The Nullabor Plain

The Straight Stretch, Eyre Highway

We returned to Norseman on Friday and at precisely 11am we started our journey across the Nullabor Plain; Australia's great road journey with the Great Australian Bight and the Southern Ocean to the south and the Great Sandy Desert to the north.

Weather was cold and overcast as we travelled to our first camp at Baxters Rest between Balladonia and Caiguna on the longest straight stretch of road in the country, 146 kilometres. We aren't playing the Nullabor Links and for those who haven't heard of the latest tourist attraction, you can play 18 holes of golf from Kalgoorlie to Ceduna in South Australia; the longest golf course in the world at 1,365 kilometres. We couldn't help but wonder how the 'Tiger' would handle the distance!

Firstly we passed by Fraser Range, granite hills supporting a Eucalyptus hardwood forest of more than 20 species about 100 kilometres out and then the 90 mile or 146 kilometre straight stretch on this Eyre Highway. Next the town of Balladonia which made headlines around the world in 1979 when space debris from Skylab landed here. Small clumps of wildflowers, spindly trees, red dirt through to a clay looking landscape and no sheep, no cattle, an occasional dead emu on the side of the road and I almost forgot, no noisy crows! A nullaboring road according to the mere male sitting beside me!

Cliffs of The Great Australian Bight

An uneventful overnight stop and still no sun the next morning as we continued on our journey to South Australia with a two and a half hour time difference to deal with down the track. This is one big expanse of flat country as far as the eye can see. An amazing view after Madura which is midway between Perth and Adelaide. We descended at Madura pass from the Hampton Tablelands to a spectacular view of the grey green nothingness of the Roe Plains. The Moodini Bluff lies to the north and the ridge of the tablelands which would have once been the ocean cliffs continued in view and we realised we were driving on what was once the ocean floor.

Coming into Eucla twelve kilometres before the border we had amazing views of the Delisser Sandhills and for the first time, the Southern Ocean. We climbed to the tablelands and travelled along the ridge over the border crossing into South Australia (time change) and there was the Great Australian Bight in all its glory. Surf and majestic cliffs and the sun shining for the first time today - bloody marvellous said the other half! We saw a family of emus; mum and dad crossed the road in front of us and the youngsters numbering at least six had the good sense not to follow them.
Tried to grab a photo but we were travelling to fast.

Bunda Cliffs Vegetation

133klm (from the border) Rest Stop at Bunda Cliffs for our second overnight stay. We camped probably 100 metres from the cliffs of the Bight and a walk to near the edge was a creepy experience with strong winds and a sheer drop of up to 90 metres below. Definitely not an area where you would want to sleep walk! Lots of beautiful wildflowers and we saw 'brere rabbit' who was most unfriendly and took off down his burrow when he saw us. Sunday morning I did a big cook up of our left over fresh vegetables (no food for our unfriendly bunny) to avoid losing them at the fruit fly quarantine station at Ceduna. First town, if you could call it a town, was Nullabor, "nullus arbor" meaning treeless plain, an area of 200,000 square kilometres and up to 300 metres thickness of the worlds flattest piece of limestone. Passed by Yalata and the dog proof fence which goes for miles and miles to the north (dingos and wild dogs) and then the road took us up and on to another tableland and hills with thicker vegetation and small trees.

The landscape started to change before we reached Penong, meaning waterhole, with cultivated pasture and sheep stations and continued as we travelled on to Ceduna and the end of our journey on the Nullabor Plain. Ceduna, derived from the Aboriginal word Chedoona meaning resting place, sounded inviting, but we decided to push on to Streaky Bay another 100 kilometres south on the Eyre Peninsular of South Australia.