We are now in Madura on the Nullarbor road, the official halfway point between Perth and Adelaide.

After leaving Port Augusta yesterday morning we travelled along to Ceduna, which marks the start of the Nullarbor proper, and found a quiet little campsite overlooking the beach. At least it was quiet until a group of oldies turned up on their outback tour and set about setting up their tents for the night.

There was very little between Port Augusta and Ceduna and the journey to Madura was pretty much the same for hundreds of kilometres although there was one detour that we made the effort to go and see and that was the Head of Bight, where Southern Right Whales are often spotted. As we turned into the entrance we saw a sign stating that thirty-one of them had been spotted in the bay, although we also knew that signs like this often lie in this country. When we got to the visitor centre we asked about the sightings and were told that there were a couple of calves in the area as well, so we headed out to the viewing platforms still a little dubious but hoping for the best.

As soon as we got to the platforms we could see a couple of whales out in the distance and we headed to the right hand side where we had been told the calves might be. When we got to the platform we were amazed to see half a dozen whales straight away including two calves that were swimming along with their mothers and they were only a few metres out to see directly below us. We could see them so clearly we could make out all the markings on their bodies and the crustaceans on their faces and unlike the ones in Victor Harbour these ones were actually swimming and splashing around instead of just lying in the water. As well as the ones that were so close to the shore there were also several others further out in the water and as we stood there watching, one of them started breaching in the distance. We watched as the whale jumped out of the water four or five times as it made its way along the water.

After a while we headed around to the other viewing area where there were another couple of whales in the crystal clear water just below the cliffs. From here we could see a few more whales further out to our left and it was here that we actually took in the scenery for the first time and saw the white sandy beaches around the Bight. In total we saw thirteen of the whales in the bay and much closer than ever before so it was hard to leave them behind but we had to continue our way along the mighty Nullarbor so we made our way back to the car to head on out.

From here the road continued on without any distractions for the next couple of hundred kilometres until the boredom of the road took over and we pulled into the Madura roadhouse for the night. We had passed several roadhouses along the way and this one at least seemed to have a few people there and after the lady at the reception advised us to go near the bush so that "no one runs over you" we were all set up and ready for the night.