Ceduna to Eucla
This is a sweeping coastal drive combining a great Outback journey and stunning beaches of the Eyre Peninsula.
West of Ceduna are beaches which rank among the world's most legendary surf spots.
Cactus Beach, 84 kilometres from Ceduna (turn off the Eyre Highway at Penong), is popular with surfers for its perfect surf breaks. Castles and Cactus beaches are left handers while Caves is a powerful right hand break. Although the surrounding land is private property, the owner permits low impact camping, and toilet and bore-water showers are provided.
Visit Penong's surfboard craftsman, who has a captive market, especially when the seas are big and surfboards are snapped in half by the pounding waves. Continue 78 kilometres west to Nundroo, which has a hotel, motel and refuelling facilities. From here you can explore the evidence of early settlers, with ramshackle stone cottages dotted across the plains.
Turn off and travel to Fowlers Bay, one of the earliest settlements on the west coast. Fowlers Bay is home to a delightful seaside caravan park and it's a good base from which to make the trip to see the whales at Head of Bight. This is where the arid interior meets the deep blue sea, over the edge of 60-metre high Bunda Cliffs. It is one of the world's best viewing areas for southern right whales and up to 100 whales and calves congregate here between May and October on their annual breeding migration.
The Yalata Roadhouse is run by the local Aboriginal community, which has a population of about 400 people. A permit, available from the roadhouse, is required to travel on Yalata Aboriginal Land.
Marine biologists and photographers from around the world are attracted by the whales, which are protected as part of the Great Australian Bight Marine Park.
The Nullarbor Plain was part of the ocean floor until 2 million years ago and is the world's largest slab of limestone covering an area of 250,000 square kilometres. Its name comes from the Latin "no trees" and, when you stand on the vast plain, you have an unbroken 360-degree horizon. Nullarbor Roadhouse offers travellers a motel, caravan park, fuel and food.
The 184 kilometre journey to the West Australian border has been broken up with five scenic lookouts on the way to Border Village, with its five metre tall giant red kangaroo providing a kitsch but warm welcome. Eucla is only 13 kilometres across the border and boasts the remains of an old telegraph station.
Maps
Download an Eyre Peninsula map for an overview of the region. You'll also find interactive Google maps of Eyre Peninsula on its home page on SouthAustralia.com.
