{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}} {{Use Australian English|date=August 2012}} {{Infobox Australian place | type = town | name = Caiguna | state = wa | image = Caiguna Roadhouse, 2017 (03).jpg | caption = Caiguna Roadhouse | image_alt = | relief = | local_map = yes | zoom = 7 | coordinates = {{coord|32|16|8|S|125|29|24|E|display=inline,title}} | pushpin_map_caption = | pushpin_label_position = | map_alt = | pop = <!--leave blank to draw the latest automatically from Wikidata--> | poprank = | density = | density_footnotes = | established = 1962 | established_footnotes = | abolished = | gazetted = | postcode = 6443 | elevation = 110 | elevation_footnotes = | area = {{wikidata|property|raw|P2046}} | timezone = | utc = | timezone-dst = | utc-dst = | dist1 = 1098 | dir1 = | location1 = Perth | dist2 = 374 | dir2 = | location2 = Norseman | dist3 = 336 | dir3 = | location3 = Eucla | lga = Shire of Dundas | seat = | region = | county = | division = | stategov = Kalgoorlie | fedgov = O'Connor | visitation_num = | visitation_year = | visitation_footnotes = | managing_authorities = | url = | maxtemp = | maxtemp_footnotes = | mintemp = | mintemp_footnotes = | rainfall = | rainfall_footnotes = | near-n = | near-ne = | near-e = | near-se = | near-s = | near-sw = | near-w = | near-nw = | near = | footnotes = }}
'''Caiguna''' ({{IPAc-en|k|aɪ|ɡ|uː|n|ə}} {{respell|KY|GOO|na}}) is a small roadhouse community located on the Eyre Highway in Western Australia. It is the second stop east of Norseman on the journey east across the Nullarbor Plain. Between Balladonia and Caiguna is a {{convert|146.6|km|mi|1|adj=on}} stretch of the highway which is one of the longest straight stretches of road in the world.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I-QpxXwmHM8C&dq=%2290+mile+straight%22&q=%2290+mile+straight%22|title=Outback Australia: a Lonely Planet Australia guide|last1=Moon|first1=Ron|last2=Finlay|first2=Hugh|last3=O'Byrne|first3=Denis|last4=Williams|first4=Jeff|date=1994|publisher=Lonely Planet|isbn=978-0-86442-239-2|edition=1st|page=328}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2009-10-13/sign-at-the-start-of-90-mile-straight-australias/1102102|title=Sign at the start of 90-mile straight, Australia's longest straight road|date=13 October 2009|work=ABC News|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140907090124/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2009-10-13/sign-at-the-start-of-90-mile-straight-australias/1102102|archivedate=7 September 2014|url-status=live|accessdate=8 October 2015}} {{webarchive|format=addlarchives|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151226063522/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2009-10-13/sign-at-the-start-of-90-mile-straight-australias/1102102|date=26 December 2015}}</ref> The unofficial Central Western Time (CWT) starts shortly east of Caiguna, heading eastward towards the Western Australia - South Australia Border. Caiguna comes under the jurisdiction of the Shire of Dundas.
