Talk:Nullarbor Plain

earlier comments

User:Tannin deleted: On some occasions the plain has flooded during cyclones cutting off the east and west areas of Australia.

Maybe they were talking about the roads between eastern and western Australia? Crusadeonilliteracy 13:33, 21 Dec 2003 (UTC)

I don't know if the roads are cut very often for very long, but the railway certainly has been washed away by stormwater a couple of times.--ScottDavis 11:34, 2005 Jan 10 (UTC)

Pictures

I have a few digital pictures that I took on the plane between Sydney and Perth, I could add one of them but I'm not sure which one is exactly the Nullarbor. With some advice I'm sure one of them would right, some actually look like abstract paintings.... SeanMack 07:25, 1 Apr 2005 (UTC)

One that looks like it could be inspiration for Aboriginal art could be an excellent image for the article. There's also a few photos from above in the NASA archives: I had a search through all I could find, and thought these three looked good: [1], [2] and [3]. I particularly like the last one, but wouldn't like to add it without knowing what the grid pattern visible is - any ideas anyone?

I think I've got a photo from ground level somewhere in my files that I could scan in. I've already got a scanned photo of the wilds of New South Wales near Broken Hill, and that looks almost the same, I could just upload that :) Worldtraveller 10:09, 1 Apr 2005 (UTC)

These were taken on the way from Sydney to Perth but checking the route the plane takes I'm thinking that only 2 could be the Nullarbor which to me is closer to Perth than Sydney, those are images 3 & 4 - correct me if I'm wrong - sorry ppl I'm not from Oz... I *think* that the only photo that is passed the Bight is number 4. More photoshoping can be done on the chosen image (if any). Thoughts?SeanMack 12:40, 1 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Wow - number three is amazing! Fantastic shapes and colours, can hardly believe they're real. Definitely think that would make an excellent addition to the article - although I'm wondering what the rectangular light patch to the upper left is? Worldtraveller 22:48, 1 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Hey dude, no idea. I do love that pic too though, clearly I've enhanced it in photoshop but mostly just auto levels - a lot of UV etc from out the plane window. Not sure what any of those regular patterns in the pic are. I've asked a few aussies but no one can even hazard a guess. Given it was from v high up the scale is hard to judge too. Mebbe we need some aussies on wiki to have a look? Know anyone? I'm new to wiki.. I have others too from the same flight but I didn't want to upload too many that weren't gonna be useful. BTW, followed a few links and saw your pics. Mucho impressed. I've only recently got into photography - and thats only cos I can fix so many things on the Pc...SeanMack 07:48, 2 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Are you sure Number 3 was as late as half-way? My guess would be the Darling River, somewhere north of Wentworth, New South Wales. The circles look like dry salt lakes. The dark line across the middle is a main river channel, lined by River Red Gums or Coolibahs, with two other channels visible above it. The dark rectangle could be irrigated pasture or grapevines or something, or ploughed earth. What time of year were they taken? How far north is the route from Sydney to Perth? Could it be Cooper Creek instead of the Darling? --ScottDavis 12:12, 2 Apr 2005 (UTC)

If your plane flew along a great circle, you might actually have pretty much missed the Nullarbor altogether - see this map. Number three is a fantastic pic though so would be great to find an article to put it in even if it's not this one. Worldtraveller 12:43, 2 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Thanks for going to the effort to give me the info guys! Unfortunately as you have stated it looks like none of the pics I have are actually the Nullarbor. Thinking about it now, it's pretty sure the flight path is along a great circle. So, I've done some homework and stuck in a map from expedia with a red elipse showing the area where I reckon pic 3 was taken (Dec17th afternoon), the dots are where I think the great circle runs. Hopefully someone else can come up with a suitable pic for the article. Maybe pic3 could be used in an article on the outback? There are others I have while not as striking certainly are similar showing how bizarre the landscape looks from the sky... What should I now do about deleting all these temp images? SeanMack 06:42, 3 Apr 2005 (UTC)

...btw Worldtraveller, thought you might be interested in this nasa link [4]SeanMack 07:39, 3 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Your ellipse has the Murrumbidgee River in the bottom right (with the Lachlan River feeding into it), and the Darling River vertically just to the left of the middle. Which side of the plane were you looking out? Do you have a higher-resolution picture that we can pick out roads/tracks on? There seem to be crops or something in the right just below the river. If we determine that it's the Darling, we could add the photo and some more words about the country it flows through to that article. --ScottDavis 13:48, 3 Apr 2005 (UTC)

I was looking out of the right hand side of the plane, mebbe the elipse should be higher, but it's all guess work really... I have other photos taken a minute or 2 apart, both before pic 3 and after. They are quite big pics, but I'm happy to upload them all if you were interested. However since we were so high up and I didn't really zoom I don't think there are any with a resolution high enough to make out things on the ground. What do you reckon?SeanMack 14:39, 3 Apr 2005 (UTC)

<pics removed>I'm putting the nasa pic on, change if it you want.SeanMack 16:52, 15 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Aboriginal or aboriginal ??

