After another night camping out, I was finally able to finish the 90 mile straight first thing in the morning. It’s marked by a simple bend sign, but well needed after almost 150km of straight line!
Although the Nullarbor doesn’t really change.
As I approached the town of Norseman, the landscape started to become more undulating and provided some variety.
As well as the first of many salt flats.
Finally I hit the vast metropolis of Norseman, population 857 – but considering the only thing I’ve seen since Ceduna, 1200km ago, is roadhouses, it looks very large indeed.
Legend has it the town is named after the horse that found the first gold in the area, by turning it over with its hoof.
I refueled, ate, and struck southwards. It was here that I worked out that I should have turned south at Balladonia, following the old telegraph track instead of the highway – but I wasn’t going to backtrack 2 hours for a track.
The salt pans, which Google Maps thought were lakes, became more frequent.
Around 80km out of Esperence and with plenty of time on hand, I decided to turn off the highway and strike east, towards the old telegraph route, and see what was on the path less ridden – this is more like it!
The road, still very open and wide, was now dirt, but in good condition.
In the distance, a peak beckoned. Several of the last intersections had signs pointing towards Mt Ridley, which I decided to follow.
The road became more rough and sandy as I approached, and with worn road-biased tyres, more concentration was required.
In the end, the detour was worth it – at the base of Mt Ridley I found a number of signs and information boards, pointing towards Wave Rock – this sounded interesting now!
There was a good view over the top of the endless expanse of trees, too.
Back on the road and heading further east, I was glad to have abandoned the highway.
The signs of excess salinity in this part of the country, as seen before in the salt pans, were far worse. Instead of dams and creeks being rare patches of green among the brown as per the rest of the country, they were surrounded with bleached white dead trees, and nothing else.
With the shadows lengthening, it was time to turn towards a bed for the night – the aim, Esperance.
I’m now in a hostel less than 30m from the beach, with a view out over the bay. Plenty more exploring to do tomorrow!
