FriendlyBrooks

I loved every moment of this iconic drive across the Great Australian Bight

Lance Broot, finally gets a surf, Match 2026

The Andrews airport parking shuttle bus was waiting for us when we got off the plane and within minutes we were in our car. What a great service this is. Next stop was to Salisbury to pick up the camper trailer, but on the way we needed to sort out why our side mirrors wouldn’t open. After a bit of investigation we found the switch – our car does everything but sometimes it likes to overcomplicate the simple things. That’s technology for you! Our van was where we had left it in the storage lot so we hooked up and got ready to leave. We did our lights check and oh oh, the right blinker wasn’t working. This was going to hold us up as we needed we couldn’t drive with it not working. Whilst I googled the nearest emergency mechanic, Lance called Ultimate HQ and luckily spoke with the electrician. He knew what the problem was immediately (a bent pin on the Anderson plug) and gave Lance the solution and we were soon on our way. Ultimate have really looked after us well with their after sales service.

We headed up the main road to Port Augusta where we did some shopping.  We planned to stop at Kimba, but the sunset came quite quickly, making it tough to drive whilst heading west.

A review of WikiCamps suggested Iron Knob had a great community campground for a $10 donation and they even had hot showers! We pulled in as it got dark and set up quickly without unhitching. We had hamburgers for dinner which were quick and easy to make inside the camper. Iron Knob is an interesting town. The mine is quite important but the town itself is very rundown, possibly because more people live nearby in Whyalla. Nevertheless it was a great little camping spot and we awoke to sensational views.

Our first stop on this day was Kimba for breakfast. Kimba claims to be exactly halfway across the country. It is a reasonably well-off agricultural community renowned for its painted silos and town murals. Oh and also the Big Galah.

After breakfast, filling our water and fuel tanks and a few work commitments were done, we drove across the top of the Eyre Peninsula for a few hours to Ceduna, which is known as the start of the Nullabor. Besides getting fuel, our most important task here was to sign up for the Nullabor Links golf course. This is the longest golf course in the world, so they say, and it involves playing a hole of golf at each roadhouse across the Nullabor. Ceduna is the start (or finish, depending on which way you are traveling) and there are 2 holes to be played. Unfortunately both were under water due to recent unusually heavy rainfall. We chose one hole to play. We had only bought one $78 golf card so we didn’t feel too bad about both playing one hole ⛳ Later we found out most people just pay for one card anyway and share so that’s what we decided to do , using my name and mostly Lance’s scores.

After our golf we headed to Cactus Beach. Cactus Beach is a famous surfing beach that actually has 5 different breaks within one bay. The campground was established over 40 years ago by surfers, for surfers. It’s a really fabulous set up. By the time we had found a spot and set up it was nearly sunset and we just had time for a stroll on the beach and an evening swim, for Lance.

We had decided to stay 2 nights at Cactus Beach so we had a whole day to spend enjoying the beach. In the morning we walked around the headland to a beautiful secluded beach for a morning swim.

When we got back, the surf was up and Lance finally had his first surf of the whole trip. It wasn’t brilliant but he caught a few waves and was very happy.

In the afternoon we drove around to Point Sinclair where there’s a shark net for safe swimming as this area is well known for white pointers. There have been several shark 🦈 sightings and at least 2 deaths in the last twenty years. It was a bit cold and windy for a swim but the jetty provided a nice sunny spot to sit for a while. When we came back to Cactus we watched some kite surfers have a wonderful time on the building waves.

On the final morning at Cactus Beach the wind had dropped and the sun was shining. Unfortunately no wind means the flies come out – you either get one or the other here. We had time for Lance to have another surf and this one was good. We left at checkout time just after noon and of course had one last swim. As we knew we wouldn’t have a chance to have another one for a few days.

Our next stop just 20kms away back on the Eyre highway was Penong. Here we played the next hole of golf and had a chance to top up fuel. Diesel prices were starting to climb but there was plenty of availability. Nonetheless we decided we would top up at each golf hole/roadhouse from now on. Penong has lots of windmills and the 3 hole golf course is situated next to the town landmark. When we turned up one of the locals, Keith, was about to tee off so we played the hole with him. It was a par 4 with a very tight fairway through the trees.

We drove 70km to Nundroo, hole 4 on the Nullabor Links. Its a par 5 and you really need to drive the car to the tee and use it back down the fairway like a goff cart. This hole was long (550m), hot and fly ridden. Two other groups were playing here at the same time as us. The first was a young couple who were wearing fly nets on their heads which I was envious of.  The other was a mother and daughter who had been on the road for 3 years and thought they had signed up for putt putt back in Kalgoolie. Mind you they both played the hole better than me. If there wasn’t a golf hole or if you didn’t need fuel there would be absolutely no reason to stop at Nundroo. But it was worth it on both counts and we also bought fly nets for our heads so triply worth the stop.

100 or so kilometres down the road was the famous sign indicating the start of the Nullabor Plain and not much later, the Nullabor roadhouse. We stopped for our hole and fuel again as did the fly netted couple from the Nundroo hole. This hole was also long (530m) but now not so hot as it had started to rain. The rain didn’t stop the flies though and I was grateful for my newly purchased fly net. The fairway crossed the airstrip which made for some fun photos. This was to be our 3rd and last hole for the day. People were setting up at the roadhouse campground but since it was only 4.30pm we decided to push on

The road got quieter and the sun was getting lower and the weather getting wetter. We stopped at the two Bunda Cliffs lookouts which are indescribably stunning. The photos don’t do the place justice as part of the magic is in experiencing the vast treeless plain cutting off sharply into the ocean. In one moment you can feel the ancient land and sea coursing through your body. Its incredible.

