Balladonia, Western Australia


Balladonia is a small roadhouse community located on the Eyre Highway in Western Australia. It is the first stop east of Norseman on the journey east across the Nullarbor Plain. Between Balladonia and Caiguna is a stretch of the highway which is one of the longest straight stretches of road in the world.

History

The name is an Aboriginal word meaning "big rock by itself". The area was settled in 1879 and the original Balladonia homestead was built away from the present townsite. From 1897 to 1929, Balladonia was a station on the Perth-Adelaide telegraph line, due to a previous coastal line being shorted by salt spray from the Southern Ocean. The arid climate and lack of suitable water sources restricted the town's development.
In July 1979, the area gained worldwide attention when the re-entry of the Skylab space station left a trail of debris across the nearby countryside.

Present day

The Balladonia roadhouse, a modern air-conditioned facility for travellers, has a display of Skylab debris and newspaper clippings, as well as a pub and motel rooms. Access via four-wheel drive is possible to the start of the cliffs, believed to be the longest in the world, of the Great Australian Bight from Balladonia. Information is available from the roadhouse.
There is the ruined shell of a telegraph station just to the east of Balladonia at the start of the "Ninety Mile Straight". However, it is signposted as being private property. Also in the area are freshwater pools 14 km east at Afghan Rocks, named for a camel driver who was shot by thirsty travellers.

Pastoral lease

Balladonia Station is a pastoral lease adjacent to Noondoonia Station to the north, and Nanambinia Station to the south of the Eyre Highway.
The station was visited and written about in a newspaper in 1924, and the reflections on the conditions at that time included concern about rabbits.
The homestead of the station was notable for its substantial size and architecture in the 1930s. An earlier photograph in the 1890s reveals the stone walls in the vicinity of the homestead, and a possible earlier stage of the homestead building.
During most of the twentieth century the Station was also a popular stopping place on the Eyre Highway.

Geography

Climate

Balladonia experiences a steppe climate.