The Eyre Highway is over 1800km from Port Augusta to Norseman. Today we travelled the western part – 721km from Border Village to Norseman, our longest daily distance so far this trip. We gain 1.5 hours from South Australian time crossing the border. Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana. So we had to hand over our uneaten fruit and honey at the border quarantine point.
We left well before sunrise. Across the border – we enter Western Australia. WA voted for secession from the rest of Australia in 1933. The UK Parliament did not accept the result (66% West Australians were in favour) and squashed the concept. If WA had achieved independence, it would have been the 10th largest nation on earth in area. So there is a lot of land to cover on our journey.
After Eucla we descend the Eucla Pass where the highway moves down to the basin known as Roe Plains that stretch between the Eucla and Madura passes.
Vegetation on the coastal Roe Plains
Madura Pass Lookout. The escarpment nearby becomes the cliffs of the Great Australia Bight where it meets the ocean.
Roe Plains from Madura Lookout
Caiguna Blowhole “breathes” more vigorously than all the other caves in Australia – air movement at the cave entrance has been measured to be around 72 kilometres per hour as the air pressure above and below ground equalises.
90 Mile Straight – 146.6km with no bends or turns – this is the longest stretch of straight road in Australia.
Another Wedge-tailed eagle photographed in the distance
It was mostly sunny but around lunchtime a cold south-west change dropped the temperature from 21 to 10 degrees as we approached Balladonia.
This stretch of road was made famous with the re-entry of Skylab (the first manned space station) in July 1979 which scattered debris over a large area here. The piece above is displayed on the roof of the Balladonia Roadhouse. The only piece of space junk that stayed in space was Skylab’s orbital sander.
Balladonia Skylab Museum with another large piece of space junk.
The projected path of the Skylab re-entry. One newspaper’s headline read, “US celebrates as debris hits WA.” The story on the right shows how not everyone was happy.
The Shire of Esperance even sent a Littering fine to NASA. NASA ignored the fine but on the 30th anniversary of re-entry, a Californian radio station raised the funds through listener donations and then personally presented the cheque to the Esperance Council.
Newman Rock, the first granite we saw in WA – a lot more to come in the Wheatbelt.
Forest on the road into Newman Rock
Wattle
We enter the Great Western Woodlands – the largest hardwood forest in the world all of which is Crown land.
Southern Hills Rest Area is next to a salt lake that was red from winter rain runoff.
Wurmbea lily
Port Lincoln ringneck parrot
Jimberlana Hill just outside Norseman
Norseman Horse Statue – the original gold claim and subsequently the town was named after the prospector’s horse. The town is very neigh-bourly.
Norseman Hotel – our dinner venue
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