We could have stayed forever but nightime beckoned and we needed a place to stay. We had a possibility of staying at Border Village roadhouse but we had one last viewpoint to stop at. Luckily this place is also a magnificent free campsite with room for at least 100 vehicles. There were around 30 when we got there (last in, of course) but everyone was well spaced out. We had ocean and clifftop views over the Great Australian Bight in our home for the night. It was cold and rainy so I cooked a curry inside. As we were about to cross state lines with strict quarantine rules the next morning, I tried to use as many fresh vegetables as possible. Even so we were left with mushrooms, avocado., tomatoes, capsicum, onion and fruit. We kept half the curry as you can take crooked vegetables through quarantine. The next morning we cooked a huge omelette and used what we could of the rest of the vegetables and added some to the curry. We also ate the fruit and avocado.

We had to pack up in the rain and travel  15km to Border Village. Here we played hole 8 of the Nullabor Lunks- a short par 3. We also topped up with fuel for the last time in South Australia and crossed the border, through quarantine and a random breath test.

Juust 12km down the road is the first town in WA- Eucla. Eucla is the site of an old Telegraph station so we drove down the dirt road to see it. This landmark can only be described as underwhelming as it was just an abandoned falling down building with graffiti on it.

Next we had to find hole 9 of the Nullabor Links. After a little searching we found it 5km down another dirt road in the middle of an open field. By now the rain was pelting down and the “green” was under water. We played the par 4 hole as quickly as we could and headed to the next hole 70kms away. Mundrabila had a roadhouse and a par 3 hole. Luckily it was short and quick as the rain was still pelting down. By now we were paying $3 per litre for diesel but we had to fill up at every stop in case we found one with no fuel. So far so good for supply.

By the time we got to our next stop at Madura the rain had left and the landscape had become a little hilly. We played another par 3 and drove up to the lookout which had views over the Roe Plains and out to the ocean in the distance.

Next stop another 100km down the road was cutely named Cocklebiddy. For now there was just sunshine and a few flies for the par 4 hole. The hole was named Eagle’s Rest due to the huge eagle that was kept in a cage at the roadhouse. It was caged because it and its pair had been hit by a car years ago and could no longer fly. At the roadhouse was a campground that was well reviewed on WikiCamps but it was still a bit early for us. Actually we were confused about what time it really was as at some point we had switched to Australian Central West time which is 45 minutes different to Perth time. Our phones thought we were on Perth time but Google, always the know-it-all, was set at the correct time. Either way we had about an hour until sunset.

The next roadhouse was only about 50kms away. Caiguna had also experienced a lot of rain and the golf hole was muddy and slippery. It was however a pleasant par 4.. The campground at the roadhouse didn’t look great so we decided to chance it at a free campground at the Caiguna blowhole. The blowhole itself was another underwhelming tourist attraction but the campground was fantastic. Spacious with room for at least 100 vehicles and flat ground. There were only 2 other caravans there.

Our last day on the Nullabor dawned to a misty rain but by the time we got to Balladonia it was hot with plenty of blowflies for company. The hole (number 12 on the Nullabor links) was a par 3. For a place  miles from anywhere, Balladonia had a lot going on. The roadhouse had a lot of people filling up with fuel and the toilets mentioned a resident snake, which thankfully stayed hidden from me. The cafe made delicious toasties that we ate while looking at the museum ( yes you read that correctly, a museum). Balladonia was the site where Skylab fell to earth many years ago. It was also a major stop on a number of cross country motor events.

We had 190kms to our last 2 holes (at least for now) on the Nullabor Links and this was at the end of the Eyre highway at Norseman. As had become our habit, we first stopped to fill up with fuel, get our golf card stamped, get a snack and get directions to the golf course. Norseman is a reasonable size town with a high school and primary school and an 18 hole golf course. Nullabor Links used hole 1 and hole 18 – a par 5 and a par 4. There were more people on this course and we ended up having to wait and then play with another group. We all agreed that the Nullabor Links is a great way to enjoy the long drive across the Nullabor. It had kept us occupied for 3 days, giving us a welcome break from the drive, a bit of exercise a challenge and an opportunity to refuel and visit each community on the way through. We would play this course again in a heartbeat.

Before leaving Norseman we refilled our water tanks from the visitor centre for a small fee. I had to attend an online meeting so Lance did the shopping at the local IGA which was pretty expensive as you might expect from a mining town in the middle of nowhere. We drove up to the top of the hill/mine to admire the view and then headed towards Esperance.

It’s hard to get a place to camp in Esperance. There are no free camps after Norseman and all the caravan parks were booked out. Lance messaged 3 HipCamps and luckily one had one spot left. That’s all we needed! The camp was on a farm property 10km before Esperance. We set up as the sun went down on or last night of the Nullabor drive. We have had a fabulous experience on the Nullabor in unusual circumstances with unexpected rain all the way, an increasing fuel crisis and a wonderful game of golf. We wouldn’t have changed anything.