Koonalda Homestead. 16km off the Eyre highway, 100km before the WA border we travelled down a bumpy dirt road, dodging Wombat holes and driving through large muddy puddles, it was a long 16km before we finally arrived at this amazing part of our Australian history.
The homestead, built out of old railway sleepers was used to service the traffic crossing the Nullarbor before the sealed Eyre highway was laid. Consisting of the main homestead, a shearers hut, sheep shearing shed, gas station and a car graveyard, it has been officially closed since the 1970's and has been abandoned since 1988. Since then it has been maintained by the Nullarbor National Park and travellers are welcome to stay the night for free either in the homestead or anywhere on the surrounding property. 
Nearby to the property is a blowhole and a sinkhole, which may be worth a visit also, but we didn't bother to check these out.
The plan was to arrive in the afternoon and stay the night, but after stopping at various lookouts along the Nullarbor, the day had crept up on us and we weren't keen to try and find this place in the dark. So unfortunatly we did not get to stay the night here, but instead we woke early yesterday morning to explore the Homestead. 
Awesome. There are so many places "off the beaten track" that never get the attention they deservevss most people are in such a hurry to get from A to B. You guys are very lucky to have given yourselves the freedom to explore this country and it's history. You are giving your family some memories that you will cherish for life.
ReplyDeleteThere certainly are so many great places to see! I don't think 2yrs is even going to be long enough! ;)
ReplyDeleteDoing this together as a family and creating these memories together is something I think everyone needs to do!