The Nullarbor

For me the ultimate Australian Road Trip is the crossing of the Nullarbor Plain between South & Western Australia. The Plain is made up of the largest limestone structure in the world. The limestone plain is measured as being 200,000km squared and is mainly classified as a dessert.
Most travellers in Australia would be familiar of the bumper sticker that proudly states that “I have crossed the Nullarbor”. Looking at some of the cars that carry this sticker you are totally amazed that they actually survived the crossing.

The Nullarbor was first crossed by European Australians in the 1840’s. The firts attemp was aborted after all three horses on the expedition died of thirst.

My first crossing of the Nullarbor was a totally amazing experience and one that I didn’t quite expect. On another one of Dad’s brilliant ideas to take us on a driving holiday it was decided that a trip out West would be a magnificent opportunity to see the country and to bond as a family.

The trip was typical of one of my Dads many road trips but slowly became one of my favourite childhood memories. We had driven all over New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia so we thought we were pretty clued up as to the look of the Australian Outback.
How wrong we were. The Nullarbor takes its name from Latin. “Null” meaning No or Nothing and “Abor” meaning tree. This is not to say that the land is void of all greenery, the Spinifex and salt bush dot the environment while the view seems to go on forever. These plants have adapted to the lack of water and the high heat of the day and the sometimes freezing conditions at night.

The Eyre Highway skirts the famous great Australian Bite. This is a section of South Australia and Western Australia that looks like it has a bite taken out of it hence the name. There I was standing on the side of the Eyre Highway feeling more Australian than Dame Edna and Vegemite. Wow this was the bight and this was the “Outback”.

During the drive we saw brumbies and kangaroos and were lucky to have a group of emus run along side of the car for a while.
The Bight region is also famous for its visits by whales, the beautiful Southern Blue Fin Tuna makes its home in the waters and has grown to become a large export business for South Australia. Another marine visitor to the “bight” that is spawning an extreme adventure tourism industry is the Great White Shark. You can swim with these giants in the safety of a cage from the coastal town of Port Lincoln.

For those who wish to travel through this part of Australia, I would recommend a flight into Adelaide Airport and taking a VroomVroomVroom Hire Car from there. I can recommend that you hire car that is as big as or bigger than an intermediate size vehicle. This will allow you to feel a bit more secure as you will be passing large “road train” semi trailers at speed. I would also carry some extra water because it is vast stretch of road that has large areas that are uninhabited. Finally don’t forget to bring your camera as I can guarantee that you will see some amazing sites that you will want to share with friends and family.