==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 {{convert|10|km|mi|1|adj=on|abbr=}} south of the roadhouse.<ref name=":0" />
The townsite was established in 1962 to assist traffic crossing the Nullarbor for the Commonwealth Games in Perth.<ref name=":1">{{cite web|url=http://www.aussietowns.com.au/town/caiguna-wa|title=Caiguna|publisher=Aussie Towns|accessdate=18 October 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dundas.wa.gov.au/eyre-highway.aspx|title=Eyre Highway|author=Shire of Dundas|accessdate=17 October 2006}}</ref>
During the 1960s and 1970s, Ansett and Trans Australia Airlines domestic flights used a VOR station at Caiguna as a turning point on routes between Perth and eastern Australian capitals such as Adelaide, Melbourne, and Sydney.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=Whyte|first=Brendan|date=2004|title=The diamond in the desert: the story of the giant Readymix logo on the Nullarbor|url=https://www.anzmaps.org/the-globe-journal/|journal=The Globe|volume=55|pages=1–24}}</ref>
===Present day=== As with other communities along the Eyre Highway, Caiguna today consists of little more than a roadhouse. The John Eyre Motel provides roadhouse facilities including a basic caravan park, and is one of only three Nullarbor roadhouses to be open 24 hours. A landing strip is located nearby and connects to the roadhouse with a short taxiway. The John Eyre Motel hosts a {{convert|310|m|yard|1|adj=on|abbr=}} par 4 golf tee as part of the Nullarbor Links golf course.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nullarborlinks.com/hole11|title=Hole 11|website=Nullarbor Links|access-date=24 March 2019}}</ref>
There are several nearby attractions for people crossing the Nullarbor Plain. Numerous rockholes, blowholes, and gnamma holes are located on tracks off of the Eyre Highway in the vicinity of Caiguna, including the Caiguna Blowhole, and the Jillbunya and Cardanumbi Rockholes. These features were formed by years of chemical and physical weathering of the limestone bedrock of the Nullarbor Plain.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kalgoorlietourism.com/images/downloadableresources/Nullarbor-Digital-Guide2015.pdf|title=Perth - Adelaide Adventure: The Nullarbor - Digital Edition|website=Kalgoorlie Tourism|access-date=24 March 2019}}</ref><ref name=":1" />
The Readymix logo geoglyph, created during the sealing of the Eyre Highway, lies around {{convert|13|km|mile}} north west of Caiguna.<ref name=":2" />
Nuytsland Nature Reserve stretches along the coast of the Great Australian Bight directly south of Caiguna and contains numerous points of interest, including a Memorial to John Baxter and Toolinna Cove.<ref name=":0">{{cite news|url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/Western-Australia/Caiguna/2005/02/17/1108500208323.html|title=Travel – Caiguna|author=The Sydney Morning Herald|author-link=The Sydney Morning Herald|accessdate=17 October 2006 | work=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=8 February 2004}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://parks.dpaw.wa.gov.au/park/nuytsland|title=Nuytsland Nature Reserve|website=Western Australia Parks and Wildlife Service|access-date=24 March 2019}}</ref>
== Geography ==
=== Climate === Caiguna experiences a steppe climate (Köppen climate classification ''BSk''). The climate is generally mild with small seasonal variation. Summers average {{convert|27|C|F}} highs and winters about {{convert|18|C|F}} during afternoons. Nights are seldom hot due to the cool ocean air from the south.{{Weather box|location=Eyre|metric first=Yes|single line=Yes|Jan high C=26.6|Feb high C=26.6|Mar high C=25.7|Apr high C=24.2|May high C=21.4|Jun high C=19.0|Jul high C=18.3|Aug high C=19.5|Sep high C=21.4|Oct high C=23.3|Nov high C=24.5|Dec high C=25.6|year high C=23.0|Jan low C=15.3|Feb low C=16.0|Mar low C=14.2|Apr low C=11.8|May low C=9.0|Jun low C=6.7|Jul low C=5.7|Aug low C=6.0|Sep low C=7.6|Oct low C=10.1|Nov low C=12.1|Dec low C=14.1|year low C=10.7|Jan precipitation mm=17.4|Feb precipitation mm=19.5|Mar precipitation mm=27.3|Apr precipitation mm=24.6|May precipitation mm=38.2|Jun precipitation mm=39.6|Jul precipitation mm=34.8|Aug precipitation mm=29.6|Sep precipitation mm=23.6|Oct precipitation mm=19.7|Nov precipitation mm=21.3|Dec precipitation mm=21.1|year precipitation mm=316.2|source 1=Australian Bureau of Meteorology<ref name="abm" >{{cite web | url = http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/cw_011019.shtml| title = Climate statistics for Eyre | accessdate = 22 March 2019 | publisher = Australian Bureau of Meteorology }}</ref>|date=22 March 2019}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category-inline}} *[http://www.dundas.wa.gov.au/eyre-highway.aspx Shire of Dundas – Towns of the Eyre Highway] *[http://www.nullarbornet.com.au/towns/caiguna.html Nullarbor Net – Caiguna] including local information.
{{Towns Nullarbor}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Towns in Western Australia Category:Shire of Dundas Category:Nullarbor Plain Category:Roadhouses in Western Australia Category:Eyre Highway