Crossing the Nullabor.

The Nullabor is one of those quintessential Australian icons, a journey based on vast distance, strange characters and dramatic scenery... All in the middle of nowhere. Everyone we talked to spoke of this 1200 kilometre drive with deep reverence, of great planning in regards to fuel consumption and head winds, the best places to camp and where you shouldn’t stop, water supplies and snack options. It was beginning to feel like the Never Ending Story, though I was fairly sure no fluffy winged dragon was going to come and zoom us out of there when it all got a bit much.

Whilst being warned of these dangers, the only wildlife we saw as we flew through the Nullabor was crows.

We left Esperance, made a quick lunch stop at Norseman (unremarkable except for the strange child who literally climbed onto Fiela in his quest for one of our chips. His mother only bothered to come and collect him when Fiela gently pushed him away, at which point this child stage dived like a professional soccer player onto the ground and began to scream. So many issues here, I couldn't stop thinking about it for days and am forever thankful for my own children who, despite our efforts, are reasonably well adjusted) and entered hallowed driving territory.

The Nullabor Plain.

The Nullabor Links, a "the world's longest golf course" expanding 1365 kilometres from Kalgoorlie to Ceduna. We drove passed most of the 18 tees, and had a good time at this one running around on the astro-turf.

I'm not sure what I expected. An epiphany? A road sign congratulating our adventurous spirits? Mythical creatures? But there was none of this, just undulating terrain, straight roads  and the odd bush. The kids watched movie after movie, I blogged and Fiela drove. The sky was enormous and I'll admit to feeling as small and insignificant as an ant.

Our final Western Australian sunset. Sigh. What an unbelievably amazing state!

We stopped at one of the free camps on the Western Australian side in the cold and wind along with 15 or so other travellers in varying rigs. The most interesting thing here was the graffiti written in half metre high letters in the drop toilet (spelling error and all) "This is were u poo" with a big arrow pointing to the loo. Yep, spot on dipstick.

At the Bunda Cliffs.

The next day was cold and windy but otherwise much the same. We drove over the border into South Australia  and after going all day we stopped at the Bunda Cliffs lookout. Here we camped, looking out over the Great Australian Bight,  imagining we could see Antarctica just over the horizon and toasting to what had been an amazing almost five months in Western Australia. Our entry into South Australia had been less than overwhelming, but the weather was about to change for the better and home,  family and friends were getting ever closer.

The Bunda Cliffs on the Great Australian Bight, Antartica in the distance.

On our third and final Nullabor day we drove on, almost falling over when the scenery finally changed to wheat fields and the odd flock of sheep. It was over; we’d conquered that great expanse with nothing more disastrous than an overflowing nappy but we were all tired of being in the car. Luckily the western part of South Australia is built for recharging weary bones.

The Nullabor Plain.

Typical scenery.

More Nullabor.