Weeks of driving separate Ningaloo from the Nullarbor, and by the time we rolled toward the Bunda Cliffs we’d crossed most of the width of the country. Nothing quite prepares you for the specific kind of confronting this place is. The Nullarbor Plain runs flat and treeless to the horizon behind you, and then, without much warning, the ground simply stops — an eighty-metre drop straight into the Southern Ocean, the absolute edge of the continent, uninterrupted from here to Antarctica.
What It Is
There’s no camping at the cliff edge itself — just the cliffs, and the lookout points along the Eyre Highway. We stayed at the Nullarbor Roadhouse on the SA side, which is basic but functional: powered and unpowered sites, working toilets, a bar and basic meals. Eucla, just over the WA border, is slightly better appointed if you’re coming from that direction. Neither is a destination in itself — it’s a staging post for one very specific experience.
The Whales
Between June and October, the Head of Bight on the SA side hosts one of the most significant Southern Right Whale breeding aggregations on Earth. Mothers bring their calves into the sheltered bay below the cliffs to nurse before the journey south. We stood at the lookout platform — genuinely some of the best whale-watching infrastructure in the country — and watched whales rolling and breaching close enough that James asked, entirely seriously, if one could see him. No boat, no tour, no ticket beyond the access gate fee. Just the cliff, the drop, and a whale ten metres below.
Beyond the Whales
Outside whale season, the appeal is purely the scale — the endless flat plain, the sudden enormous drop, the ocean running south forever. The Nullarbor crossing itself is one of those drives that permanently recalibrates how you think about the size of this country, and the Bunda Cliffs are its punctuation mark. We’d crossed thousands of kilometres of nothing to get here and it was, without question, worth every one of them.
Gear Notes: What Earned Its Keep
The wind off the Bight at the lookout platforms is relentless and genuinely cold, even mid-year — a packable fleece throw each came out of the van and stayed wrapped around shoulders for the entire whale-watching session. Nobody wanted to be the one who cut the viewing short because they were cold.
Roadhouse camping means limited shelter from wind at the site itself — a solid set of heavy-duty awning tie-downs kept ours from turning into a kite overnight, which is not a theoretical risk out here; we watched it happen to a neighbour’s setup on our first evening.
Practical Info
Location: Nullarbor Roadhouse (SA) or Eucla (WA), Great Australian Bight Access: 2WD Sites: Camping at the roadhouse or Eucla — very basic Facilities: Basic at the roadhouse; slightly better at Eucla Fires: Check current conditions Nearest town: Ceduna (250km east) — full services before or after the crossing Best time: June–October for Southern Right Whales at Head of Bight
This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase through them, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only recommend gear we’ve actually used.
We came a very long way from Turquoise Bay. Next: Streaky Bay, and a proper shower for the first time in a while.