I moved on and took a picture of the Travellers' Cross that is placed so it can be seen by people coming from the west. I must admit, I did not see the cross yesterday when I arrived in town, but it is floodlit at night to make it prominent from many kilometres away to the west. The cross was erected and inaugurated on 18 October 1969 as a "tribute to Christian travellers on the Eyre Highway and those people who made the new Eucla". Nearby is a memorial to John Eyre.

About 4km down the hill and along a straight but rough gravel road are the remains of a telegraph station that was the reason for Eucla's settlement. The rough ride was not what my backside needed, but I struggled on without additional damage.

The remnants of the telegraph station are a testament to the power of nature to reclaim its own. The station was built in 1888 and operated for 50 years. It was a communications link between Western Australia and the rest of the world. The first building was constructed of timber, but it was later clad with stone, and judging from the pictures, was a smart piece of Australian country architecture with a long verandah.

When the station was closed permanently, it was acquired by the Gurney family primarily to salvage materials for their homestead on the Moodini pastoral lease. This hastened the demise of the station as a structure, and it was left to the moving dunes to inexorably consume the remains.

Today, the only evidence of the building comprises several chimneys, stone foundations, fence posts, water pipe and the derelict rotor of a water windmill. The amazing part about all this is that the station was some 700 metres from the ocean, just behind the first line of dunes. The wind has built a second row of dunes, obviously where the land was disturbed by human settlement, and these mountains of sand have reclaimed the station.

Two remarkable observations can be made. The first is that a small stand of mature gum trees survived the sand's onslaught. The clump stands like a castle surrounded by a deep moat. Obviously, the aerodynamics around the trees ensured the sand was kept at bay, and left the trees to become an oasis. The second observation is that the hard red surface of the original clay pans has started to reappear between the two lines of dunes. I can imagine that over considerable time, this area will return to its original form as the dunes continue to move inland and possibly dissipate.

The walk to the beach and the old jetty was worthwhile. The great survivors of the Eucla telegraph station are the piles and beams of the jetty that stretches defiantly into the ocean... a finger pointing across emerald green water to a far-away Antarctic continent. The coast is long and lonely, and the jetty is testament to the seamanship of those who sailed the ketches and other ships with cargoes of wool and sandalwood out of the port. The sand has again reclaimed most of the landward part of the jetty, and the seabirds now regard the ghostly frame as their exclusive sanctuary.

A walk along the beach revealed the usual seaweed and many cuttlefish shells as a reminder of the sea's power. Among it all were a variety of plastic bottles and other man-made items. Even in remote areas, pollution of the oceans is a serious problem. Four-wheel-drive tracks were evident, created earlier by a Eucla-based tour vehicle for those unable or too lazy to walk the route.

Despite the hardships evident in this part of the country, the coast has an awesome and unforgettable beauty, particularly as the Hampton Tableland rises dramatically from the ocean and sand.