The wind picked up during the evening, and by 4AM, it was absolutely howling, shaking the car with each gust. We arrived in the dark last night, but I had a feeling that we were somewhere with a nice view, so I wanted to make the most of it and be awake for the sunrise, which also made me sleep quite lightly in anticipation. So, with those two combined with the ‘jet lag’ of crossing over time zones combined to me not having a great night sleep. Sunrise was OK, but probably not worth losing sleep over. I was a little disappointed, my image of the Great Australian Bight was soaring white cliffs that carried on into the distance being beaten by frenetic blue Southern Ocean.
As usual, I was impatient. A hundred-and-fifty-or-so kilometres from the border there was a lookout. We could see from the highway that this was the view that I had in my mind – beautiful white cliffs that disappeared into the salt haze in the distance. Glad that the wind had ceased, since we didn’t technically stay within the boundary of the walkway.
Turns out that I was a little early with the Nullabor Plain talk yesterday. As we continued our journey East, we noticed that the small shrubs eventually turned to grass. This was combined with a sign informing us that we were at the western-end of the Nullarbor Plain (which meant as far as we were concerned, it was just beginning). The roads were still long, flat and barren. There were still plenty of dead kangaroos and suicidal lizards. No camels or wombats to be seen though, thankfully.
When we arrived in Perth two weeks ago, it was jeans and hoody weather (that’s about 10-15˚C in metric). Today, it was t-shirt and shorts weather – clear skies and beautiful warm sunshine. I thought that I wouldn’t be wearing shorts again until at least October, glad to be have been wrong. The Nullabor Roadstation felt like it was in the middle of the desert.
Surprisingly, it wasn’t long until the grassy plains were spotted with shrubs and over the next hill, we were once again surrounded by trees. …which were soon replaced with agricultural lands.
As we pulled in to Ceduna (and after the fruit fly quarantine inspection) there was a small shack selling cheap oysters. I can take them or leave them (reminds me of swimming in the ocean, but in a nice way), but Risa loves them, so she bought a six-pack ($8 – her treat for the month).
Like always, I wanted to cover as much ground and see as many things as possible in a single day, so as the sun was starting to get low, I wanted to get near the western side of the Eyre Peninsular to watch what will surely have to be one of the last sunsets over sea of this trip. It was nothing like the brilliance of last nights, sadly, but it was still serene (after I gave up and put the camera away).
Once again I was surprised by South Australia. I have this idea in my head that it’s all desert and wineries, not sand and surf. I know very little about surf, but Lonely Planet said that one of Australia’s best breaks is in this area, and I’d have to say it’s some of the nicest looking waves I’ve seen so far – long, clean waves. I was pretty jealous of the guys down below enjoying the serenity of a sunset over the ocean, from their surfboards. I imagine it’s something like snowboarding in powder in Niseko underneath a full moon (which is makes it in to my book of memorial life experiences, in case you’re curious).
１３１日目 ９月２１日（土） 走行距離 ６００km
今日も大移動日。 あさドライブした辺りは、Great Australian Bightといってオーストラリアの下の海岸沿いで、大きな岸壁が続いています。 Melbourneの近くのGreat Ocean Roadよりは、小さく距離も短いですがこちらもなかなかの絶壁で、海はとても青く壮大な風景でした。
また、この辺りは、オーストラリアでも巨大で凶暴な事でしられるホオジロザメなどがいる有数のサメの名所でもあります！ かわいいオットセイもたくさんいるらしい！ が、サインには、オットセイはサメの大好物のスナック！と書かれていたので、かなり気分が落ちました。。
今日のドライブも直線の多い道路。 昨日よりは、もっと平でサバンナのようになっていて、途中多くの廃墟となった大きな牧場の跡地を道路沿いから見る事が出来ました。 そのうちの一つは、道路からもそう遠くなく、舗装はされていないけど、草には車の跡がついていたのでちょっと見に行ってきました。（完全な廃墟で、一般に公開されている訳ではないです）
石壁とトタン屋根のまさにクラシックな作りの小さな家で、周りには、いかにも開拓時代な錆びれた風車があったりで、これぞアウトバックオーストラリアという風景でとても印象的でした。 でもこれ夜見たらちょう怖いだろうね〜とロスと言っていました。
麦畑は、地平線のどこまでも続いていて、黄金の波が柔らかく、とてもきれいでした。
今日も道端には、たくさんのツチノコみたいなトカゲがいっぱいいました。 ヘビもいたり、エミューもいたり、うさぎもいたり、ディンゴ（野犬）もいたけど、注意と書かれた看板にあるウォンバットはいなかったなぁ。（夜行動物だからね）
この辺り一帯は、私の大好物の牡蠣が名産らしく６個＄８で頂いてきました♡ 厚岸の牡蠣と比べるとかなり小ぶりだけど、海の旨味がしっかり詰まっていてうまかった〜！
今日は、海に沈む大きなオレンジ色の夕日を見る事ができました。
その横ではサーフィンをしている人々が。 海の上をプカプカしながら夕日をみるのって、かなり気持ちがいいのだろうなぁ。。
今日は、ビーチを見下ろすSpeed Pointという低い岩壁の上でキャンプ。 だれもいないので、プライベートキャンプ☆☆
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