A
2,700km stretch of road named “not a tree in sight” and nicknamed
‘Nullar-boring' by locals doesn’t sound that exciting, does it? Well, in fact, the Nullarbor boasts a mysterious ‘nymph’, the world’s longest golf
course, a magnificent whale-watching platform, and is littered with caves and blowholes. Driving across the Nullarbor, from West
Australia to South Australia, it turns out, actually was quite an adventure.
Having set off from Esperance, this post details day
one of the two-day journey across the Nullarbor.
Norseman
– Gateway to the Nullarbor
Norseman is where those arriving from (even) further West join the Nullarbor, a small gold mining community about 200km
north of Esperance. At one stage, Norseman was the second richest goldfield in
Australia, only beaten by nearby Kalgoorlie. The Norseman Gold Mine has been in
operation for the longest continuous production of gold in the whole of
Australia, over 65 years. Norseman honours its fame as WA’s gateway to the
Nullarbor with camels (the ships of the desert) made from corrugated iron encircling the main roundabout
in town. The town offers vital last minute supplies to travellers heading east,
and possibly the largest petrol station I have ever seen, with a separate
section for refuelling roadtrains (one of three petrol stations in the town).
The roadhouse is just behind the mega petrol station.
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| Camels, Norseman, WA, Australia |
Fraser
Range Sheep Station
Halfway
between Norseman and Balladonia, Fraser Range is an extremely remote, working sheep
station. It's not what you expect to find on the Nullarbor. The station is surrounded by the world’s
largest hardwood forest and has a dense tree canopy stretching as far as the
eye can see in every direction. It is a vastly different landscape from the
rest of the Nullarbor Plain. (It's one extreme to another around here!) The first hole of the ‘Nullarbor Links’ golf
course (or last if you’re travelling west) is at the station, which
offers accommodation (rooms or camping) and an evening meal. If you fancy a short
walk on arrival, on climbing the escarpment nearest the
station you'll probably see emus and wallabies enjoying a lazy afternoon.
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| Fraser Range Sheep Station on the Nullarbor, WA, Australia |
Skylab
hits Balladonia
Nearby
Balladonia’s claim to fame is that NASA’s Skylab crashed to earth at Balladonia
in 1979. Amusingly, the Shire of Dundas issued a littering fine over the
incident and apparently the then US President Jimmy Carter telephoned the
Balladonia Roadhouse to apologise. Chunks of Skylab can be seen at the small but
informative museum next to the Balladonia Roadhouse as well as other
interesting insights into life at Balladonia through the years, including
several historic photos. We thought reading the newspaper coverage of events
really made the Skylab excitement come alive. If Skylab is of special interest
to you, there is another display about it in the Esperance Museum.
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| Part of the Skylab display at Balladonia Museum, Nullarbor, WA, Australia |
90
Mile Straight
After
leaving Balladonia you hit the 90 Mile Straight, which literally is a
stretch of road, 90 miles long, that is completely straight. It’s very
uncomplicated to drive, so long as you don’t doze off or hit any errant
wildlife. There was a lot of roadkill (kangaroos) on this stretch, so it clearly
happens. I also spotteda large lizard step boldly out in front of a massive
roadtrain and feared the worst, only for him to turn tail at the very last
minute. Phew.
Caiguna
blowhole
As you bowl along the road a sign is just about visible on the approach to Caiguna
indicating ‘blowhole’ to the right. Intrigued? Pull off the road into the
large open space and have a look. In the corner, worryingly close to the road in fact,
was a dip in the ground surface, about a metre in diameter that, on closer
inspection, was a hole. You can hear air movement inside as you approach and ice-cold air blows out around your
knees, underground air-conditioning! The Nullarbor is atop a large chunk of
limestone, and as a result, has an extensive network of caves (called the Murrawijinie caves),
through which the Southern Ocean blows, hence the cool air. (The cave at
Cocklebiddy has been closed due to instability, but there is another about 10km
north of the Nullarbor Roadhouse).
