driving the Nullabor - where to stop?

[Cooper69S]

Gday all
I'll probably be driving from Perth to Adelaide at the end of next week for a holiday to catch up with the family. Only time I've been across there before was on the Indian Pacific so didn't see much (or anything). Normally we'd fly but thought the drive is something we need to do at least once.
Anyone who's done the trip recently got any advice for good places to stop for accommodation and sightseeing?? I realise that there are precious few things to see, but maybe some places are better than others for checking out the bight or whatever...
Plan at this stage is to make overnight stops at Norseman and Ceduna. any good accommodation choices there? any places better than others to aim at for refueling or good food?
We'll be travelling with a 6 month old baby so factoring in plenty of stops.
thanks
G

[rodderz]

Last time I went over we stopped at Ceduna, Nundroo, Eucla, Norseman, but I can;t remember which ones were on the way there or back. Nundroo is on the Adelaide end closer to Ceduna, not much there apart from a small motel.

Eucla not bad, good dunes down near the beach. There's a few good spots to drive right near the edge of the bight to have a look along the steep sections too near the middle of the drive.

Watch out for the Wedge Tails, they are huge and don't bother moving for you. Roo's and Emu's can wander across too.

[Velociraptor82]

We stopped at Ceduna and drove through to Eucla. There is plenty to see depending on what interest you. Here is a list of things that interested me.

The 110km stretch of the Treeless plain passes very close to the cliffs and there are plenty of lookouts along there similar to the Great Ocean Road.

The town of Nullabor in the middle of the treeless plain has a roadhouse where you can pick up some chocolate Kangaroo droppings.

Border Villiage has a sign that reads "Aliens next 111km" due to a story of an alien abduction that happened along the highway.

There is a weather station in Eucla which is worth a look, they dont get too many visitors so they will will welcome you with open arms (At least they did when I was there). Also an old telegraph station is located on the beach in Eucla half buried in sand dunes.

190km of dead straight road. (Can be seen in google earth as a freaky stright line)

There was an interesting museum in (Norseman I think?) that contained pieces from the Skylab Space Station that crashed along there.


Be aware however that after it has been raining, the kangaroos will come to the road in their hundreds to drink from the puddles that have collected on the road. Can be a nightmare if your trying to drive through that.

[XRGhia]

Originally Posted by Velociraptor82

190km of dead straight road. (Can be seen in google earth as a freaky stright line)

how can you not be tempted to drive at top speed/do speed runs with 5th gear burnouts?

[Ben73]

Originally Posted by xrghiawagon

how can you not be tempted to drive at top speed/do speed runs with 5th gear burnouts?

It sounds good in theory. But with random animals wandering onto the road it's not so great.

I know of someone(a denfensive and advanced driving instructor) who drove one of those long straight deserted roads at 200kmh+ in a BMW.
When the cop finally caught up with him and stopped him, the cop just showed him photos of car accidents involving animals in the area and then sent him on his way with no ticket.
The guy in the BMW said he slowed down after seeing the photos.

Although A quick 4x4 with a massive bullbar would be fun on that road.

[Velociraptor82]

Originally Posted by xrghiawagon

how can you not be tempted to drive at top speed/do speed runs with 5th gear burnouts?

An Emu will make short work of your falcon. But it is still dangerous even for those who do the right thing doing the speed limit becasue fatigue along that stretch settles in quick quickly.

[Spudz27]

I know my mum and her partner just did the Nullabor. the first stop for them was Norseman, I know Eucla and Ceduna were also in there. Norseman is a hole, I used to have to travel there once a month for a few businesses wanting our services. All I can say is lock everything up.

[Road_Warrior]

An emu will make short work of the driver, long legs, large body will go straight through the windscreen and earn you a free ride from the RFDS to the nearest emergency room

[csv8]

Velociraptor82..The Skylab Museum is at Balladonia ,the last town on the Nullabor before Norseman.
Cooper69S..Prices are a ripoff!! and take lotsa music!! nothing on the Nullabor!!!
But its a great drive!!! Enjoy..
http://www.nullarbornet.com.au

[outside]

i did it once from west to east
never again nullaboring if you ask me
Kalgoorlie to Ceduna in one hit

[AndrewR_AUII]

Also stop at the head of the bight...possibly a few whales

[jamesson1980]

I've done Melbourne to Perth.. did Port Augusta to Norseman in one hit (2 drivers of course) from 8am - 2am next morning. But the Norseman - Ceduna stretch is the 'true Nullarbor' and a big ask in one hit if you're alone, will still be 16 or so hours plus stops. It is boring as all hell, just be sure to have a comfortable car, lots of good music and cruise control. There's servos every 200km or so which have most things you'll need, including LPG at $1.02/lt, Petrol at $1.78/lt, a shower for $5 and a 600ml Coke for $6. I didn't dare venture off the highway but I understand there ain't much to see off the track anyway. Once you've driven for the first half hour, you've seen all there is to see landscape wise.

