Eucla

Eucla is in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia.

View to the beach

Telegraph Station

Understand

Eucla is the easternmost town in Western Australia. Once an important stop on the telegraph line, it is now a scenic Nullarbor roadhouse at the point where the coastal cliffs move inland and the Eyre Highway drops down onto the Roe Plains.

Unlike the rest of WA, Eucla uses UTC +8:45 and not UTC +8:00. This was designed to prevent the large time difference gap between border communities and thus, one of only two habited places in the world to have their time zone with a +x:45.

Get in

190km west of Nullarbor Roadhouse in South Australia

180km east of Madura Roadhouse in Western Australia

See

• 1 Old Telegraph Station (4km down a well-signposted road next to the caravan park, past the airport. Good quality dirt road). The telegraph station building is half-filled with sand dunes, which along with other occasional bricks visible above the sand, gives a tantalising glimpse of the old town now buried under the sand. (updated Apr 2015)
• 2 Beach (follow the paths from the Old Telegraph Station through the dunes for 500m. If you have a 4WD, you might be able to find the paths that go all the way there). Desolate beach where you might be the only one there to enjoy the views to Antarctica. The ruins of the old jetty are to the west. To the east are several nice large sand dunes. (updated Apr 2015)
• 3 Traveller's Cross and Eyre Memorial, next to the caravan park. Memorials that offer good views down towards the beach. (updated Apr 2015)
• Bunda Cliffs. Between Eucla and Nullarbor, the highway runs close to dramatic sea cliffs. Several popular viewing spots are signposted (and usually visible by the gaggle of caravans) but there are also other roads (short, decent dirt roads) leading to the cliffs. Be very careful as the cliffs are unstable. Note that closer to Nullarbor, the cliffs steeply overlook the sea, but close to Eucla, the cliffs roll down to a lower level. Therefore, it's worthwhile to visit all the lookouts. (updated Apr 2015)

Do

• Swimming it's easy to forget that Eucla is a coastal town, and all coastal towns have one thing in common; Water.

Buy

Petrol is 50c/litre more than Perth or Adelaide, but 10c cheaper than the Nullarbor Roadhouse.

Eat

• 1 Eucla Motor Hotel. Offers patchy pub food at high prices. (updated Apr 2015)

Drink

There are no bars or pubs in Eucla.

Sleep

• Eucla Motor Hotel, ☏ +61 8 9039 3468. The only game in town, this complex includes basic motel rooms for $125 single (extra for more people), "Budget Motel" rooms, and a caravan park. (updated Apr 2015)

Connect

Telstra has service, but others do not. Wi-Fi is not available and even the TV channels are limited.

Go next

• East
  • Border Village (in South Australia) 12km east
• West
  • Mundrabilla 100km
  • Madura 180km