The Nullarbor Roadhouse stands in one of the emptiest stretches of the Eyre Highway, the sealed road that connects South Australia with Western Australia across the flat limestone plain. The name comes from the Latin for no trees, and the description is mostly accurate: the land is low, pale and covered in saltbush and bluebush, with a horizon so far away that it feels like the sea. The roadhouse is a small island of services in all that space, with fuel, food, accommodation and a campground, and it is a place where truckers and travellers meet and compare notes.
Fuel is what matters most. Distances between roadhouses on the Nullarbor are long, commonly well over a hundred kilometres, and prices reflect the cost of delivery, so fill the tank whenever you can and carry a spare container if your range is short. The wind is the other major factor. A headwind can drink fuel and tire the rider, while a crosswind can push a bike sideways, and road trains, which are lorries pulling several trailers, create a powerful slipstream as they pass. Give them room and expect to be buffeted.
Wildlife is abundant. Kangaroos, wombats, emus and even camels wander the verges, particularly at dawn and dusk, and a collision can be fatal for rider and animal. Plan to ride in daylight and keep your speed sensible after mid-afternoon. Wedge-tailed eagles often sit on the road, feeding on roadkill, and take off slowly, so slow down when you see them.
The plain is an old sea floor, and under it lie caves and sinkholes, some of the longest cave systems in the world. Further south, the cliffs of the Great Australian Bight drop into the Southern Ocean, and from June to October southern right whales come to the Head of Bight to calve, a short drive from the highway. A golf course, the Nullarbor Links, runs along the highway with one hole at each roadhouse, a typically Australian joke on a vast scale. The night sky here, far from any city, is crowded with more stars than most people have ever seen.