Cocklebiddy | |
|---|---|
.jpg) The Wedgetail Inn, Cocklebiddy, 2017 | |
  Cocklebiddy | |
 Interactive map of Cocklebiddy | |
| Coordinates:32°2′24″S126°5′46″E / 32.04000°S 126.09611°E /-32.04000; 126.09611 | |
| Country | Australia |
| State | Western Australia |
| LGA | |
| Location | |
| Established | 1879 |
| Government | |
| • State electorate | |
| • Federal division | |
| Area | |
• Total | 8,765.2 km2 (3,384.3 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 94 m (308 ft) |
| Population | |
| • Total | 15 (SAL2021)[2] |
| Postcode | 6443 |
Cocklebiddy is a smallroadhouse community located on theEyre Highway inWestern Australia. It is the third stop afterNorseman on the journey eastwards across theNullarbor Plain. Like other locations in the region, the site consists of little more than aroadhouse.
It is the nearest locality to the coastal feature ofTwilight Cove, which is 26 km (16 mi) to the south.[3] Cocklebiddy follows the time zone used byEucla ofUTC+8:45.[4] It is situated 284 km (176 mi) fromBorder Village.
Cocklebiddy started as anAboriginal mission station, of which only the stone foundations remain today.
The area was thought to be a potential water source and, duringWorld War II, Army engineers attempted to tap fresh water from the lakes, but it was found that a thin skin of fresh water overlay a vast volume ofsaline water.
TheEyre Telegraph Station, located 49 km (30 mi) south of the settlement, operated from 1897 until 1929. Unlike most others, it remained in a relatively well-preserved state due to its isolation and protection from theSouthern Ocean, and in 1976, when the State Government created theNuytsland Nature Reserve, the building became theEyre Bird Observatory, which opened in 1978. The observatory offers basic camping facilities. Over 230 species of birds have been recorded there.[5]
A new species in theRestionaceae (a family oftussock-like plants), namelyHarperia eyreana, was discovered about 20 km (12 mi) to the south-west of Cocklebiddy, and described in 2000.[6]
Cocklebiddy was visited in 2007 by the Australian comedic duo,Hamish and Andy.[7][8]
The Cocklebiddy area is noted for itscaves, the most notable of which is Cocklebiddy cave – a single passage more than 6 km (3.7 mi) long, of which around 90% is underwater and only accessible viacave diving. In August 1983, a French team set a world record here for the longest cave dive in the world. In October that year, the French record was beaten by an Australian team when Hugh Morrison of Western Australia pushed another 280 m (920 ft) beyond where the French had tied off. In 1995 South Australian cave diver Christopher Brown went another 20 m (66 ft) further again, and in late 2008 much of the cave's more distant regions were explored, mapped (using radio-location "pingers" designed and operated by Ken Smith) and videotaped byCraig Challen andRichard Harriset al usingrebreather technology.[9] (Challen and Harris would later be better known for their involvement in the 2018Tham Luang cave rescue.)
