On my first trip from Geelong to Perth in 1968, the Eyre Highway was only sealed with bitumen as far as Ceduna in South Australia. From there it was just a (sometimes) graded limestone road riddled with potholes and bulldust patches (holes filled with fine dust) until the bitumen started again between Madura and Cocklebiddy in Western Australia. It took me and my mate Johnny Rogers two days to travel this 800 km of unsealed road in my 1959 Ford Zephyr.
This is just one view of the rugged coastline of The Great Australian Bight. These cliffs can be seen from a number of lookouts along the Eyre Highway between Eucla and Ceduna.
Since the mid 1970's the Eyre Highway has been sealed all the way across, and realigned to take travellers close to the coast. Although it is still a long journey, it can be done in comfort. All the roadhouses along the way are hotel/motels with modern facilities and comfortable accommodation.This makes the trip enjoyable for all travellers, whether you are travelling alone or with a family. We have made the trip on numerous occasions with our children, the first time when Katherine was 4 yrs old and Steven was 11 months old. Our most recent trip was in August 2003. June and I travelled on our own this time.We visited my mother, and my brother's family in Geelong, then left the car at Melbourne Airport and flew to see our daughter and son-in-law, Kathy and Kevin, in Hobart, Tasmania. We did a few different things on this trip, like checking out the whale watching platform at the head of the Great Australian Bight (fantastic!!), and visiting Broken Hill on our way home - definitely worth the visit.
The main purpose of this page is to give you information about the various places between Perth in Western Australia and Geelong and Melbourne in Victoria.
I have split the journey into sections as it is too large for one page.
This link will take you to the first section and the beginning of the journey:
My thanks go to the Fairfax Wakabout Australian Travel Guide who gave me permission to link to their website for extra information about towns and sites across Australia.