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10 facts about the Nullarbor Plain

16/07/2014 by Jess Wallace in Lifestyle

The Nullarbor Plain, famously known as the longest stretch of straight road in the world, is a piece of Australia which few of us cross and many of us don’t seem to know a lot about. Here we share with you ten things you may not know about the Nullarbor.

  1. The road which people drive across the Nullarbor Plain is called the Eyre Highway. This stretch of road originally got its name from a man named John Eyre who crossed the Nullarbor in 1841.
  2. The Eyre Highway is approximately 1675km long and takes approximately two days to cross.
  3. 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.
  4. The Nullarbor Plain is home to the earth’s largest piece of limestone.
  5. The first motorcar crossed the Nullarbor Plain in 1912.
  6. 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 journey.
  7. The Cocklebiddy Cave on the Nullarbor Plain held the world record for the longest cave diving distance in 1983. The Cocklebiddy Cave entrance was formed when the cave roof collapsed to reveal a system of massive underground caverns and more than 6kms of underwater passages.
  8. 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.
  9. The Nullarbor has up to 100,000 wild camels which were abandoned there after their use in building rail roads.
  10. If you travel through the Nullarbor Plain around August/September you will be able to see Southern Right Whales from the Head of the Bight. Visitors have reported seeing up to sixty mothers and their calves surfacing as close as 20 metres to shore.

The Nullarbor crossing is a once in a lifetime drive which is recommended to road enthusiasts worldwide. For more tips about crossing the Nullarbor Plain via the Eyre highway you can view more information here.

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