We head on west visiting a few of the lookouts, the coastal scenery is huge and majestic.
We head through police and state quarantine checks at the border, covid-19 management is still quite strict in WA but it seems to have been effective. We have a quick look at the ruins of the old Eucla Telegraph station then down through Eucla pass for lunch at Mundrabilla. We continue west up through the Madura Pass where we are greeted by the burning wreck of a prime mover trailer, some poor truckie had a mis-adventure but seems him and his rig escaped harm. We continue on, taking the turnoff to the Eyre Bird Observatory (EBO) the trip down the escarpment and across the sandy lowlands is beautiful. The aftermath of a fire from several years ago is evident but the regrowth is astonishing. The closer we get to EBO the older and larger mallee trees seem unscathed by the fire.
The EBO is located about 1km from the coast, about 2 sand dune systems in, it’s far away from human settlement, situated amongst mallee it’s a haven for a prolific and varied bird population, reptiles and interesting flora. The bush is a cacophony of bird calls and from the white sandy beach we sight dolphins. Its a surprise to find the beach in such good condition , we find the odd plastic bottle and discarded fishing gear, mainly rope. The good condition of the beach is in part due to the caretakers who do a beach run (13km) to make bird observations and pickup rubbish. The building is the 1897 telegraph repeater station, part of a network that connected Western Australia with the rest of Australia and the world. The building is a Federation Bungalow style residence built from local limestone and designed under the Chief Architect George Temple Poole a notable architect in WA. It is a cosy and welcoming residence for our 3 night stay. The earlier 1877 residence, made of timber and tin is nearly but only the stone chimneys provide evidence of its existence. The EBO is within the Nuytsland Nature Reserve, an important reserve that preserves mallee habitat, which has been decimated in the eastern states.
We spend time chatting, walking and helping with bird counts, the exciting finds include the 55 Major Mitchell cockatoos enjoying the bird bath at EBO, 4 banded stilts and while not birds, the dolphins that cruised the shallows 10m from us was exciting to see. The night skies have been good for night sky photography equalled only by the apricot coloured sunsets that precedes them.
