A long road

Crossing the Nullarbor Plain is one of Australia's most iconic road trips. While it isn't a hardship posting these days with tar the whole way, it is around 1700km from Port Augusta in South Australia to Norseman in Western Australia. While not all of this distance is actually on the Nullarbor, it is still a long and a straight road, and if you want to keep driving the most direct route to Perth it is another 700km. Null-arbor, meaning no trees, aptly describes the plain which stretches from horizon to horizon, with the only things to break the monotony being the odd road train or caravan. Oh and the odd camel, wombat or kangaroo, and if you play your cards right and dodge all those, you might also be lucky enough to see Southern Right Whale mothers and their calves cavorting in the shallows below the cliffs of the Great Australian Bight before heading back to the Antarctic. Turn left at Norseman in WA and head south to Esperance and around the coast to Ravensthorpe and the Fitzgerald National Park. This park is one of the most botanically significant parks in Australia, to say nothing of the beaches, the walking opportunities and the magnificent coastal views. It also has to be one of the best equipped national parks anywhere in Australia with great access roads and camping facilities (when entering from Hopetoun, not sure about the western entrance). Highly recommended.

Watch that wildlife, the Nullarbor Plain in SA, before the trees ran out

Whale viewing off the cliffs at the Head of Bight, SA-a well managed viewing area

There's whales down there somewhere

Right below the cliffs. We counted about 30 mothers and their offspring. the females weight up to 85 tonne when fully grown and the calves weight 1 tonne at birth and are 5.5m long. Once the calves are large enough they all head back to the Antarctic.

Cliffs of the Great Australian Bight in SA

Fitzgerald National Park, WA

Beautiful and quite unique flora

Fitzgerald National Park, WA

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