Caiguna, Western Australia

Infobox Australian Place | type = town
name = Caiguna
state = wa


caption = John Eyre Motel, Caiguna.
lga = Shire of Dundas
postcode = 6443
pop =
est = 1963
stategov = Eyre
fedgov = Kalgoorlie
dist1 = 1098
location1= Perth
dist2 = 374
location2= Norseman
dist3 = 336
location3= Euclacoord|-32.269|125.49|type:city(20)_region:AU-WA_scale:100000|format=dms|display=title

Caiguna is a small roadhouse community located on the Eyre Highway in Western Australia. It is the second stop east of Norseman on the long journey east across the Nullarbor Plain. Between Balladonia and Caiguna is a convert|146.6|km|mi|1|sing=on stretch of the highway which is one of the longest straight stretches of road in the world.

History

The name is an Aboriginal word possibly meaning "spear track". In 1841, Edward John Eyre's party, consisting of Eyre, a man named John Baxter and three Aboriginals including one named Wylie, travelled across the Nullarbor, leaving Fowler's Bay in South Australia. On 29 April, two of the Aboriginals killed John Baxter and disappeared into the desert, taking most of the party's supplies. Due to the terrain, Baxter could not be buried, so his remains were wrapped in a blanket and left behind, and Eyre and Wylie pressed on for another month, after which they were rescued by a French vessel off Thistle Cove near modern-day Esperance, Western Australia. A memorial to Baxter is located 10 km south of the roadhouse. [cite web|url=http://www.westernbelle.com/C.HTML|title=Western Australian Towns - C|author=Western Belle|accessdate=2006-10-17] [cite web|url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/Western-Australia/Caiguna/2005/02/17/1108500208323.html|title=Travel - Caiguna|author=Sydney Morning Herald|accessdate=2006-10-17]

The townsite was established in 1962 to assist traffic crossing the Nullarbor for the Commonwealth Games in Perth. [cite web|url=http://www.dundas.wa.gov.au/highway|title=Eyre Highway|author=Shire of Dundas|accessdate=2006-10-17]

Present day

Caiguna today consists of not much more than the John Eyre Motel that provides roadhouse facilities including a basic caravan park. It is one of only three Nullarbor roadhouses to be open 24 hours. A landing strip is also located nearby.

Caiguna is also the town at which the unofficial starts.

References

External links

* [http://www.dundas.wa.gov.au/highway Shire of Dundas - Towns of the Eyre Highway]
* [http://www.nullarbornet.com.au/towns/caiguna.html Nullarbor Net - Caiguna] including local information.