This is already in wiki from Australian_Aborigine

The word aboriginal, in use in English since the 17th century to mean "first or earliest known, indigenous", was used in Australia as early as 1789; it was soon capitalised and became the standard name for indigenous Australians.

Strictly speaking Aboriginal is an adjective and Aborigine is a noun. It is therefore correct to refer either to Aboriginal Australians or Australian Aborigines, but not to Australian Aboriginals.

As I understand it, the capital letter is correct when talking about Australian Aborigines, in the same way as a capital 'E' for the English migrants. Lower-case 'a' aborigines are the first people in any country, but upper-case 'A' Aborigines are from Australia in particular. --ScottDavis 23:55, 17 May 2005 (UTC)

image request

It has been fulflled. SeanMack 19:12, 22 May 2005 (UTC)

Climate

I have removed

Contrary to popular belief, the driest spot in Australia is actually found in this region and not to the north, in the area of the Northern Territory (NT) known as the Centre. The SA settlement of Farina has average annual precipitation of 142 mm (5.6 inches); by contrast, Alice Springs, NT, receives an average of 281 mm (11.1 inches) of rain per year.

Farina, South Australia is not on the Nullarbor plain, and the Bureau of Meteorology statistics don't support the numbers. --ScottDavis | Talk 13:53, 7 August 2005 (UTC)

Spelling?

Is it "Nullabor" or "Nullarbor"? Both spelling are about equally common in the article. --194.47.143.5 18:00, 3 February 2006 (UTC)

"Nullarbor" is the correct spelling, because it derives from the latin "null-arbor" ("no trees"). It is often aboriginalised (or just misspelt) as "Nullabor". I'll change the whole article to "Nullarbor" as that is the technically correct spelling, but "nullabor" is quite common as well. Graham/pianoman87 talk 08:51, 4 February 2006 (UTC)

It looks like the article has been changed already. Thanks for that, I didn't look at the history. Graham/pianoman87 talk 08:57, 4 February 2006 (UTC)

If "Nullarbor" is not a pseudoetymology; see below. Dysmorodrepanis (talk) 21:22, 11 August 2011 (UTC)

South Australia?

Is there something that requires thst south australian box at the bottom - it is in western australia as well? SatuSuro 15:16, 10 December 2006 (UTC)

No, there's not. I've nominated that horrible template for deletion here.--cj | talk 21:35, 10 December 2006 (UTC)

Hmmm?

"... t to the coast. Credit Jacques Descloitres. Image acquired by..." Have I misunderstood something. Fred

Proclamation

I hereby claim the page Nullarbor Plain to be within the scope of WP:WA. Any editor may continue to contribute. Fred 15:46, 27 January 2007 (UTC)

Unsuitable link?

I have aerial video of the Great Australian Bight available to view but the link was deleted as spam - I would be interested in comments from users of this page if you think this link should not be included. it is http://www.aerialvideo.com.au/nullabor.html Rob

I'm blind so I can't see the content of the link - I was probably a little harsh on you yesterday. However it's only a 39-second video - do the aerial photographs contribute significantly to a person's understanding of the article? I think it would be better at the Great Australian Bight article as that's what the video is about. The external links guidelines encourage links to be as relevant as possible to the subject of the article. Graham87 11:18, 10 August 2007 (UTC)

I think it is relevant here as on the left of the video is the Great Australian Bight and to the right is the Nullarbor Plain and the cliffs on the coastline..

Fair enough. I'll readd it now. Graham87 04:11, 11 August 2007 (UTC)

External links

Most of the links in the article space are either irrelevent or wrongly placed - in time they will be moved or removed - cheers SatuSuro 00:53, 30 January 2008 (UTC)

Aboriginal name

Removed from the article:

The Aboriginal name for the area is 'Oondiri' meaning 'the waterless'.

We need a more reliable source for this. Firstly, we need to be specific about which of the hundreds of Aboriginal language this is in. Secondly, 'Oondiri' doesn't look like a modern transcription; we need to either get a more accurate transcription from a linguistic source, or failing that, find out what primary source this transcription came from. --Ptcamn (talk) 13:47, 11 March 2008 (UTC)

Longest straight track

The straight track of rail herein, the longest in the world, was noted as 478 km. It was changed to 498 km by a user who notes the Tea and Sugar Train gives this figure, that article gives a reference to Zwingle, Erla. "The Tea & Sugar Train: Lifeline in Australia's Outback." National Geographic, June 1986, pp. 737 - 757. I had reverted it based on what I was able to glean from the web, trying to eliminate sources that may be quoting our document, because it favoured the former number. I also found this:

The world's record for the longest stretch of straight railway belongs to the Transcontinental Railway of Australia, which is dead-straight for 328 miles across the Nullarbor Plain, but not dead-level.
— The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 13, Issue 4 (July 1, 1938.) Railway Features. — Dead-straight Lines

Sigh ... 328 miles (528 km) is described — er, somewhere! — as being the former length, the route was changed at some stage. The fact is also noted at Indian Pacific, which gave a link to this primary source: "world's longest straight stretch of railway track (478 kilometres)". I could see this was going to involve a series of tedious edits, questionable sources, and original or deep research, so I did this instead:

I asked the ip to supply a reliable source, and hoped I would never hear of it again!