Just check out the head of the bight with it's blue water and cliffs, Border Village/Eucla have a pretty good tourist shop and keep your eye out for animals, even dead ones on the road can mess your car up. Also, marvel at the daredevil drivers crossing the plain in beaten up Datsuns, rusted out Econovans and smoke-blowing 70's Benz's. And when you cross thru Quarantine, if you've got an apple in your car, you may as well have 10kg of Heroin, they truly frown on fresh produce in a big way.. eat it or throw it out the window BEFORE you get checked or you'll be held up for ages there!!

PS: if you happen to have a refresher at the Norseman pub with the locals, just pretend your hobbies are 1:Weed 2:Not Working 3:Collecting non matching VN commo panels and 4:Weed and you'll be king of the town

[Whoosha]

Just got back from 3 one way trips over there I would go Coolgardie or Kalgoorlie (about 600k or a bit undr 7 hours) over Norseman Not much to see there, and both Kal and Coolgardie have tours ext. for tourist. Day 2 is always the bigger day because you have to push on or you end up in the middle of no ware. Madura pass has fair price accommodation (a little old but clean) and the Food at the pub / motel/park / fuel stop is good, Fuel @ 170 a litre for diesel is a bit rip but ya get that. Then head for port Augusta A few good places to stay there, then your nearly done . There is a bit to see along the way so if you see a sign that say Bla Bla 10ks this way I would go for a look as there is a hell of a lot of nothing out there for hours and hours,even form the side of the road you can see some of The great Aussie bite, it's a good 2700 ks so at best it will be a 28 to 30 hours of driving. Here"s just what I could see taking the truck as close as allowed down the side roads
P.S Dawn 0430/0700 is worst for critters running across the road at you. Dusk is not as bad but in a car I would plan to be stopped buy then

[prydey]

one step ahead whoosha. i was going to link him to the pics in the truck thread.

i wouldn't plan it too much unless you get in a situation where you really need to push on to get somewhere. the 6month old may dictate when and where you stop, and sometimes whether you'll even set off again or just call it a day a bit earlier.

i have 2 girls (as you know) and have travelled when they were each 6 months old. Emily was a breeze. stuck the dummy in and she'd sleep for hours. chelsea has never taken to the dummy so the trip we did when she was 6month old was murder. she wouldn't settle. wouldn't sleep for long periods. would cry as soon as you went to put her back in the car as she knew what was coming. it gets to the stage when not only is the 6month old yelling but the wife is having a go as well. all the while, you're trying to drive!!

the trip to perth by road is one box i would like to tick as well so you'll have to fill me in when you get here. i might even be able to tell by looking at you how it went

[Blem]

[/QUOTE]

Stop before you hit the blue stuff & you'll be right.

[rodderz]

Apparently the fishing in the bite is amazing. But you'de need a bloody long landing net of gaffe, or plan a big trip from the nearest boat ramp.

[Road_Warrior]

Originally Posted by rodderz

Apparently the fishing in the bite is amazing. But you'de need a bloody long landing net of gaffe, or plan a big trip from the nearest boat ramp.

Yeah some of the 'fish in the bite' might give you more than you bargain for and are bigger than most people's tinnies!!

[Cooper69S]

Thanks for all the ideas so far. The number of days we take might come down to how well the boy handles long hours in a baby-seat. As Rob was saying kids are all different and although he's done several 2hour trips to Perth with no problem we won't know how he goes on the longer trip until we're there.
At this stage we're thinking that we might leave Friday arvo instead of Saturday morning and head to Esperance, stay a day there since I've heard it's nice and we'll work out based on how things go on that first bit whether we should push through for a quick trip from there or break it up into an extra day or two.
Not going via Kal/Coolgardie since we're 200km south of Perth we'll take the south coast route.
so maybe Bunbury to Esperance, Esperance to Norseman (2 hour trip in the arvo), Norseman to Ceduna (leave early - long day), and Ceduna to Adelaide.
2.5 hour daylight saving time difference when we cross the border gets in the way too...

Other thing is that I believe the law requires the baby seat to be rear-facing until kids are 6 months old - he'll be a week off 6 months (and is large for his age anyway), so I reckon we should be allowed to just work out whether he travels better with it facing front or rear and just go with that but dunno how strict they are on the 6 months thing if we were unfortunate enough to get involved in an accident or something.

[flappist]

Esperence is spectacular and definitely worth the drive.