One of the most photographed road signs in Australia ?
“a hideous anomaly, a blot on the face of Nature, the sort of place one gets into in bad dreams”
That is how the first white man to cross the Nullarbor, explorer Edward John Eyre, described the Nullarbor Plain. I guess he could be excused for thinking that, as he took 4 months to walk across it. I’ve driven across many times before, although not for nearly 20 years, and it is still a long, long drive !
it’s a long way from Eucla to anywhere
When I was young and foolish, I used to drive from Sydney to Perth every Christmas to visit my parents, doing the entire trip in less than 4 days, driving 15 hours a day at 100+ kph. Nowadays I drive a lot more sedately for shorter periods, so it has taken me nearly 3 days just to get across the Nullarbor. Mind you, that’s still a lot quicker than the 5 cyclists I saw pedalling across, including the German girl I camped next to outside Penong who estimated it would take her 20 or 25 days to get to Perth !
The “90 Mile Straight” is said to be the longest dead straight road in the world
Apart from a few lookouts at Eucla and the Bunda cliffs, it is a rather featureless drive, so any photo op is a welcome reason to stop and stretch your legs.
A welcome diversion
waiting for dinner ?
Some facts about the Nullarbor crossing:
From Eucla at the WA/SA border to Norseman you are in the world’s largest local government area, the shire of Dundas.
The Nullarbor contains the world’s longest straight stretches of road and railway.
NASA was fined for littering when parts of Skylab crashed to Earth near Balladonia.
It has the world’s longest golf course, with holes at places along the road all the way from Ceduna to Norseman.
At Border Village, the last stop in SA, with one of the golf course links and giant kangaroo.
It is home to the Nullarbor Nymph.
The legendary Nullarbor Nymph
OK, so that one is not a fact …it is a hoax that had many journalists rushing to the Nullarbor after stories of hunters seeing a naked girl running wild with kangaroos !
A couple of rest days in Kalgoorlie, and then it is off to Perth. I don’t know how long I will stop there, it has probably changed an awful lot since I was there last. As I’ve said before, I’m not a fan of big cities, and Perth was getting too big for me 19 years ago !
