DAY 8 Pilbara – Kimberley Trip
What a hot night it was. When we got up we found dingo/wild dog and fox tracks around our campsite. The strong northerly wind was still blowing. We slowly made our way to the border and the accompanying cliffs of the bight gradually petered out.
As we were aware of quarantine regulations I had boiled our remaining potatoes up the night before and had made a cold borscht soup for tonight. We handed over our remaining onions and were soon on our way. Seems funny carrying no fresh fruit and vegetables.
Shortly we were in Eucla. After a cold drink we drove over to the Eucla Telegraph Station Ruins. It was hard work climbing the dunes to get to it in the heat. Massive sand dunes framed the ruins. It was not difficult to get a feel for how isolating and hot in must have been to those posted here to work when the station opened in December 1877.
The temperature today was in the forties mid morning. Kept drinking lots of water but even it was getting warmer and warmer as the day progressed. The scenery was constantly changing in subtle ways. Small tress started to appear leaning north and a range appeared on our right. The vegetation was getting denser, trees with increased foliage, not just a canopy of leaves, started to appear more frequently.
Our Nullarbor Planner included information about accommodation. We noted that the Madura Pass Oasis Motel, had camping facilities and a pool. So at Madura we turned left and spent the night here. As soon as we set ourselves up we headed for the pool. Another couple was already enjoying the pool. We chatted. They were from Tumut and on a twelve month trip. One of the truckies came to the pool and we had the opportunity to quiz him about what they were carrying as they had interesting looking containers on their trailers. We could hardly believe it when he told us they were transporting grapes harvested in Margaret River WA to Nuriootpa in SA. They were transporting it in shifts to get the grapes in perfect condition in the shortest possible time. One shift brought them from Margaret River to Norseman, another from Norseman to Madura, Madura to Kimba, Kimba to Nuriootpa. We asked under what label will the wine be sold but he didn’t have an answer.
After a lovely dinner of saltibarsciai (cold borscht) with fried potatoes we retired to the Oka as we were again inundated by bugs of all shapes and description as soon as we lit the outside light. Our idea of spending the evenings outside seem to be a dream as either the flies, mozzies or other biting bugs have ensured that we retreated indoors every evening so far.
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