Nullarbor - Eyre Highway

Today is Australia Day, a Public Holiday which means many things to different people.

Happy Australia Day

As I said in my last post - Between Balladonia and Caiguna is a 146.6 kilometre (91.1 mi) stretch of the highway which is one of the longest straight stretches of road in the world.
The highway is called the Eyre Highway, it's approximately 1,675km (1,040 mile) long and takes about two days to cross.

A few interesting facts regarding the Nullarbor.

The name Nullarbor originated from the Latin terminology nullus arbor meaning ‘no trees’ because quite literally you are lucky to see any surviving tress along this desert plain.

The Nullarbor Plain is home to the earth’s largest piece of limestone.

Another form of transport to cross the Nullarbor is by the Indian Pacific Train. This train runs twice weekly from Perth to Sydney via Adelaide and takes 3 nights to cover the 4352km (2,704 mile) journey.

Even though the Nullarbor has very harsh weather conditions it is home to a surprising amount of animals. Kangaroos, emu’s, wombats and even camels all call the Nullarbor Plain home.

The Nullarbor has up to 100,000 wild camels which were abandoned there after their use in building rail roads.
 
Some of the scenery along the way.
No camels, kangaroo's or any creature did we see.

Cocklebiddy is a small roadhouse community located on the Eyre Highway in Western Australia. It is the third stop after Norseman on the long journey east across the Nullarbor Plain. The area is noted for its underground caves and lakes.
So there is more to this tiny place 'than meets the eye'.

Cleaning the windscreen, the road back onto the highway.

Small town of Madura Western Australia.

Madura was settled in 1876 as a place to breed quality cavalry horses for the British Indian Army for use in the Northwest Frontier region of India (now part of Pakistan). The horses were shipped from the coast at Eucla. (Cervantes, north of Perth, was also used for breeding.) The site was chosen as it was one of the few with free flowing bore water in the area.

The surrounding area is part of Madura Station currently a sheep station, but was previously used to graze cattle, horses and camels.

Madura Pass lookout, the above 3 photos.

After leaving Balladonia we headed towards Eucla WA. We got about 30 kms out we decided to look for a 'free park' to sleep the night, found a good one with a few others already parked there for the night.