do. There was no map of the station other than a scrappy trail map which was rather difficult to follow. In the room, there was no toaster or washing up facility. We don't mind using a camp kitchen but prefer to breakfast on our own so although the place has had good reviews, for us it was a work-in-progress. In essence, it was more like a motel than what we have come to expect of station stays - a pity. The area around the accommodation is attractively planted and the bush is quite interesting without much life, although we did see our first camel, albeit not really feral.

Some attractive bush on the station

'Skippy' disturbed by us walking

Camel in the trees, not exactly feral

Good old faithful emu

A station horse enjoying a roll in the dust late in the day

Fraser Range, was originally founded in 1870 by John and Alexander Forrest but was only settled two years later by the Dempster brothers, becoming the first sheep station on the Nullarbor Plain. It had been a sheep station since then but, after problems with a high density of wild dogs, switched to cattle only three years ago. These are Santa Gertrudis cattle which were developed in Texas. The station is also home to the Sheep's Back hole of the Nullarbor Golf Links.

From Fraser Range we made a good start the following day and enjoyed travelling through the Great Western Woodland, although not all was what I would describe as 'woodland'. We stopped at Fraser Range Rest Area where we had a view over a dry lake which we think may be the edge of Lake Dundas. This area had some interesting birds but also more of the dreaded March flies!

Two views of the dry lake area

Two views of a brown-headed honeyeater

An Australian ringneck parrot, or '28'

The Great Western Woodlands cover almost 16 million hectares and is the largest remaining intact Mediterranean climate woodland on Earth. More than 3,000 species of plants are found here, including 20% of Australia's eucalypt species. I wish we had know about this before getting there as it clearly merits closer inspection, although probably Spring is a better time to visit. It stretches from just east of Cocklebiddy to just north west of Mukinbudin and from north of Kalgoorlie almost down to the coast, quite a feature. Some of it made me wonder how it could be called woodland but some was really great to see and full of wildlife.

One of the road trains we met on the way around, just near Norseman

In Norseman, which again failed to impress us!, we had coffee and cake (which did impress!) before carrying on but hadn't got far out of town when we passed a very long train and decided to get ahead of it and take some photos. I got none as I was wearing a blue shirt and March flies just tried to eat me alive! In the end, even Judith didn't manage to get much worth mentioning as she was also bugged although not quite as badly. After a while, we had one more stop as we found a nice stretch of the woodland.

New bark on eucalypust, not sure which species, possibly Salmon Gum?

Great Western Woodlands

Immature grey butcherbird

On finally reaching Kalgoorlie, as our room was not ready, we made for Mt Charlotte Reservoir Lookout but kept our exposure to a minimum as it was stinking hot! The views were good but we were glad to get down and into our room where we started to cool off a bit.

With great regret, we have listed the Beast on Gumtree and already have some offers - this is all coming to and end far too soon, although there are probably a couple of blogs to complete the trip and then we have South Africa for a short trip before getting back to England.

Panoramic view from Mt Charlotte

View over the city

View of the adjacent mine and the Museum of the Goldfields

Replica of Paddy Hannan's statue in the city