1996 Adventure Across the Nullarbor Plain

From November 26 to December 1, 1996, eight members of the Melbourne Uni and Renegades volleyball clubs (well, 7 + 1 extra) travelled some 4700km as they adventured across the Nullarbor Plain in South Australia and Western Australia. It was a truly fantastic trip full of fun, new experiences, amazing scenery, great friends and lots of driving (even some pushing when we ran out of petrol!).

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The Nullarbor Plain is literally that, a treeless plain (well, there are at least two exceptions that we counted) stretching as far as the eye can see (not a contour line to be seen on the map).

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View from the Nullarbor Roadhouse looking east.

One of the main reasons for going was the spectacular cliffs across the Great Australian Bight. The plain abruptly ends at the Southern Ocean, leaving spectacular but dangerous cliffs almost 100m high to plunge into the sea.

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View of the cliffs from one of the main lookouts off thehighway.

The other major reason for travelling so far was to go caving inone of the world's great caving regions (Cocklebiddy Cave has beenthe site for numerous world record cave-dives...see Wildmagazine, Autumn 1996). The Nullarbor is composed of limestone whichhas been dissolved in many places, leaving behind hundreds of cavesbeneath the surface. Our first cave was Weebubbie Cave, around 10kmnorth west of Eucla in Western Australia. The entrance was a massivesinkhole some 30m across where the roof had collapsed, and insidewere two picturesque turquoise lakes entending hunderds of metresdown the length of the cave (with diving equipment you can goeven further).

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Gavin swimming in the turquoise waters of Weebubbie Cave.

The second cave we ventured into was Abrakurrie Cave, a further 20km west. While lacking the beautiful lakes of Weebubbie, Abrakurrie was much larger (not that Weebubbie was was small), adding an air of majesty.

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Crossing the WA-SA border via the alternate route.
David, David, Kevin, Debbie, Gavin, Sue, Cress, Derek

Our final night in the bush was spent on private land near Fowlers Bay west of Penong, South Australia. We arrived at sunset in this beautiful little bay with a reef at one end and beach at the other. A gorgeous end to a fantastic trip.

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Sunset near Fowlers Bay, looking west.

Now for our next trip...