Australias longest straight road

I first drove across the Nullarbor Plain back in 1978 from the West coast of Australia to the East coast and back again — from all accounts nothing has changed, but it was never boring. Still long straight roads (the straightest section is around 146km (91mi), with lots of native Australian wildlife (kangaroos, wombats, emus, rabbits, wedge tail eagles and camels — courtesy of the Afghans who brought them out during the gold rush days of the 1800’s), plus those pesky flies which appear out of nowhere when you stop alongside the road, obviously looking for a ‘good feed’, which allows us once again to practice that great Aussie salute.

Only 4111km to go!

As my partner had just become an Australian citizen (ex Kiwi — now all I have to do is get her converted to a ‘Wallaby’), I thought it was about time to formally introduce her to the ‘great Aussie road trip’ of crossing the Nullarbor. So with a few months of planning, off we set from Sydney on a crisp but nice sunny morning and headed in a westerly direction — Sydney-Mildura-Streaky Bay-Eucla-Esperance-Albany-Margaret River-Perth.

Feeling outnumbered at Cocklebiddy

A long way from anywhere at the Eucla roadhouse

Then we turned around after a few days break and headed East back home to Sydney — Perth-Kalgoorlie-Eucla-Port Augusta-Broken Hill-Dubbo-Sydney. In total, we covered around 10,000km (6,214 mi). Surprisingly, time went quick and it was loads of fun — at least I didn’t have to listen to Barry Gibb and that Bee Gees tape all over again like I did on my first trip.

Mad Max Museum in Silverton

The famous Silverton Hotel

Mad Max Museum

The people you encounter along the way, the conversations you have at the local bar of a hotel coupled with the food were simply amazing (read Aussie Rules, chicken schnitzel and beer) — there is something to be said about genuine country folk and the local grub.

Pro Hart Gallery

Kalgoorlie Hotel

Superpit open cut gold mine, Kalgoorlie

The added bonus of such a road trip wouldn’t be of course without viewing first hand where the Mad Max films were made, visiting the famous artist Pro Hart’s gallery in Broken Hill, hanging out at the largest open cut gold mine in the world in Kalgoorlie, seeing the remnants of Skylab that fell over Balladonia (US Space station that broke up on re-entry over the outback of Western Australia), playing the longest golf course in the world and walking along the majestic coastline of Esperance with it’s icing sugar white sand that squeaks between your feet and lots off granite islands as far as your eye can see.

We also enjoyed many natural sites (and some unnatural) such as viewing whales and their calves frolicking 50m from the huge limestone cliffs just off the road along the Eyre Peninsula and witnessing wedged-tail eagles with the road kill from the passing road trains.

Whales at the Head of the Bight

ANZAC memorial

Coastal cliffs along the Nullarbor

We visited the National ANZAC centre in Albany where soldiers from Australia and New Zealand (some 41,000) gathered in the port city in 1914 to set sail in a convoy of ships to the Mediterranean during the First World War. Sadly, for a majority of them, this was the last time they ever got to see the shores of Australia.

The Pinnacles

We marvelled at the towering Karri trees of the Western Australia State Forrest, sampled the famous red wines from Margaret River, saw the famous Pinnacles north of Perth where the weathered rock spires rise out of yellow sand dunes. Of course no road trip would be complete without having your fruit seized at a local fruit quarantine check point in South Australia (fruit fly zone).

The trip was finally topped off by bumping into a bunch of road bikers heading up through central Australia all the way to Cairns, QLD via the infamous Birdsville Track. Only to discover during conversation you went to school with them some 40 years earlier (we had only changed slightly) — it really is a small world after all.

Insights

• Make your own breakfast — aside from being cheaper, you also get to determine what time you start. Of course, don’t forget to pack a cut lunch.
• Head off before dawn if you can — nicest time of the day with the sun rising in the East, plus it’s cooler that way in the hotter months (December to March).

• Sunrise over the old Esperance pier
• Watch out for Kangaroos, especially an hour before dawn and after the sun sets at night — they can be easily startled in your headlights and you don’t want to hit one at high speed, least of all it could mean the end of your trip — for you and the kangaroo.
• Road trains are encountered regularly along the Eyre Highway (towing sometimes up to three trailers) as well as the numerous ‘grey nomads’ towing a caravan or trailer. Be careful to allow space and distance in passing and don’t forget to wave to oncoming traffic — an outback Aussie tradition.

• Road Train
• Fuel and water (bottled) is readily available, but be careful of the section between Balladonia and Caiguna. This includes what is regarded as the longest straight stretch of road in Australia and one of the longest in the world. The road stretches for 145.6 km (90.5 mi) and is signposted and commonly known as the ’90 Mile Straight’. Obviously, the further you are away from a major city or town centre, the cost of fuel will increase but on our trip the most we paid was around $1.80 AUD per litre (unleaded petrol), but have seen it as high as $2.30 AUD per litre — diesel is much more expensive.
• Autumn and winter months (April-August) are the best times to travel across the Nullarbor as the Summer months (December-February) can be very hot (40 plus degrees Celsius/104 degrees Fahrenheit). If you do choose to drive across during summer, take extra water with you.

• White sands near Esperance

• Esperance beach

• Kangaroo on the beach at Esperance
• Accommodation is basic and can be expensive by local standards. Unfortunately that’s what you get for staying in a remote area.
• Located near the Nullarbor Plain in Western Australia’s far east coast, the Head of the Bight is one of the best whale-watching sites in the world. The Head of the Bight is located 20km (12.4mi) to the east of Nullarbor Roadhouse and is known throughout the country for its impressive land-based viewing of whales migrating up from Antarctica to South Australia. Come whale season, pods of 70-tonne Southern Right Whales and their calves can clearly be seen frolicking along the cliffs.
• Also, during the whale migration season, it’s not uncommon to see other Southern Right Whales (watch out for their water-spout) coming along the Eucla Highway, heading towards/away from Norseman as the road runs parallel and close to the coast for around 50km (31mi).

• Long straight roads
• The Nullarbor Plain is part of the area of flat, almost treeless, arid or semi-arid country of southern Australia, located on the Great Australian Bight coast with the Great Victoria Desert to its north.
• About those Camels — well, another unknown fact is that Australia is the largest exporter of camels to the Middle East for racing purposes and even export camel milk — now there’s a juxtaposition if ever I’ve heard one.

Onwards and upwards!

Trevor