My wife and I live in
Sydney but are both originally from Western Australia. Every couple of years we tend to go and visit family and friends. As holidays times are difficult to organise we usually go over Christmas and usually drive – we may as
well see a bit of Australia even if it is often bloody hot at that time of the year.
Some people think the Nullarbor is boring – we don’t think so and have to limit the number of activities included in each trip as there is so much to experience. A map of our trip is attached as a PDF.
Friday 12th December, the day before leaving, was a wet
Sydney summer’s day - not helpful when you’re trying to sort out what to put where for a 4 week trip. After a bit of frustration everything was crammed approximately where I’d envisaged it going.
Saturday morning we dropped off the cats to their expensive feline Motel and headed for
Cobar. Our plan was to get some kilometres behind us and then spend a couple of nights at Mt Ive station in the
Gawler Ranges SA.
The trip from
Sydney to
Cobar a pleasant day’s drive – good distance is covered and you can easily make it before sunset. Lunch was at the surprising
well appointed Vittoria State
Forrest between
Bathurst and
Orange. In the afternoon it is always a sense of excitement to see the red dirt appear as you get past
Nyngan.
Vittoria State Forest NSW
Day two was planned to be a big one, all the way to the
Gawler Ranges. We were up and going early, having breakfast a couple of hours down the road, crossing the empty
Darling River at
Wilcannia and arriving in
Broken Hill in time for fuel and coffee as the Woolworths shopping centre opened. You gain a bit of time-zone benefit at
Broken Hill. The area past
Broken Hill into South Australia is very scenic and has some photogenic creek crossings that make great rest stops.
Winnininnie Ck SA
We had to really push on this day and made it to
Port Augusta mid-afternoon. The travel bureau confirmed our worst fears, that drought-affected South Australia’s recent burst of rain had closed the roads throughout the
Gawler Ranges. We phoned Mt Ive to let them know of our problem and it seemed the only thing to do was see if any roads opened the next morning. Deflated, we checked into one of the Caravan Parks and bunkered down for the evening.
Road status at Iron Knob SA
Next day at
Iron Knob there was no change to the road conditions. We dawdled west for the remainder of the day, spending time in towns we usually zoom past, such as
Wudinna and
Minnipa.
Speeds Point SA
Heading to
Streaky Bay, we eventually bush camped at Speeds Point, an area we had planned to explore on the return trip. Speeds Point is very peaceful and apart from an out-of-site motorhome we had the place to ourselves. There are no facilities and a $2 honour system for camping.
Continuing on we stocked up at
Ceduna before heading north to see the start of
Googs Track, taking a few photos for friends that are taking the track in August 2009.
Googs Track start SA
Rejoining the main road we detoured down to
Fowlers Bay to see if we might want to stay on the way back. Given we don’t fish, maybe not.
The next detour was onto the Old Eyre Highway. I had travelled on this road twice as a little kid when it was the main road and my dad had been on it with a truck loaded with his worldly possessions in 1953. I remember buying artefacts on the side of the road at
Yalata. Things have changed.
Ivy Tank Old Eyre Hwy SA
Ivy Tank Old Eyre Hwy SA
We spent some time at the old
Ivy Tank service station site, looking at the old water tanks, car collection and other abandoned bits, before heading down to
Nullarbor Roadhouse. The road from the highway to
Ivy Tank has some rough areas but the road from
Ivy Tank to Nullarbor is in good condition.
Old Eyre Hwy SA
Nullarbor Roadhouse is a favourite of
mine – the location is iconic being right on the edge of the treeless plain. The following morning we were treated to some thunderstorms and a little rain as the sun rose.
Dawn at Nullarbor Roadhouse
Keeping with the alternate road theme we kept on the Old Eyre Highway, stopping off at many of the tanks,
rock holes and caves for a look.
Yangoonabie Tank Nullarbor NP SA
A highlight of this section was a visit to
Koonalda cave and
Koonalda station, now part of the Nullarbor National Park. The station house, some fences and workers quarters are all built from old sleepers off the transcontinental railway, and the house window frames are reportedly from the
Eucla telegraph station buildings. It’s a great piece of remote station history.
Koonalda was also a service centre on the old Eyre Highway and has another good collection of old abandoned cars.
Koonalda station Nullarbor NP SA
Koonalda station Nullarbor NP SA
Near Coompana Tank we turned off onto the Old Coach Road. This is a relaxing, isolated track that keeps you interested with natural features such as
blowholes as
well as
ruins from times past. At the
Eucla-
Forrest road we headed south to
Eucla and the Eyre Highway to make up some time along the bitumen.
Old Coach Road Nullarbor NP SA
Madura is another iconic location, located at the rise from the Roe Plains to the
Hampton Tablelands. We bought a little fuel and drove along the base of the
cliff to the
Eyre Bird Observatory.
Stone tank ruins Madura WA
It is easy to be a fan of the EBO. It is located in a restored telegraph station, runs as a guesthouse, is self sufficient, does a great job with bird observation, conservation and weather reporting, and is a breath of fresh air on any Nullarbor trip. If you can find any way to support this place, you should.
Eyre Bird Observatory at Eyre WA
Two nights with volunteer hosts
John &
Beverley were great. We had time for a good walk around as
well as a drive up
the beach for bird observations. And we ate too much of
Beverley’s good cooking. Anyone who spends a week at this place will leave a better person.
Major Mitchell at EBO WA
Family was calling so we headed along the Eyre highway to
Norseman. The country was as green and lush as we have ever seen and we were fortunate to continue driving in cool overcast conditions. After fuelling up at
Norseman it was cross-country to
Hyden.
Eyre Hwy near Caiguna - green from recent rains
The
Norseman-
Hyden road is in good condition and suitable for 2WD when dry. Most of the time you can sit comfortably on 80-100km/hr but need to be wary of the trucks and the dust they create.
Lake Johnston Hyden Norseman Rd WA
Something you don’t usually see in late December was the salt lakes around
Hyden being full of water and the crops still to be harvested. There was even someone waterskiing! They had a lot of unseasonal rain through that area and down to
Esperance.
Harvesting near Quairading WA
We spent a few days at the Brother in Law’s
farm near
Quairading and were able to help for the last few days of harvest. It was then finally on to
Perth to spend time with friends and family over Christmas.
(continued)