26 The Nullarbor Plain, taken from the Train. Oct 2003.
THE NULLARBOR PLAIN
In 1867 surveyor, E.A. Delisser, journeyed out into the treeless plain which he gave the name Nullarbor from the Latin 'Nullus' and 'Arbor' meaning 'no trees'. The Aboriginal name for the Nullarbor Plain was 'Oondiri' meaning 'the waterless', for the average rainfall of the area is about 8 inches per annum.
The Nullarbor Plain extends approximately 450 miles from east to west and from the coast it extends 200 miles to the Great Victoria Desert in the north - covering an area of 77,000 square miles - almost as large as the State of Victoria. The plain was created about 25 million years ago when it emerged from the sea; prior to that it had been the seabed. The denizens of the deep had deposited their lime secreting skeletons and shells on the seafloor.