The Nullarbor Plains (24th-26th Sept)

We crossed from Whyalla to Esperance in 2days. A distance of nearly 2000km. Day 1, from Whyalla to Ceduna wasn't even the Nullabor, we were just driving across the top of the Eyrie Peninsular. It was like driving into nothingness. Ceduna was the last real town before before the Nullarbor but even before that we were going 100kms between towns, with straight stretches of road up to 50km long. The only thing of real interest was the Big Gullah.


Once on the Nullabor they weren't even real towns anymore. Road stations. They had fuel, a shop, a truckers shower and, because it's Aus, maybe a pub. Imagine living out there...

The drive across the Nullabor is flat and straight. Not boring though. There's not nothing to see. Despite it being a 'treeless plain' there's a fair amount of vegetation and always the hope of spotting wildlife, mainly camels. We didn't, that would come later. We saw eagles though, with wingspans the width of the car. They were always the last to fly away from the road kill. So magnificent the way they just rise up so slowly from the road.

The road kill, that's another thing entirely. It's unbelievable, especially across the Nullarbor. We don't really get much road kill in the U.K, but in Aus, on the Nullarbor you can barely go 100m (I mean meters) without passing another flattened 'roo. Trucks don't stop, slow, or really even notice them.

And believe it or not there really are some interesting stops across the Nullarbor. Well you would hope so on such a long stretch of road. You are actually driving across the Great Australian Bight (or bite). The erosion on the cliffs really does look like teeth marks. Just imagining a colossal giant taking a bite out of Australia...
Anyway the bight really is incredible.

On one side you have a magnificent coast line with beautiful cliffs and blue water, and the other side; desert plains! There are 3 official viewing points along the Bight, though there are 4x4 tracks where people have gone to find their own. The first, travelling East to West is the 'Head of the Bight' where the viewing platform is set out over the cliffs. I'm told it was once free but as it would now set you back a fair price, we settled for the second one, which was suitably spectacular anyway.




Then there was the Nullarbor golf course. Too expensive for us to play but a brilliant idea.




The Nullarbor Links is the worlds longest golf course. 18 holes, each in a different town across the Nullarbor from Ceduna to Kalgoorlie. A 1365km course. Now I'm no golf fan but even I think that's an amazing idea.

Then, of course, there's the 90mile straight. By this point (travelling from the East) you're used to the seemingly endless straight roads so it isn't actually all that bad but cruise control is a god send, that goes for driving in most of Aus actually. And the drivers are all so friendly. You spend so long between seeing another vehicle, you're happy enough to wave at everyone and you rarely ever get stuck behind another vehicle because the road is so quiet and straight you can just overtake (though the limit has come down from 140km/hr to 120km/hr).

And then you reach Western Australia, and have your entire car searched for fruit and veg. Very annoying when you did your shopping 2 days before and have to bin it all. And then there are trees, and hills and twisty roads! The great Western Forest where we camped by a waterhole in the Fraser range- absolutely stunning!






And a word of advice on fuel stopping on the Nullarbor. They seem frequent but can easily be over 100kms apart and over $2/lt. Fill your tank as full as possible when you start and be mindful!