Tea on the verandah and more retirement plans...

Next day, we backtracked a bit to drive 20kms off the Nullabor to the Eyre Bird Sanctuary. Although it was a bit of a trek down a rough 4WD track to get there, we were happy to lower our tyre pressure and have a look as it had been highly recommended by some folk we had met back in SA. It was totally worth it. What a magical spot. The sanctuary is at the site of an old telegraph station that was closed in 1930, fell into disrepair then was re-opened in 1977 as a bird sanctuary and weather station. It feels totally wild and isolated and is managed completely by volunteers, couples who come for three months to record bird activity, send off weather reports, look after visitors (day and overnight) and tend the veggie garden. They were so friendly and welcoming - giving us a tour, telling us all about the place and then chatting over tea and homemade biscuits on the veranda while we kept an eye out for birds. They gave the kids milo and colouring in sheets of rare bird species (Zara completed hers perfectly with all the correct colours and Sash decorated his with lots of 5s and Ws). We did a short walk around the area and out towards the dunes before fossicking around in the museum which was full of old whale bones and stories of the last manager of the telegraph station – a man recognised for his courage in the face of great white sharks, long-distance running and nasty habit of beating his 12 children until they bore life-long scars. As we left, a massive flock of Major Mitchel Cockatoos flew over our car, which was kind of a relief because we wanted to love the place but felt that the lack of birds was going to make it hard to rave about the bird sanctuary. Nonetheless, Kate and Bill added ‘volunteer at Eyre Bird Sanctuary’ to their list of retirement plans (Kate suggested doing it when the kids are teenagers until Bill pointed out that 3 months of isolation and counting birds would be most teenagers worst nightmare… fair point).

Back on the highway, we headed for Balladonia then turned south on a 4WD track towards the Cape Arid NP. We pulled over and spent the night on the side of the road, in a spot that had a gazzilion ant holes but apparently no ants. We ate a veggie-less meal which was a bit weird but did the job. It was lovely to not have anyone else around – the kids could make plenty of noise, and we were accosted by no-one!