Sturts Desert Pea blooms in the desert after rain

Yalata
Aboriginal roadhouse on the Eyre Highway
Located 671 km from Port Augusta and 983 km from Adelaide, Yalata is the newest and most unusual of all the roadhouses on the Eyre Highway. The roadhouse is owned and operated by the local Aboriginal community who provide food, fuel, repairs, and most interestingly, Aboriginal artefacts and souvenirs, to the passing motorist.

Although the name Yalata has been used in the area for well over a century (it probably means 'shellfish' or 'oyster' in the language of the local Aborigines), the actual Yalata community came into existence as recently as 1952. The decision to declare the Maralinga desert area to the north a site for atomic testing meant that Aborigines from the Maralinga area (particularly those living around the mission at Ooldea) had to be moved out. Most of the Ooldea community was moved south to Yalata where, in 1984, the South Australian government officially handed back some 76 420 sq km of semi-desert. The Yalata Aboriginal Reserve now runs on either side of the Eyre Highway from Nullarbor to the Nundroo Roadhouse. It includes about 100 km of the coastline of the Great Australian Bight.

It is of some interest to visitors that the truly treeless plain ('nullus arbor' is latin for 'no trees' - see Nullarbor for details) starts about 75 km west of Yalata.

The present site of Yalata bears little relationship to the original Yalata Homestead which was located about 10 km from Fowlers Bay (there was a time when Fowlers Bay was actually called Yalata). It was built in 1880 by George Murray who, at the time, was working for the wool merchants Thomas Elder and Robert Barr Smith. The ruins can still be seen near the road about 10 km from Fowlers Bay.

Things to see:  

Accommodation and Eating
There is no accommodation available at the roadhouse. Meals are available.

	Motels
	Yalata Roadhouse 30 Eyre Hwy Yalata SA 5690 Telephone: (08) 8625 6986 Facsimile: (08) 8625 6987
	Cafés
	Yalata Roadhouse 30 Eyre Hwy Yalata SA 5690 Telephone: (08) 8625 6986 Facsimile: (08) 8625 6987