Fowlers Bay

The far edge of the far west

Fowlers Bay sits at the very end of the sealed road, about 150 km west of Ceduna — a scatter of houses, a caravan park and a long timber jetty pinned between a calm bay and a wall of enormous white sand dunes. The bay was named by Matthew Flinders in January 1802 after his first lieutenant, Robert Fowler, and Edward John Eyre used it as his base camp in 1840 before his epic crossing of the Nullarbor. Before either of them, whaling crews worked these waters, and traces of their camps still dot the shore.

Whales in winter

The whales, remarkably, came back. Southern right whales shelter in the bay between May and October on their winter migration, sometimes drifting within sight of the jetty, and seasonal boat tours run when conditions and whale numbers allow. It is one of the few places on the far west coast — along with the famous cliffs at the Head of Bight — where you can reliably hope to see them.

The dunes

Behind the town, the dunes are gradually winning. Sand blowing up from Scotts Bay has been creeping over Fowlers Bay for a century, and locals fight a slow rearguard action to keep it out of the streets. Climb the dune ridge at sunset and the view — white sand, dark sea, empty coast in both directions — explains why people fall for this place. Read more in Winter of the Whales.