To the eastern edge of the Nullarbor - Ceduna to Nullarbor roadhouse

19th May 2014

Today we reached the eastern edge of the nullarbor plain.  It is true, the plain is virtually treeless and has a covering of saltbush shrubs.  On the way we took note of the warning sign re camels, wombats and kangaroos, but saw none.

Watch out for these animals

The nullarbor plain is the biggest limestone plateau in the world covering about 250,000 square km and is up to 300 metres thick.  The plateau was formed as a coral reef on an ancient seafloor which was then uplifted. The plateau extends some distance out to sea but is being constantly eroded by the southern ocean forming sheer cliffs up to 60 metres high in places.  On the eastern side of the bight the cliffs have been covered by sand dunes which are highly mobile and are moving inland at a rate of 11 metres a year.

Head of Bight

We are at the eastern edge of the Nullarbor National park which extends west to the WA border and north about 20 km.  This area is protected and recovering from former sheep grazing leases.  There is a suprisingly diverse range of animals in this harsh environment but all we saw today was a 'slow lizard', similar to a blue tongue and about 40cm in length and a lovely little orange lizard which I haven't been able to identify yet.

We went to the lookout at the Head of Bight as this is an area renowned for southern right whales which come to the sheltered area to calve and mate before returning to Antarctic waters.  They do this between May and October so we are a bit early in the season.  We only saw one whale though there had been three visible earlier in the day.  The views however were absolutely spectacular.

At Nullarbor roadhouse refuelling next to the planes

The roadhouse is the only sign of life for over 150km in either direction so is quite busy though there only seems to be about a dozen caravans  tonight.  It all happens here, fuel for cars, trucks and planes, and a chance to stock up on scarce water supplies and stay the night with power from the generator.

A vehicle that didn't make the crossing