The Nullarbor Plain — one of the world’s largest single pieces of limestone, ~1,100 km of treeless karst. Adelaide to Perth along the Eyre Highway ≈ 2,700 km. The longest straight road in Australia (146.6 km, no curves) is on it.
The great Australian road trip. Do not underestimate it; do not skip it if you have time.
Don’t miss: clifftop whale-watching at Head of Bight (May–Oct), standing at the edge of the Bunda Cliffs, the 90 Mile Straight, oysters at Coffin Bay / Ceduna, and the night sky in the middle of nowhere.
How long
- Hard slog: 3 days, ~10hr/day driving
- Comfortable: 5–6 days
- Properly: 7–10 with Eyre Peninsula + Esperance detours
Get a one-way rental with unlimited km.
Route, west from Adelaide
Day 1: Adelaide → Ceduna (~770 km)
- Port Augusta — “Crossroads of Australia”. Decision: north to Uluṟu or west across
- Eyre Peninsula detour — Port Lincoln, Coffin Bay oysters, Streaky Bay (adds 2 days)
- Ceduna — last proper town for ~1,200 km. Famous oysters. Fuel up
Day 2: Ceduna → Eucla
The heart of the drive. Roadhouses every 100–200 km, nothing else.
- Head of Bight — clifftop viewing platforms. Southern right whales calve here May–Oct. Best land-based whale-watching on earth
- Bunda Cliffs — 100m sea cliffs running 100 km. Where Australia just ends
- Border / Eucla — quarantine checkpoint, takes your fruit. Time zone changes
Day 3: Eucla → Norseman → onward
- The 90 Mile Straight — 146.6 km perfectly straight
- Balladonia — where Skylab bits fell in 1979. Tiny museum
- Norseman — decision point:
- S to Esperance — arguably Australia’s best beaches, Cape Le Grand, pink lakes
- N to Kalgoorlie — gold-rush town, the Super Pit
Then west to Perth via Albany and the Margaret River wine region.
Survival essentials
You are crossing a continent.
- Fuel at every chance — roadhouses every 100–200 km but 3–4x city prices. Never below half tank
- 10+ L water/person. Mobile drops to zero for hours
- Real spare tyre, working jack. Check before leaving
- Wildlife: kangaroos, emus, camels. Do not drive at dawn, dusk, or night. This keeps you alive
- Road trains — triple-trailer trucks up to 53m. Give them room. They throw rocks
- Quarantine at SA/WA border — they confiscate fruit, veg, honey
- Time zones are weird across the drive
- Comms — Telstra only. Consider a satellite messenger (Garmin inReach)
- Book roadhouses a few days ahead in tourist season
See full driving guide.
When
- Best: April–October
- Avoid: Dec–Feb. 40°C+ on the plain
- Whales: May–Oct at Head of Bight
Roadhouses with rooms
Ceduna · Nullarbor Roadhouse · Eucla · Madura Pass · Caiguna · Balladonia · Norseman · Esperance
What it feels like
People will tell you the Nullarbor is “boring” — some of that is true. But it’s the only place where you really feel the scale of the continent: the road dead straight for hours, the night sky unbelievable, the silence. You can’t say you’ve understood Australia until you’ve crossed it.
Where next
- Perth & southwest WA — the destination
- Driving — re-read before you go