CROSSING THE NULLARBOR PLAIN
Decades ago, crossing the Nullarbor Plain from Port Augusta in South Australia to Western Australia was a serious dirt road expedition for adventurous nomads, especially with a caravan or trailer hitched behind. Now it‚s really easy to plan and enjoy with any family car in good condition.
The trip from Adelaide to Perth via the shortest route is approximately 2,680kms. Leaving Adelaide, you drive 320km north to Port Augusta and will probably want to spend your first night there, where there are good motel and caravan park facilities From here one has the choice of continuing on via Iron Knob and Wadinna, or taking a big diversion round the Eyre Peninsula, to sample the delights of such places as Port Lincoln and Coffin Bay.
Commencing from Ceduna, the stretch of highway known as the Nullarbor Plain begins in earnest. Now you need to know the distances between service stations, the hours they are open, how much fuel and food are going to cost you, where the parks and free stopping places are, what to look out for to avoid accidents and what you need to take with you for safety.
Stop at the tourist information centre in Ceduna and get a map, preferably the free 18 page publication entitled ¨The Nullarbor‚, if they‚ll give you a copy - it‚s a mine of useful information. There are several motels and caravan parks in town, so it‚s a good idea to spend the night here.
Next day, be sure you have plenty of spare water on board. It‚s very scarce between here and Norseman in WA, so don‚t expect locals to give it away free, in summer time it gets hot, remember to drink plenty of water, often as the heat will de-hydrate you, driving to the west, is into the sun from midday. Be ready to pay $1.50 or more per litre for petrol (gasoline) and don‚t expect it to take you as far as the same amount of fuel in the eastern States. My recent experience was that even when I filled my car‚s tank and kept to a steady l00kmph for hours at a time, the fuel consumption was considerably higher than in suburban Melbourne! It rather made me wonder how I even managed to put more fuel in, than the size of the tank allowed, so I made allowances for more frequent fuel stops accordingly.
Food can be a bit pricey too - at one place it cost $3 for a cup of instant coffee. At another, one small piece of fish, one modest portion of chips and one fish burger, plus one cup of coffee cost $20. The excuse is that it costs a lot of money to truck in supplies.
From Ceduna, you proceed westwards through Penong to Nundroo Roadhouse (151 kms and the next petrol stop). From here, it‚s a further 146kms through Yalata Aboriginal Land, where there is one roadhouse, to the Nullarbor Hotel Motel. You are now 300kms from Ceduna and you may want to spend the night, as you could have been diverted en route to enjoy meals, buy Aboriginal souvenirs, or visit Cactus Beach or Fowlers Bay in the whale watching season - from May to October. Although this mighty long stretch of flat road runs parallel to the south coast, you will not get to see the sea from the roadway and will have to take the various marked side tracks for a kilometre or so to experience the southern ocean and the rugged cliffs in all their majesty.
From the Nullarbor Hotel Motel it is 186kms to the WA border, where the manned Fruit Quarantine Station will ensure you take no fruit into Western Australia. This will include a car and caravan search, so be warned. Twelve kilometres further on is Eucla and a further 50kms westwards is Mundrabilla. From here, it is 115kms to Madura Pass, which is quite an interesting feature on the otherwise flat plain. Another 83kms will take you to Cocklebiddy.
While each of the places mentioned has fuel supplies, there are no service (gas) stations in between. It should be noted also that these establishments usually close at dusk and open again at daylight. It would seem they have an aversion to selling fuel during the hours of darkness, so a spare can of fuel can be a useful thing to have along, as is a torch, for there are no street lights on the Nullarbor if you need to change a tyre.
Although Nullarbor means ¨no trees‚, there is low scrub about and on this particular stretch there are mobs of kangaroos and some emus moving around, any of which can run out in front of a vehicle without warning, especially at dusk, dawn and during the night. By day they are usually lying down resting somewhere quiet. Scores of kangaroos line the roadside, attracted by pools of water after recent rains just peacefully observing the passing traffic, but you can‚t always bet on them being immobile. Have a run-in with one and your mobile phone will be of no use to you out here. Your only long distance communication on the Nullarbor is by CB radio, or by the use of a satellite tracking device.
From Cocklebiddy, it is a further 64kms to Caiguna and from there a run of 375 kms to Norseman, where you realise you‚ve successfully completed the Nullarbor crossing and are now well into Western Australia. Stop off at Balladonia and visit the Skylab Museum. It‚s most interesting and includes the debris that fell from the heavens when Skylab crashed to earth some years ago.
From
Norseman you can travel 168kms northwards
to Coolgardie or l80kms to Kalgoorlie
and approach Perth in that direction (a
total of 770kms), or head south to Esperance
some 207kms distant and travel to Perth via Albany,
Manjimup and all the scenic wonders of
the State‚s south west - a matter of some further 1,200kms.
The Nullarbor road surface is good, so there are plenty of caravanners travelling this route, so give others a friendly wave as you pass. Apart from the list of accommodation below, there are numerous excellent wayside stopping places in WA, very well set up for a relaxing break. They aren‚t meant as overnight stopping places, but in an emergency no one could object to one being used as such.
Have
your car thoroughly serviced before you go. Make sure you‚ve got
your driver‚s licence to hand and don‚t rush the trip. Allow
plenty of time, take the unexpected diversions where they are
indicated and thoroughly enjoy the experience.
FACT FILE:
TIME
DIFFERENCES
You put your watches back half an hour when crossing the Vic/SA
border, 15 mins further back at the SA/WA border and back another 45
min's at Caiguna. (i.e. Perth is two hours behind Victoria in
winter and three hours behind when Eastern Summer Time is in force).
CARAVAN PARKS & HOTELS FROM PORT AUGUSTA TO NORSEMAN
CEDUNA:
Foreshore Caravan Park; Shelly Beach
Caravan Park; Al Cabins & Caravan Park
PENONG: Cactus
Beach Caravan Park (20km south of town)
NUNDROO: Sites at the hotel motel and at Fowlers
Bay Caravan Park, 29km south east of town.
YALATA ROADHOUSE: 12 powered sites
NULLARBOR HOTEL MOTEL: 24 powered and 16
un-powered sites
THE BORDER: WA/SA
Border Village has 44 powered sites and 20 un-powered
MADURA PASS: Oasis
Hotel has 12 shady sites
COCKLEBIDDY: Wedgetail
Inn 20 powered sites and a campground
CAIGUNA:John Eyre
Motel 10 powered sites and campgrounds
BALLADONIA: At the
hotel are 50 powered sites and a camping ground
NORSEMAN: Gateway
Caravan Park has three star amenities
FUEL & GAS Available at all the above
accommodation establishments