Pretty schmick, eh! Unfortunately not, they neatly flipped it back to me by posting on my talk page. The nerve of some people ;-) — cygnis insignis 09:36, 31 July 2009 (UTC)

Coincidently [?] the longest water main, 330 miles (530 km) is close to the second figure 328 miles (528 km). cygnis insignis 09:58, 31 July 2009 (UTC)

Translation into Chinese Wikipedia

The 02:58, 6 December 2009 Alexbot version of this article is translated into Chinese Wikipedia.--Wing (talk) 20:12, 13 December 2009 (UTC)

Origin of name

"Nullus arbor" may be a pseudoetymology. It is attested at least as early as 1878, but at about the same time "Nullabor" and "Nullabar" are attested. John Forrest was credited (wrongly) as origin of the "nullus arbor" etymology. See here p.187 and here p.66, 150-151, which seem to suggest an underlying Aboriginal etymology, perhaps meaning "region where the wind hits you like a waddy". ffff — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.82.123.39 (talk) 01:48, 6 February 2013 (UTC)

Maralinga tests

Came to this page by chance, and have thrown a citation needed tag onto the section about the UK government's actions surrounding the Maralinga nuclear testing. This stuff seems pretty strong to be unsupported like this. I note there are plenty of refs on the Maralinga main page, some of which I daresay could be ported across by someone at least passing familiar with this material (not me!). Nice page though! DanHobley (talk) 14:36, 19 August 2015 (UTC)

Hi DanHobley, in fact, the entire section needs additional references, Accordingly, a "Refimprove section" template has been added. Regards Cowdy001 (talk) 19:38, 19 August 2015 (UTC)

External links modified (January 2018)

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Southest

Hi it says Southest. Is this a typo for Southeast or Southwest? ϢereSpielChequers 18:18, 14 June 2021 (UTC)

Decidedly southeast. Also without consulting atlas moved Great Australian Bight to the south. Doug butler (talk) 23:01, 14 June 2021 (UTC)

Rainbow

Rainbow over the Nullarbor Plain

I don't see the rainbow. Art LaPella (talk) 16:07, 11 October 2021 (UTC)

Jesus Christians' crossing

This is a minor thing but it certainly jumped out at me immediately--the article describes a group of six Jesus Christians crossing the expanse, and then there is a photo claiming to be of that group, but there are seven people in the photo. Is the description inaccurate or was there someone additional in the photo who did not make the crossing? 74.221.45.83 (talk) 74.221.45.83 (talk) 16:44, 18 May 2024 (UTC)

THe source mentions a seventh walker, "an American, Mr Dane Frick, 42, who left Queensland to join the walkers after he heard about their trek." HiLo48 (talk) 06:00, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

Weird, unsourced claim

We say "....brothers Tyron and Aaron Bicknell recorded the fastest-known crossing of the Nullarbor Plain on single speed bicycles.". What are single speed bicycles? A later sentence mentions "a single-geared bike", but even they can move at more then one speed. The sources are ineffective, simply being links to a record of recent rides, not including the Nullarbor one.I recommend removal HiLo48 (talk) 05:45, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

I believe that the claim is that the bicycles had only one gear (Single-speed bicycle), unlike a Three-speed bicycle, which has three different gears. Different gears are helpful for places where there are hills, which the Nullabor is lacking. However, the references are to Strava, which is basically a user-edited site and not WP:RS. If someone can come up with a better source, then that claim could stay. Cxbrx (talk) 13:16, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

WHat idiot came up with the name Single-speed bicycle for a bicycle with only one gear? It's just wrong. HiLo48 (talk) 01:29, 29 June 2024 (UTC)

remember this is wikipedia, one should always have cautious tolerance towards the difference between the obvious and the rest... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-speed_bicycle JarrahTree 02:13, 29 June 2024 (UTC)

Yes, I noticed thst article, and having read it, wrote this on the Talk Page - "Obviously a bicycle with a single gear ratio can travel at more than one speed. Where did the name "single-speed" come from? There is no source for the name!" HiLo48 (talk) 03:03, 29 June 2024 (UTC)

Don't know about single-speed but three-speed (etc) is common terminology for bicycle gears. See Sturmey-Archer. Doug butler (talk) 10:54, 29 June 2024 (UTC)

BUT THat's not one-speed. HiLo48 (talk) 11:24, 29 June 2024 (UTC)

We have an article Single-speed bicycle Doug butler (talk) 11:35, 29 June 2024 (UTC)

Yes, I've seen it, and have already commented above and on its Talk page about how illogical the name is. Cycling jargon needs explanation in an encyclopaedia. HiLo48 (talk) 00:03, 1 July 2024 (UTC)