Day 113: Nullarbor Roadhouse to Penong

I 

 It rained most of the night and the normal early morning exodus from the caravan park this morning was a bit delayed, waiting for things to improve. We left at 9.30pm about half way through the exodus, normally at that time we would be last. We are headed for Penong.

The Head of Bight Whale watching centre is not far out of Nullarbor Roadhouse, so we take the 11km road in to see what is purported to be one of Australia's greatest land based watching locations, particularly for Southern Right Whales.

It is overcast and the threat of rain is real, but we pay our $17 and embark onto the walk which takes us to the viewing points. There is an impressive boardwalk on the eastern side which we do first. 

Looking in an Easterly direction we see impressive sand dunes and some rugged coast line under the boardwalk.

The boardwalk zigzags down towards the water, terminating at the cove above.

We could see  some whales in the distance but the Western lookout looks like it is better placed for whale watching.

The coastal landscape looking west is much more spectacular.

We did see some whales, but too far out to get a good photo.

This whale was a fair way out and not very active

Fortunately we avoided the rain and after our 1.2km morning walk, we were back in the car heading for Penong.

There was a lone cyclist on this stretch of road (we have passed a few odd sights on the Nullabor). There is a roadhouse at Yalata, about 45 mins away where we will stop for coffee (if they have any). To our surprise, the Yalata Roadhouse appears quite new. It is run the local Aboriginal community, but staffed with backpackers. They make very good coffee. There are also cabins and a caravan park.

Yalata Roadhouse

The sign above raised our curiosity, ask it is common to see warnings about wild camels, kangaroos and wombats, and as this is a whale watching coast the whale picture seems in order. But what is the story with the fish ?

Looking around I found this sculpture and plaque which explained the mystery.

Also whilst we were having our coffee, the cyclist we had seen earlier arrived at the roadhouse. He had a support team with a caravan waiting for him. It seems he was participating in some type of charity ride.

The rain held off and we were in Penong by 1.30pm, after our few distractions along the way. The caravan park is great, a nice, roomy park in a very small village with some interesting attractions.

We have a very generous drive through site for the next 2 days.

Next to the caravan park is the main attraction in Penong, the open air windmill museum, featuring Australia's largest windmill "Bruce".

The museum is obvious from a distance.

The pride of the museum is "Bruce", seen below.

There is a wide range of windmills from well known manufacturers like Southern Cross.

Also there are a few quirky ones

Like this folding windmill

The wooden one below is also different.

The town of Penning is not huge. It has a pub, a general store making a big claim about alternative shopping opportunities if going West from Penong and a large fuel station.

Penong Hotel

The General Store and Comet Cafe with a bold claim below

But that is not all Penong has to offer, it is home to the 3rd Hole of the famous Nullarbor Links Golf Course ( the World's Longest Golf Course). The hole is aptly named Windmills, and looks like a fair challenge.

Looks like a tough par 4, the green keeper has been recently through with the slasher, so the fairways are in optimal condition.

A very accurate tee shot to avoid the trees in the middle of the fairway is needed.

You can just see the flag on the green through the gap between the fairway trees

A tough approach shot to an artificial grass green

My guess is you close your eyes and hope for the best putting, if you can get the ball to stay on the green on approach.

Tomorrow we look forward to exploring the surrounding area, including Lake Macdonnell.