Venturing Across the Nullarbor Plain

WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHY ROSIE HENDERSON

Ah, the longest, straightest, and flattest road in Australia. It’s the Nullarbor Plain, stretching 1250 kilometres across the southern edge of Australia, between the Goldfields in Western Australia and the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. Connecting the two is the Eyre Highway, the main route between Perth and Adelaide. Many people drive this route in just a few days, but you could easily spend a couple of weeks exploring the famous plain.

The Aboriginal name for the Nullarbor Plain is ‘oondiri’, meaning ‘waterless’. In 1967, surveyor E. A. Delisser journeyed into the plain and called it the Nullarbor, meaning ‘no trees’ in Latin. Despite the name and perception of the Nullarbor, it is far from barren. And there are some trees, including bluebush, mulga scrub, and quandongs, and even wildflowers after rain.

The Nullarbor is home to plenty of wildlife, like wild camels, kangaroos, and emus, all of which you’ll be sure to meet along the way. The place is also filled with outback characters, roaming cattle, freight trains, and sights, including Skylab space junk, the world’s longest golf course, and the world’s longest line of sea cliffs.

We recently ventured west to east, so read on for some hotspots to check out and activities to keep you entertained along the way.

Play a round of golf on the Nullarbor Links , the longest golf course in the world, with 18 holes stretching from Kalgoorlie in Western Australia to Ceduna in South Australia. Score cards are available for purchase from the Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Norseman, and Ceduna Visitors Centres. The course is far from ordinary golfing. In the dirt and surrounded by scrub and salt, it’s a pretty quirky Aussie experience. You can hire gear from most roadhouses if you don’t have your own. For further information, head to www. nullarborlinks.com.

Stop in at Balladonia Roadhouse , which made the news in 1979 when parts of NASA’s Skylab space station crashed to earth, sprinkling debris into the Indian Ocean and across southwest Australia. You can see bits of the station at the Balladonia Cultural Heritage Museum. If you’re heading from west to east, Balladonia is also the first stop on the Nullarbor journey. Check your tyres and oil, fuel up, and make sure you’re ready as the 90 Mile Straight (147 kilometres), the world’s longest stretch of straight road, starts here and ends in Caiguna.

Visit the blow holes and caves. The Nullarbor Plain sits on an enormous slab of limestone so, not surprisingly, it is riddled with caves. Many of them are off the main road, but if you’re willing to adventure, they’re worth it. The best known ones are the Cocklebiddy and Murrawijinie Caves. If you’re not too keen to stray off the Eyre Highway, you can check out the blowhole at Caiguna. You won’t see water spouts but you might hear it breathing, as air pressure equalises between the cave and the surface.

Experience the remoteness of the Old Telegraph Station at Eucla. While stopping at Eucla to refuel or stretch your legs, it’s worth popping by to check out the ruins of the telegraph station, once Australia’s busiest regional telegraph station. When you’re there, picture yourself living out there and operating that place in the 1800s...

Breathe in fresh air at the Bunda Cliffs in Nullarbor National Park. After Border Village, you’ll follow the Eyre Highway alongside the 90 metre high, 200 kilometre long Bunda Cliffs, the longest length of sea cliffs in the world. There are several signposted lookouts over the cliffs. Don’t venture anywhere you’re not supposed to around the limestone cliff tops as they crumble easily. This is a great spot to take in the view. Keep an eye out for those migrating whales too!

Embrace the straight road! Roll down that window and pump those tunes, or get stuck into a good podcast or audiobook. After the cliffs, the highway becomes what you picture Nullarbor country to look like –treeless, flat, and arid, with 184 kilometres between Border Village and the Nullarbor Roadhouse.

Eat your body weight in hot chips. We found our favourites at the Nullarbor Roadhouse. The crispy little lengths of spud heaven hit the spot as we sat outside in the sun and wind, surrounded by not much but sand. This is a cool spot. The Nullarbor Roadhouse is a great base for exploring nearby attractions and picking up information. You can see a scaled replica of the original roadhouse, and murals that depict the history of the region. This is also where you’ll find hole number five – Dingo's Den – of the Nullarbor Links golf course.

Whale watch at the Head of Bight. Twenty kilometres off the highway, the Head of Bight is a great spot to view the southern right whales as they visit the area between May and October to give birth, mate, and socialise before their long migration south. Even outside of whale season, it’s a beautiful spot to visit, grab a cold drink or a cuppa, and take some photos of the glorious cliffs. There is an entry fee for this one, but it’s totally worth it.

Get pitted. We don’t share secret surf spots, but we will say that there are waves out there for those who are willing to put in the work to find them! If you’ve got the time, and you’re keen to venture off the track, throw in your wetsuit and a board and go searching. Get swept away at the Penong Windmill Museum , an outdoor art display paying tribute to a vital part of the town's history. The museum showcases a range of windmills including ‘Bruce’, who claims to be the biggest windmill in Australia.

We’re on the home stretch now. With just over 70 kilometres between Penong and Ceduna, which sits on the sandy curves of Murat Bay, this is technically the end of the Nullarbor. The Ceduna Foreshore Hotel is known for its local King George whiting, as well as a host of other South Australian seafood offerings, so celebrate making it across the finish line with lunch or dinner in the popular bistro and bar.

HAPPY ADVENTURING!