We have crossed the Nullarbor three times before, and this is our fourth. The first time we went east to west with the kids, then back west to east a month later. The third time was four years ago during our loop of Highway 1, so was also west to east. This time was west to east as well.

However I still maintain the best way to see the Nullarbor, especially your first time, is to travel east to west. You begin at Ceduna, the official start of the 'tree-less plain'. This is a fair sized town, and good to stock up. Then you pass through a smaller town called Penong, then through open country and wheat farms. Gradually you hit some bush, which progressively thins out to scrub, then merges into the typical tufty grasses of the Nullarbor. Through all this the land is flat and the road is straight.

Soon after you pass the Nullarbor roadhouse you find a turn off to the left which leads to a small parking area. And when you look you see the land just fall away in dramatic cliffs to the raging sea below. Cliffs opening onto seas happen often - look at the Great Ocean Road or the loop at Esperance. But there the land is up and down and the road winds to hug the rugged coast. Here, the land is so plain and flat that the cliffs catch you by surprise and are absolutely breath-taking.

Coming back the other way however there are miles of open bush and trees before you approach the tree-less part. Then you pass through Eucla, which is on the beach and at sea level. After this the land rises gradually. The turn-offs show cliffs gradually rising, a little higher each time, so you don't get the same initial shock.

That is how we saw it this time. We left Esperance early in the morning, 200 kms due north to Norseman, then hooked a right to start the long trek. Stopped briefly at Balladonia Roadhouse - famous for being hit by bits of Skylab as it disintegrated and fell. They built a museum to commemorate it. Some bits fell on Esperance as well - they fined NASA $400 for littering, and were paid in full.

After Balladonia comes the 90 Mile Straight - the longest absolutely straight road in the world (about 150 kms). The rest of the Nullarbor is pretty straight as well, but there is the occasional curve. We pushed on as far as we could, but had to stop at a rest area as the sun began its descent. Met a few nice couples, including a girl from the UK travelling with a long haired Aussie surfer. The day had been quite hot but cooled off by the evening, and we had a very pleasant night.

The next day dawned oppressively hot, and the sun rose at about 4 am as we were so far east, although still in WA. So we hit the road early, about 6 am, and when we hit the border it was automatically 8.30 am - much more civilised. Today was very different to yesterday, with many stops. We stopped at Eucla to have a photo with the Big Whale and see the sea. Then we stopped at Border Village to have a photo with the Big Kangaroo, and the SA-WA sign. Then there were several stops to check out the gradually rising cliffs. On each stop the heat became more and more oppressive, and the flies became ridiculous.

By mid-afternoon we had had enough. We pulled into Penong Caravan Park in a powered site and put on the air-conditioning full bore, and didn't leave until about 8 pm as the sun began to set. Some nice sunset photos with the windmills, which the town is famous for.

GeorgeY's bit

Nullarbor is an Aboriginal word. Some say it means killer flies with super powers, or fuel with massive mark up. All we know is, they never studied Latin. We stopped in the nicest rest area with many campers. Met a couple of "Grey nomads" where the man for thirty years used to cross the Nullarbor twice a week as a bus driver. We also met this young Aussie with his British fiancée planning to get married and about to apply for de facto status. Wished them luck and promised to run the generator next morning and invited them for an espresso. But next morning a platoon of killer flies landed with intent to perform genocide on the human travellers, so we had to flee the camp with no coffee, retreating while still fighting with spray cans and fly swats laced with surface spray. Some of their air aces kept flying in attack formation chasing the van as we accelerated on the highway reaching air speeds exceeding 50 km/hr. Penong was glowing with heat radiation by the time we arrived. The campground was clean and clear of any shade. Aircon at full capacity kept the van from melting, just.