Nullarbor Plain

Article by: Elizabeth
Last updated: Tuesday, 11-Jul-2006 00:00:00 CEST

Nullarbor Plain is the section of southern land between Norseman in Western Australia and Ceduna in South Australia. Nullarbor means 'no trees' in poor Latin, which is exactly what you will see as you drive through sections of the Nullarbor Plain.

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Although the land within the Nullarbor Plain is barren, the road is surfaced and so doesn't make for too bad a drive (just a long one). The Eyre Highway heads along the southern section, although the Trans Australia Railway runs directly through the centre of the Nullarbor Plain. If you don't fancy the drive then the train is a good idea, as you get to see plenty of what the Nullarbor Plain is about. The Eyre Highway was named after John Eyre, who along with John Baxter (who unfortunately died on the journey), crossed the Nullarbor Plain in 1841. It wasn't until 1912, however, that the first car crossed.

Heading 193km east from Norseman you will get to Balladonia, where you will find accommodation. Continuing east the road is straight for a distance of 145km, until you reach Caiguna where you will find more accommodation. East again is Cocklebiddy where you will find some ruins of an old Aboriginal mission. Cocklebiddy is also home to the largest of all of the Nullarbor Plain Caves, and close to Twilight Cove on the coastline south of Cocklebiddy.

A further 90km is Madura and the nearby Hampton Tablelands, with Mundrabilla another 116km east. The final town which you will pass before crossing the South Australia border, is Eucla where there is a quarantine restriction. More of the Nullarbor Plain Caves can be found in Eucla, including Koonalda Cave. Eucla also hosts the ruins of the old Telegraph Repeater and Weather Station. Once you reach Eucla you are over half way across the Nullarbor Plain, having driven 725km from Norseman, with only 480km left to Ceduna.

History

Historically, the Nullarbor Plain was inhabited by the nomadic Spinifex Aboriginal people, despite the lack of surface water and land suitable for cultivation.

European settlers were determined to cross the plain, despite the hardships created by the nature of the Nullarbor Plain. Although Edward John Eyre described the Plain as "a hideous anomaly, a blot on the face of Nature, the sort of place one gets into in bad dreams", he became the first European to successfully make the crossing in 1841.

He set out from Fowler's Bay in South Australia on 17 November 1840 with John Baxter and a party of three Aboriginal men. He was forced to return to Fowlers Bay by the death of three horses due to dehydration, and made a second departure on 25 February 1841.

By 29 April, the party had reached Caiguna. Lack of supplies and water led to a mutiny, and two of the Aborigines killed Baxter and made off with the party's supplies. Eyre and the third Aborigine, Wylie, continued on their journey, surviving through bushcraft and some fortuitous circumstances such as receiving some supplies from a French whaling vessel anchored at Rossiter. They finally completed their crossing in June 1841.

The Spinifex were forced to abandon their homelands when the British began nuclear testing at Maralinga in the 1950s. Since then they have been awarded compensation and many have returned to the general area. In fact, many never left. Due to their isolation it was impossible to warn them all about the testing.

The 'crossing the nullarbor', for many Australians, is the first experience of the 'outback'. Stickers brought from stopping places show 'I have crossed the Nullarbor' and these can be seen on vehicles of dubious quality or capacity for long distance travel. The process of negotiating the Nullarbor Plain to 'beat the crowds' on overbooked air services can see significant numbers of vehicles prepared for Perth-Melbourne and return trips at the time of special sporting events.

Very early on crossings in the 1950's and earlier were significant in that most of the road was unmade dirt tracks. Round Australia car-trials (The Redex Trials) utilised the Nullarbor Plain crossing for good photo shoots for newsreels of cars negotiating very poor tracks with difficult conditions.

The collections of truck and car wrecks, usually away from the stopping places but within sight, are a testimony to the hazardous nature of the crossing for many, and folklore and fact can be unravelled to illustrate the hazards of long distance driving without adequate rest, and some truck drivers who 'lose it' somewhere on the plain.

With the sealing of the road, increasing numbers of 'Grey Caravans' - retirees towing their large Caravans in groups of four or more became commonplace on the highway.

The presence of inter-state long haul bus travel in the late twentieth century increased the number of people experiencing the Nullarbor Plain. As early as 1985 the economics of the bus services on the Nullarbor Plain had been an issue with the companies, who would try to cut on costs to stay in business. Cheap air-fares and rising fuel costs caused the major bus company running the service to withdraw the main Perth to Adelaide service in 2005.

The role of the police station at Eucla as a 'gateway' for law enforcement cannot be underestimated. At various stages in the 1980s and 1990s newspaper reports of persons evading the law in Western Australia and attempting to leave the state by travelling by car across the Nullarbor Plain and being apprehended at Eucla were regular.