The Nullarbor

G’day from Esperance, Western Australia. Just had my first warm shower in weeks and taking a day to slowwwww downnnn while Nat has her last lecture of uni. Go Nat!

Our convoy, which has recently grown to 4 cars - 8 people, took about a week to enjoy the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. 2 of the cars are 4-wheel drive and fully equipped for off-road adventuring, a popular hobby in Australia. The highlight was undoubtedly 4-wheel driving through beaches, sand dunes, and rugged land in Port Lincoln and Coffin Bay National Parks. The emus were either visibly shocked by the car, or excited to run alongside. Plenty of snorkeling was done and even 1 fish caught via spear! We found gorgeous campsites, accomplished by taking the van on some definitely always 2WD accessible roads, my favorite being atop a cliff above a beach just north of Coffin Bay.

Our next feat was to cross the Nullarbor. The group has been particularly excited to explore Southwest Oz and there isn’t much besides a few roadhouses between the Eyre Peninsula and the Southwest. The 12ish hour length of road crosses through a region known as the Nullarbor Plain. We decided 2 days would be sufficient to cross it. The drive was mind numbingly empty. Thanks to having downloaded just enough songs and podcasts to last the drive, I loved it. Particularly the 90 mile section that was totally straight no curves. I say this with zero sarcasm: it was awesome.

You get well accustomed to what are known as road trains. Since Australia is so spread out, they use massive trucks for transport. In America we think 18-wheelers are big, try a 74-wheeler! Driving opposite a road train on a one lane highway is a thrill in itself.

If you tell an Aussie you are crossing the Nullarbor they’ll respond with a few things: “Do you have a reliable car?”, “Make sure you bring enough water”, and/or “Why…?” Spending two days crossing it in 2024, I was never worried about water or breaking down, but I can imagine that years ago it was far more dangerous. After all, you are driving through a region with some of the most poisonous snakes (no pulling over to wee in the bush). As long as you stop at a roadhouse every couple hours for an ice cream and to learn little tidbits about why the roadhouse is important to the history of the world, you’ll be fine (one of the roadhouses got a phone call from Jimmy Carter and a visit from Miss America!!)

So far the roadtrip is going as smooth as one could ask. It’s great to share a van with an Aussie, as she shares little Aussie gems I wouldn’t have otherwise found.  Spending plenty of time marveling at the sights and never doing donuts with the car :)