The Eyre Highway and its crossing of the Nullarbor Plain
would have to be one of Australia’s most famous roads. And with good reason. It is such an iconic road, that these days
can be covered in about two days in the comfort of your air conditioned car.
It wasn't that long ago that things were very different –
and we caught a glimpse back in time as we took a slightly offbeat crossing of
the continent.
Whilst the Yalata Roadhouse might have closed down, it is
still the first place you will find the mighty three hazards of this drive–
Camels, Kangaroos and Wombats. When you
cross the border Wombats are replaced by Emu – but you get the idea. This is a road best driven in daylight hours
only.
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| Next 96km... The first of the big three hazards! |
Not long out of Yalata, the vegetation shrinks in size, and you enter the true Nullarbor Plain. Nullarbor is not an Aboriginal name, but rather comes from the Latin – Null (nil) Arbor (trees). Due to a limestone layer just beneath the surface, trees are unable to grow in this area – and it was worth a stop here too – and this is one part of the world that the camera will never capture the enormity of the sky as you stand surrounded by a whole heap of, well, nothing.
Don’t let that fool you.
This place is fascinating. We
drove to Head of the Bight, and looked over the magnificent Bunda Clifs, that
stretch for hundreds of kiliometres. It
is believed that these are the longest line of cliffs anywhere in the
world. It is also a nursery for Southern
Wright Whales – during the winter months.
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| Head of the Bight |
We refuelled at Nullarbor Roadhouse – because our next
diversion was off the main road not much further west. As I was paying, I explained that we were
thinking of heading up to Cook, for a look.
I was glad I asked, because not only was the attendant (owner) happy to
give me advice on the roads, but he also suggested we stop at Koonalda
Homestead for a look. And what a great
afternoon we had.
Out of Nullarbor we followed the original Eyre Highway for
about 30 kilometres. This was the
original track carved during the Second World War (there was no road other than
station tracks before then). When the highway was sealed, it was also remade
further south – and the old highway hasn’t been graded since!
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| Highway One - on the Nullarbor |
