The Nullabor Plain is a giant, flat and practically treeless plain – nullabor in Latin means “without trees” – on the Great Australian Bight coast between Western Australia and Southern Australia.
Whilst there are some stunning cliffs and a hill range in the distance, the region is known for, well, basically having nothing there . . . no trees . . . no small towns . . . not even the bright red sand you associate with the outback. All you find is some scrub and the one road that connects the 1250km / 777miles between Norseman and Ceduna . . . part of which has longest stretch of road without a turn at 146km / 91miles.
Now that may sound dull . . . and it is . . . but there is something cool and unique about staring ahead at the straight road of nothingness around you and knowing, for the next 12 hours or so, all you’ve got are road trains and lunatic cyclists to occasionally keep you company.
If can, don’t fly from Perth to Adelaide – driving across the Nullabor Plain is way more of an experience and about the closest you’ll come to feeling like you’re in the Mad Max post-apocalyptic world. I swear I saw Tina Turner singing on the side of the road at some point.
Couple of tips:
#1 Gas / petrol – fill up with as much gas as you can beforehand. Less so from a safety point of view – whilst it is super remote, you do have fellow strange people driving by who can help. It is more just from a cost point of view – the petrol stops along the way are very expensive.
#2 Camping – you can camp in a couple of places along the way that provide basic facilities. Don’t camp just off the road – when you see just how much the roadtrains swing when they’re hurtling along at 150km / 90 miles per hour, you’ll realise why.