Eucla, Western Australia

History

The name Eucla is believed to originate from an Aboriginal word Yinculyer which one (uncited) source gives as referring to the rising of the planet Venus. It was first used by Europeans for the area at some point before 1867.

In 1841, Eyre and Baxter became the first European explorers to visit the area. In 1867, the president of the Marine Board of South Australia declared a port at Eucla, and in 1870, John Forrest camped at the location for nearly two weeks. In 1873, land was taken up at Moopina Station near the present townsite, and work commenced on a telegraph line from Albany to Adelaide. Land was set aside at Eucla for the establishment of a manual repeater station, and when the telegraph line opened in 1877, Eucla was one of the most important telegraph stations on the line. The station was important as a conversion point because South Australia and Victoria used American Morse code (locally known as the Victorian alphabet) while Western Australia used the international Morse code that is familiar today.

A jetty and tram line were constructed for offloading supplies brought in by sea. The town was proclaimed a township and gazetted in 1885, and reached its peak in the 1920s, prior to the construction of a new telegraph line further north alongside the Trans-Australian Railway in 1929.

In the 1890s, a rabbit plague passed through the area and ate much of the Delisser Sandhills' dune vegetation, thus destabilising the dune system and causing large sand drifts to encroach on the townsite. The original town was abandoned and a new townsite established about 4 km to the north and higher up on the escarpment. The ruins of the original telegraph station which still stand amongst the dunes are a local tourist attraction.

Many of the pioneer farmers and telegraph operators were buried at Eucla, but as the sand dunes encroached onto their graves, some of the headstones and plaques were removed and can now be seen at the museum at Eucla.

In 1898, the population of the town was 96 (82 males and 14 females).

In 1971, worldwide media publicity came to the town after reports (and indistinct photographs) emerged of a half-naked blonde girl who had gone wild and lived and ran with the kangaroos, who came to be known as the "Nullarbor Nymph". The story subsequently turned out to be a hoax created by the residents of the tiny settlement.

Climate

Eucla has a semi-arid climate (BSk) with Mediterranean climate (Csb) tendencies. Summers are warm and dry, although mild by Australian outback standards. However, very hot days can occur, caused by hot northerly winds from the Great Victoria Desert. Winters are mild to cool with a rainfall peak. For a semi-desert climate the humidity is rather high all-year round, due to the moisture from the nearby ocean. With summers being right around 22 C means, temperatures are near the border between maritime and subtropical climates, although Eucla is highly variable due to the combined cool-ocean and hot-desert influences.

Average maximum temperatures vary from 25 to from December to March, to 18 C in July. The average annual rainfall of 320.1 mm is evenly spread through the year, with monthly totals ranging from 14.9 mm in January to 35.0 mm in December. The highest temperature was 49.8 °C on 19 December 2019, while the lowest was -2.2 °C on 20 June 1936.

|Jan record high C = 48.6 |Feb record high C = 47.6 |Mar record high C = 46.9 |Apr record high C = 42.0 |May record high C = 36.5 |Jun record high C = 33.3 |Jul record high C = 30.3 |Aug record high C = 34.7 |Sep record high C = 40.1 |Oct record high C = 43.1 |Nov record high C = 46.7 |Dec record high C = 49.8 |year record high C = |Jan avg record high C = 43.3 |Feb avg record high C = 41.4 |Mar avg record high C = 39.3 |Apr avg record high C = 34.7 |May avg record high C = 30.6 |Jun avg record high C = 25.2 |Jul avg record high C = 25.6 |Aug avg record high C = 29.9 |Sep avg record high C = 34.7 |Oct avg record high C = 38.8 |Nov avg record high C = 40.3 |Dec avg record high C = 41.5 |year avg record high C = 45.0 |Jan avg record low C = 11.3 |Feb avg record low C = 12.3 |Mar avg record low C = 9.9 |Apr avg record low C = 8.1 |May avg record low C = 5.1 |Jun avg record low C = 3.2 |Jul avg record low C = 2.4 |Aug avg record low C = 2.8 |Sep avg record low C = 3.1 |Oct avg record low C = 4.9 |Nov avg record low C = 7.0 |Dec avg record low C = 9.0 |year avg record low C = 1.8 |Jan record low C = 3.5 |Feb record low C = 7.8 |Mar record low C = 6.7 |Apr record low C = 2.0 |May record low C = 0.0 |Jun record low C = -2.2 |Jul record low C = -0.6 |Aug record low C = 0.0 |Sep record low C = -0.6 |Oct record low C = 1.5 |Nov record low C = 2.8 |Dec record low C = 3.8 |year record low C =

Present day

Eucla is the largest stopping point between Norseman and Penong for travellers along the Eyre Highway. It has a hotel and restaurant, a police station, a golf club (7 km to the north), a museum dedicated to the Old Telegraph Station, and a meteorological station. These, together with fishing, are the major activities in the locality. There is a Travellers Cross that, despite its name, commemorates locals who have died.

The South Australian settlement of Border Village is located 12 km east of Eucla. Primarily established as a quarantine checkpoint for agricultural produce, this small settlement also comprises a licensed roadhouse and caravan park.

Time zone

Eucla and the surrounding area, notably Mundrabilla and Madura in Western Australia and Border Village in South Australia, use the Central Western Time Zone of UTC+8:45. Although it has no official sanction, it is universally observed in this area, stopping just to the east of Caiguna.

Transport

Eucla is a major stop-off point along the Eyre Highway.

In October 2005, Greyhound Australia announced the closure of their Nullarbor service due to rising fuel prices and declining passenger numbers.

Gallery

Image:Eucla pass 2008.jpg|Eucla Pass Image:Euclapastfrom west.JPG|Eucla Pass from the west Image:Eucla coast from pass.jpg|Eucla Pass looking toward south coast

References

References

1. {{Census 2016 AUS
2. {{LandInfo WA. c. E. 17 April 2007
3. [http://members.iinet.net.au/~oseagram/eucla.html The intercolonial telegraph line at Eucla], retrieved 1 April 2007.
4. Walkabout Australia. "Walkabout – Eucla".
5. (22 April 1898). "Population of Western Australia". National Library of Australia.
6. Dora Dallwitz. "The Nullarbor Nymph Hoax".
7. "Climate statistics for Eucla". [[Bureau of Meteorology]].
8. "Climate statistics for Eucla: 1991–2020". [[Bureau of Meteorology]].
9. "Climate Data Online - Map search". [[Bureau of Meteorology]].
10. "Travellers Cross".
11. (10 October 2005). "Nullarbor bus service proves too costly". [[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]].