The Nullarbor Plain is the biggest piece of limestone in the world: a huge, flat, barren landscape that separates east and west of Australia.
It is up to 200 meters above sea level and extends over a length of 2000 km along the southern border between South and Western Australia. The plain, with a population of 272,000 km2, is located south of the Great Victoria Desert and ends abruptly where the cliffs of the Great Australian Bight begin.
The Great Australian Bight is an open bay located at the south. It is the part of the Indian Ocean between Australia and Tasmania. The coast features high cliffs, small beaches and rocky plates. In winter it can be very fierce rage.
Also, the driest place in Australia can be found here: In the settlement Farina year gets not more than 142 millimeters of rainfall. Farina means ‘no trees’ and the most exuberant vegetation in this arid landscape are small shrubs.
Australia’s largest limestone terrain
25 million years ago it was the bed of a sea, but over the centuries, the ground is lifted by landslides. It is the largest karst or limestone terrain of Australia: the limestone layer is between 15 and 60 meters thick. In the thick limestone layer that disappearances there are a lot deep caves. The biggest one consists a 6 km long straight tunnel, 90% flooded and whose aquifer 90 meters below the surface.
The Transcontinental Railway runs across the Nullarbor Plain, of Port Augsuta in South Australia to Perth in Western Australia and includes the longest straight track in the world: 478 km .
The Eyre Highway is located in the southernmost part of the area and has a 94 km long straight away. This is considered the longest straight stretch of asphalt in the world . Along this highway are spectacular five parking spaces with a great view of the Australian coast, where high vertical limestone cliffs are gently pounded by heavy waves of the ocean.
Caves
The water flows into the caves, some of which have turned into nozzles. There are underground rivers through the cavern large underground lakes have formed. The water is full of small crustaceans, spiders and beetles, which have adapted to the dark and often blind. There are fossils in these caves, including the skeleton of a huge lion.
