Fringing the Southern Ocean and bang on the Western Australia and South Australia border lies the Eucla National Park’s remote landscape.
With the WA/SA border due to open on Christmas Day, the Nullarbor will be busy again soon. Being such a big trip, it’s tempting to blast straight through, but there’s some great stops close to the Eyre Highway like here at Eucla National Park.
There are some great bigger side trips out to places like the Baxter Cliffs too. If you can schedule some extra time, we doubt you’ll regret it.
The entrance to the park is essentially the ruins of the Eucla Telegraph Station. There are ruins like these across the Nullarbor.
At Israelite Bay, we’ve seen similar ruins, and at the Eyre Bird Observatory, the station has been restored and houses the Birds Australia research station.
Squeezing through the greenery, I tracked south in search of the Delisser dune system.
The tracked softened before continuing to the expansive dunes and then cliffs of the Great Australian Bight further east still.
Halfway across Australia, nobody, stunning dunes and wild ocean make for a breathtaking place. Much about the Eucla National Park seems like a mini version of the Bilbunya Dunes that lie further to the west.
The park is roughly 3,340 hectares and is technically a Western Australian park. The eastern edge meets one of the cliff sections of the Great Australian Bight.
There’s something magical about large dune systems. The freshness and ever-changing shapes that are delivered by the strong coastal breezes. The reflection of colour as day transitions to night.
After driving from the Baxter Cliffs to Twilight Cove solo, my time at Eucla National Park was my last night of reflection before hitting the tarmac for the long trip home to Perth. There wasn’t a breath of wind – my favourite beach camping conditions!
Coffee and pack up are quick with our LandCruiser’s travel setup which is handy as the first time in a while, I had an appointment; to pick up a camper for review from the closed border.
Being early, I decided to loop over the dunes on my way out. That was a mistake; I got bogged in no time!
Luckily, I was bogged upslope and had given up before digging myself too deep. I knew my MAXTRAX would help, but this time reached for the twin lockers, steered hard downhill and manage to crawl my way to the firmer sand in the gully and reverse out. It was a lazy recovery, which is my favourite kind.
Eucla National Park is a stunning place to break up the long trip across Australia. It’s definitely worth the diversion.
