The Vast Nullarbor Plain

Today, we find ourselves driving the legendary Eyre Highway—a ribbon of asphalt laid down in 1941 to connect Perth in the west with Adelaide and Melbourne in the east. Stretching across one of the longest uninterrupted roads in the world, this desolate beast rolls through a landscape dotted with hardy Eucalypt and Saltbush.

Eyre Highway

Massive road trains—imagine three 40-foot semis hitched together into a 120-foot (42-meter) monster—thunder past us, hauling everything from stuffed animals to critical hospital supplies. Their cabs bristle with ornate grills designed to obliterate anything in their path. When lit up, these trucks blaze like fireballs tearing down the highway, lights flaring in every direction.

From 1840 to 1939, Afghan miners and their camel caravans wandered this rugged land in search of gold. Although the miners moved on long ago, their camels still roam freely across the plain. We haven’t spotted one yet—but with two more days ahead of us before we reach Southern Australia, we remain hopeful.

We have spotted something unexpected: airplane landing strips built right into the highway. The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) occasionally lands here during emergencies, especially when weather or other issues ground flights elsewhere.

Balladonia Skylab 1979

Tonight, we’ve pulled into a roadhouse in Balladonia, about 350 km outside of Esperance. “Rustic” barely begins to describe it. This outpost is best known for its brush with outer space—literally. In July 1979, NASA’s Skylab re-entered Earth’s atmosphere, and a chunk of it crash-landed in the roadhouse parking lot. Today, the scorched debris sits inside their small museum, a reminder of the day space came crashing down to the Nullarbor.

So here we are—tucked into our campervan, no internet in sight, just the brilliance of a clear night sky and the thrill of being in the middle of nowhere. Greatness, indeed.