Distance: 2706 km
Travelling time: 32 hrs
This self-drive includes car rental for the entire duration of the self-drive and all hotel accommodation along the route. You will enjoy the day to day driving program, as we have measured the driving distances per day for optimal sightseeing. This way you are sure to see all the highlights along the route and use your time in the most optimal way.
The Eyre Highway
Curving around the Great Australian Bight, the route across the Nullarbor is legendary and one of Australia's great road journeys. It is more than 2700km from Perth to Adelaide, about the same as the distance from London to Moscow!
This long highway crosses the southern edge of the vast Nullarbor Plain. It was once a track fraught with bulldust and potholes, but since the late 1970s it has been fully tarred and is now the major road to cross the country from east-west. The entire length of the highway is well signposted, with indications of the distance to the next town with petrol and other services. The Eyre Highway actually passes through 2 states, SA and WA although for simplicity we refer to it as a South Australian route.
The highway runs close to the coast on the South Australian side with 6 well-signed tracks leading to lookouts over the dramatic Nullarbor cliffs where the flat plains abruptly drop off into the ocean below. Most of these are located around the SA/WA border.
Although the entire crossing from Port Augusta in SA to Norseman in WA can be completed in just a few days there is much more to the region than merely the highway and the lookouts.
The trip begins properly at Port Augusta, 330km north-east of Adelaide at the head of Spencer Gulf, a provincial city that services a vast area of semi-arid grazing and wheat growing country.
The Highway meets the sea at Ceduna, a small modern town on picturesque Murat Bay. On the outskirts of Ceduna is a warning sign about the last reliable water. This marks the end of cultivated country and the beginning of the deserted, almost treeless land that creeps towards the Nullarbor Plain. The highway stays close to the coast and there is always a little scrub and other vegetation on the plains or on the sand dunes that lie between the Highway and the ocean.
The name 'Nullarbor' derives its name from Latin for 'no trees' and the name is more than apt. The Eyre Highway crosses only a small section of true treeless plain. West of Ceduna is Penong, a town of 100 windmills, and breathtaking coastal beauty. Then on to Nundroo and south to the abandoned settlement of Fowlers Bay, once an exploration depot for Edward John Eyre and now a charming ghost town best known for its fishing. At the Yalata Aboriginal Community, there are genuine artefacts for sale.
The Western Australian section of the Highway begins at Border Village, which has a celebrated signpost giving directions to Paris, the South Pole and other rather improbable destinations. A further 12km west, is the town of Eucla.
Eucla was established as a telegraph station in 1877 as part of the link between East and West. Once it was one of the busiest, yet loneliest, stations in Australia. The modern township was located on the Hampton Escarpment after the original buildings were swallowed by sand dunes.
At night an illuminated cross dedicated to all Eyre Highway travellers looks down onto the ruins of old Eucla from the escarpment above.
Travelling from Eucla the road passes through Mundrabilla then onto Madura. It is here that the Highway again climbs to the Escarpment allowing a magnificent view and then continues to Cocklebiddy.
The Nullarbor region is also one of the largest arid to semi arid KARST landforms in the world. KARST topography is the result of the solvent action of water on bedrock. This dissolving of rock forms many different KARST features - the Nullarbor caves being a good example. Most of the caves can be easily accessed, some require 4WD. These caves contain underground fresh water channels and are therefore frequented by cave diving expeditions. Cocklebiddy Cave is the largest of the Nullarbor Caves and is a favourite with experienced cave divers. The deepest cave dive record in the world has been set here although due to a number of tragic accidents over recent years diving the caves is a strictly controlled activity. Koonalda Cave and the nearby historic homestead are also interesting features. Also of interest in the area is the Eyre Bird Observatory (four-wheel drive vehicles only).
Between Caiguna and Balladonia travel along one of the longest straight stretches of road in the world, 145km. East of Balladonia Hotel and Service Station, visit the Balladonia Station Homestead and see a gallery of oil paintings depicting the history of Balladonia and the Eyre Highway. Tours can be arranged between 9.00am and 4.30pm daily (WA time). Tel (090) 393 456.
After Balladonia and its century old stone fences, the Highway traverses the hilly and undulating country surrounding the Fraser Range. From there it is only a short drive to Norseman, where the Eyre Highway terminates.
If planning a return journey, you may like to consider driving one way and placing the car on the train for the return.
The Great Eastern Highway
The rough 4WD track south passes along some magnificent cliffs and beaches, as well as through the remote Cape Arid and Cape Le Grand National Parks. Whales are finally returning to the waters around Esperance, a former whaling port, and are often seen around August - October.