24th November 2021 Eyre Bird Observatory
The first 20kms was a reasonable gravel road which takes you to the top of the escarpment where there is a lookout and a sign telling people that it is only 4wd from there on and the descent down the escarpment was hazardous so choose low range low gear, it didn't sound fun for me so I decided to walk down while Merv drove. It wasn't so bad after all there wasn't any steep sudden drpos off the side which would have freaked me out.
The track from there was another 9kms of definite 4wd sand track, the truck went relly well the hardest part was looking out for low hanging branches that may hit the salor panel, there has been a fire through at sometime making the trees hang, they are very close to the track as well.
When we reached the sanctuary we were met by the caretakers who are volunteers and stay for 3 months at a time.
We were shown through the house which was the original telegraph station, the building was amazing I would love it as a house, they have rooms there that people can stay at a cost of $95 pr person which includes 3 meals and morning and afternoon tea, there is no camping there some people probably camp out near the beach, but it would be well worth staying in the house so you have enough time to do all the walks and enjoy the birds as well as the huge beach.
We walked to the beach, walked a reasonable distance on it then went back had lunch and went on one of their other marked trails, they have collected huge amounts of rope from the beach which they lay on the ground to mark the trails, it makes it easy to follow without getting lost.
The museum has some very interesting stories of the first families out there and a great collection of skulls from birds and animals as well as shells..
When we left we got to the bottom of the escarpment and decided to take the telegraph road to Madura, oh my heavens we thought it was hard watching for trees on the first part this was nerve racking, Merv had to get out and try to break one limb out of the way. We went through a couple of washouts but when we came to the third one it was washed out at such an angle I am sure it was me leaning hard against the door that stopped us from tipping, whew.
Just a bit further on the bush was very thick against both sides of the truck, it wasn't high but we were virtually pushing through it, Merv said we had better turn around, we kept going looking for somewhere to turn and the track cleared out to shorter bush and back from the track a bit.
We carried on and the track became very open and good,
There are old telegraph poles along the road which is ok on the latter part of the road but you had to really watch for them earlier as they were right on the edge and are steel.
It is fascinating to look at the poles and wonder how they ever got them in there along with all the steel wire.
We dropped up to the ruins of an early sheep station then continued down the road looking for a good spot to spend the night, it is still very cold windy with some showers.
After the day there are a few more scratches on the old girl and plenty of mud.
We found a lovely flat area with some shelter behind bushes from the wind the night is very cold
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