Nullarbor: Take the long way to Western Australia

APETER Sweeney meets some interesting characters as he drives along the most eventful road in the world for him - the Nullarbor.

Nullarbor

STICKERS on the bowsers at the Caiguna roadhouse - near the start/end of the world's longest (146.6km) straight stretch of road, the Eyre Highway - ask motorists to "please pay" for fuel before leaving.

Why? Because "drive-offs are successfully prosecuted".

"There's only two places they can go from here the Norseman coppers or the Eucla coppers. And the odd one or two who do a runner find fuel much dearer at those places," Brian Loveridge says.

It's 4.30am and Loveridge is behind the till, watching with eagle eyes while drivers refuel. For 30 years, he has been working the night shift at roadhouses, mostly on the Nullarbor.

"Reckon I'd be the longest-serving staffer. Not many stay out here long. Reckon they're coming for a year or two but only stay a week or two. You got to enjoy your own company to last here."

Loveridge is considering "a short drive" when he comes off duty.

"I might go to the local supermarket (Norseman) to get a few things it's only 375km down the road," he says.

Long distances are nothing on the Nullarbor. You do 'em ... or you go nowhere. However, there is always something and somebody to see. Cars, trucks, buses, caravans, horse floats, motorbikes and bicycles. You name it, it travels here. Even road graders and grass slashers. Out in the middle of nowhere were two slashers cutting grass and debris from the sides of the road while a man was following with a whipper-snipper, tidying around pole markers.

"No time to talk mate, we've got 600km to slash and cut in 10 days," he says.

More and more people are taking to the Nullarbor on two tyres. Like Perth plumber Grant Kelly, who is "accompanied" by his father, Jim.

"I rode from Perth to Sydney but Dad said I wouldn't be a man until I rode around the paddock, around Australia. Eight weeks out from me doing this ride, Dad died. So I'm carrying some of his ashes with me. And it (riding the Nullarbor) is a good way of purging the emotions."

And there's Martin, who left his native New Zealand 20 years ago and cycled the coast between Sydney and Adelaide. He went to Mildura, picked fruit and drove taxis before hopping in a three-wheeler a year ago. He has been pedalling since. "I wouldn't want to be doing anything else," he says, trying to avoid the flies by sporting a big cover over his head.

"The only time they (flies) leave me alone, is when there's a dead 'roo on the road. The stench lures 'em."

A big billboard at Border Village, on the SA-WA border, says: "The only doctor between Ceduna and Norseman (1200km) is the Flying Doctor. You never know when you'll need our help so donate TODAY and help us keep the Flying Doctor flying."

At various intervals along the Nullarbor, the road is widened into emergency landing strips for RFDS planes.

Border Village also offers comfort for those seeking spiritual assistance.

"All denominations welcome," is written on Travellers Chapel, the entrance to which has black and white coloured hands clasped together on a noticeboard. Travellers Chapel holds six old picture theatre-type seats and three kneelers.

"Great, but we found it (this place) a day too late," one couple wrote.

Most pen their thanks for a safe journey to date and pray for the same.

"I feel better since I came inside to pray," somebody wrote.

The Nullarbor from the Latin words nullus and arbor, meaning "no trees" was named by surveyor Edward Delisser in 1865 when he explored the country inland from the Great Australian Bight.

"The chief feature of the country passed over is the immense plain, which I have called the Nullarbor Plain from its being destitute of any trees and which, commencing a few miles from the coast, extends such a long distance that we went 150 miles from the head of the Bight before we entered a dissimilar country," Delisser reported to the SA Government.

Except for the road and railway line, the Nullarbor today remains much as it has always been.

The Nullarbor covers about 750km in length, the width varying from about 200km in the east to more than 300km in the west. The overall area is about 180,000sq km, almost the size of Victoria. The treeless area comprises about 52,000sq km, about 25 per cent of the plain being in South Australia and the majority in Western Australia, with the Trans-Australian Railway dividing it in two equal parts.

Standing outside the roadhouse at Nullarbor is an old pushbike, like you'd find on a rubbish tip or left on a street verge awaiting collection.

"This is the first bicycle ridden by a helmeted cyclist to cross the Nullarbor in 1962. Photos can be taken, donations to RFDS," is written on a note attached to an old container.

Nullarbor is at its busiest between May and October, when endangered southern right whales so named because in the days of whaling they were the right whales to catch, being docile, slow movers that were easy to catch, floated when killed and yielded large quantities of oil move into the Head of the Bight to give birth, breed and mix. The rare Australian sea lion also breeds in colonies at the base of the Bunda Cliffs.

For the sporty-minded, there's the Nullarbor Links golf course, the longest in the world.

The 18-hole, par 72 course spans 1365km, with holes at roadhouses and towns. Some of the more imaginative holes are named Dingo's Den (Nullarbor), Nullarbor Nymph (Eucla) and Brumby's Run (Madura). And then there's Eagles Nest at Cocklebiddy, best known for its caves, where the population according to the welcome sign to "Cockles" is 8 (people), 25 budgies, 7 quails, one dog and 1,234,567 kangaroos.

The whole Nullarbor oozes colour and characters, hope and happiness. The only thing to expect is the unexpected.

There's always something to see, whether it's moving or still, and usually somebody to talk to. And there seems to be an unwritten law that it's compulsory to wave to other motorists when passing.

It's friendly, it's fun. And it certainly provides a freedom few, if any, other roads do.

What's next? Well I'm planning another Nullarbor trip, the only regret being I didn't cross before it was finally sealed in 1976, 15 years after bitumen was first laid there.

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