Features

Australia - Crossing the Nullarbor

by Sue Moffitt

I stopped at every lookout, every rest area and every roadhouse. I camped alongside the road sharing a camp fire with fellow travellers and took to the 4WD tracks to explore the wild Australian Bight. I wanted to get a real experience of the Nullarbor versus just driving the 1000 kilometres from Ceduna to Norseman. I took a week.

Travelling east to west, the lookouts over the Australian Bight are spectacular and terrifyingly high. 80 m, sheer rugged limestone cliffs are crumbly pink at the top changing to cream at the sea. Looking up the coast these symmetrical cones look like bottoms pointing to the wind. As the cliffs dwindle in size the landscape changes to miles of interleaving sand dunes that combine to create a rainbow of coloured sands and aquamarine sea. I soak up the atmosphere at each stop. I search for colourful wildflowers and tiny succulents, watch the seabirds skimming across the ocean, munch on my picnic lunch and just watch the world go by.

The Eucla Telegraph Station (just off the highway) and the Eyre Bird Observatory are both well worth the side trips. At the Bird Observatory you can stay for the day or overnight, go bird watching or walk through the high dunes of sand to the wild and inhospitable Australian Bight. Twilight Cove is even more remote and wild. It’s a challenging 4WD but the feeling of isolation is well worth the effort.

Over into the WA border the landscape is flat. But only for a while as the Hampton Tablelands end abruptly in a treed escarpment that runs parallel to the highway. Fraser Range Sheep Station, located 105 kilometres east of Norseman is an oasis of colourful bougainvillea with great camping and one of the biggest communal camp fires I’ve ever seen. The final run into Norseman is completely different with bright red salt lakes edged in white with gum trees that are so brightly coloured they look as if the sun is continuously setting on them.

Crossing the Nullarbor is a journey and a half. It's 1000 kms so careful planning is required. There’s fuel, accommodation, food and water supplies to consider and it's best driven in the Spring or Autumn when it’s not so hot but warm enough to camp.