Koonalda Sheep Station

Date of Adventure about 27-28 January 2025

This is a location part way across the Nullarbor. I’ll get to a general post about the Nullarbor soon but this is just a little easier to write about. Driving the Nullarbor, there are few formal campsites. This is one that is on National Park land. It’s an abandoned sheep station. You can camp anywhere you like and even stay inside the buildings. It was pretty windy when I was there so my main concern was to get some protection. So I kind of settled in close to the main farmhouse.

There are a number of outbuildings as well as the main house. The shearing shed is still there, a couple of hundred meters from the main house. It’s kind of crumbling and I just didn’t get any photos, unfortunately. A number of other outbuildings as well. And, of some interest, lots of abandoned rusting cars and trucks. When I pulled in there was a couple packing some of their gear into one of the outbuildings where they spent the night. In the time I was there, 4 other vehicles came in and spent the night way out past the shearing shed. I never really saw them. And during the day three caravans came in for short visits to give their kids a break and walk through some of the areas. The main homestead is in fair shape with a lot of random stuff left over or dropped by campers over the years.

This building is where the other couple spent the night. They are retired folks from near Perth. Spelunkers on their way home from a cavers meeting in Victoria and quite friendly and helpful.

One of the other buildings was some kind of a shop with a fuel pump out in front.

And all of the cars and trucks!! I spent a lot of time just roaming around among these. Most were in two defined areas but there were random ones in the bush all around the main part of the station.

Even an old Mini, before the time BMW started making them. (Sol!!)

I probably could have spent more time just roaming around and taking better photos of all of the cool cars and trucks.

Overall, this was a pretty good place to camp but I decided to head out after one night because that’s all I had paid for. Although my acquaintances said that there was no accountability and they didn’t even know we were supposed to reserve online and pay.