Why this ride
A one-way ride of 296 km, Ceduna to the finish - roughly 4 h 03 in the saddle. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Nullarbor Plain Eyre Highway: Ceduna to Nullarbor Roadhouse
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 296 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 03
- Journey
- One way; return travel is separate
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: planning record, not independently verified geometry.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distances and riding times are planning figures. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Ceduna
Ceduna is the last proper town before the long emptiness. It sits on the western side of the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia, facing Murat Bay, and for most people it is the place where the Nullarbor Plain crossing begins: more than a thousand kilometres of the Eyre Highway to Norseman in Western Australia, with roadhouses spaced out like stepping stones. The town itself is small, with around two thousand people, but it has the sort of weathered, practical atmosphere of a place that serves travellers and fishermen.
Read the complete Ceduna write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Ceduna is where the day begins. Next is Penong.
2. Penong
Windmills, of all things, are what Penong is known for. This tiny settlement on the Eyre Highway, a couple of hundred people on the western edge of South Australia's Eyre Peninsula, pumps its water from underground using wind, and old farm windmills stand in rows along the roadside and in a small museum at the edge of town. In a place where the horizon is a straight line and the sky fills most of the view, they make a strangely graceful sight.
Read the complete Penong write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Penong comes up about 73 km into the recorded legs. Next is Nullarbor Roadhouse.
3. Nullarbor Roadhouse
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.
Read the complete Nullarbor Roadhouse write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 296 km.
Leg by leg
Ceduna to Penong
Ceduna → Penong is 73 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Penong to Nullarbor Roadhouse
Penong → Nullarbor Roadhouse is 223 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.