Eyre
Bird Observatory and Cocklebiddy
The
Cocklebiddy Roadhouse has adopted the Wedgetail Eagle as its icon, following
the rescue of one that was hit by a vehicle on the highway here (miraculously, and following being flown to Karratha for treatment, it survived!) Apparently
there are no longer rabbits here, following the outbreak of a bunny disease, so
the eagles now approach the highway looking for roadkill to eat, a dangerous activity when you struggle to get airbourne quickly. It is hard to
imagine they go hungry though, as there was an alarming number of dead kangaroos along
this stretch. There is accommodation, a shop and a restaurant at the roadhouse,
as well as an amusing sign informing visitors about the dynamics of the local
population, and rather randomly a large budgerigar enclosure.
Cocklebiddy
is also the point from which the Eyre Bird Observatory can be accessed.
Situated in the old Eyre Telegraph Station, the building was transformed into
Australia’s first bird observatory in 1977. The observatory is a centre of bird
studies and conservation activities that visitors are welcome to join. Various courses
are offered, as well as birdwatching, bushwalking, beach-combing and
stargazing. Basic accommodation and meals are available.
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| Cocklebiddy sign, Nullarbor, WA, Australia |
Eucla
and the buried Telegraph Station
Shortly
after passing Mundrabilla, and on the last stretch to Eucla, around a bend
in the road I came face to face with a very large kangaroo standing proud in the centre of the
highway. I slowed right down quickly, and
the kangaroo bounded off in the other direction, a timely reminder to keep my wits about me. I counted over 130 kangaroos before reaching Eucla. This one
was the only one I saw alive.
As
the last town on the West Australian side of the state border, Eucla today sits
in isolated splendour atop the Bunda Cliffs. Just below the small settlement is
an unsurfaced road leading across a vast sandy plain to the beach, jetty and
telegraph station. The original township was originally on this plain, but has
been covered by shifting sand dunes. The Telegraph Station was established in
1877 and was a vital communication link connecting WA to the rest of the world until
1927. Incredibly, in the 1890s Eucla was Australia’s busiest telegraph station
outside the capital cities. Nowadays the building is almost entirely buried in
sand, with only a few walls still visible. Eucla’s historic jetty ruins can
also be seen at (windy!) Eucla Beach, which is a 1 km walk along a sand track
(or accessible in a 4WD vehicle). Be sure to take note of the large gum tree by
the Telegraph Station to navigate your way back to the path! Eucla Roadhouse is
the largest establishment on the Nullarbor. It offers basic rooms, hotel rooms
and camping options, a bar and restaurant.
Remember the nymph I mentioned at the beginning of this post? Apparently it was at the Eucla Roadhouse that the rumour of a ‘Nullarbor Nymph’ was born. People came from far and wide in the hope of seeing the topless white woman living with kangaroos on the Nullarbor. It has since been exposed as another Aussie myth, one dreamed up by two chaps drinking at the Eucla Roadhouse.
Remember the nymph I mentioned at the beginning of this post? Apparently it was at the Eucla Roadhouse that the rumour of a ‘Nullarbor Nymph’ was born. People came from far and wide in the hope of seeing the topless white woman living with kangaroos on the Nullarbor. It has since been exposed as another Aussie myth, one dreamed up by two chaps drinking at the Eucla Roadhouse.
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| It's windy at Eucla Beach and old jetty, Nullarbor, WA, Australia! |
While
Eucla is extremely remote from the rest of the world (just over 1,200km from
Adelaide and even further from Perth), driving on the Nullarbor doesn’t actually
feel that remote. There is frequently company on the road, ranging from the
intimidating and enormous roadtrains, and happy campers to some battered-looking (and clearly crazy)
cyclists. While anticipating this trip I had imagined the possibility of breaking down somewhere
and having to wait hours before anyone passed and even noticed, never mind
sorting out the situation. Somewhat incredibly there are roadhouses scattered
along the length of the Nullarbor, roughly every 200km, so there is actually
quite an effective support network. The road itself also
doubles as a runway for the Royal Australian Flying Doctors Service, should
someone need it. Thinking about it, planes landing and taking off from the road
must be an incredible sight, but I’m also glad I didn’t witness it.
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| The Nullarbor road surface doubles as a runway for the Royal Flying Doctors Service, Australia |
More
about the second half of the drive across the Nullarbor in next week’s post!
