The Nullarbor Plain is a vast, treeless plain stretching over 77,000 square miles in southern Australia. It contains very sparse vegetation like saltbush and blue bush scrub due to receiving only 200 mm of rain per year. Edward John Eyre was the first European to successfully cross the Nullarbor Plain in 1841, which took him around 8 months. Today, the longest straight road in the world, the Eyre Highway, connects Western Australia to South Australia across the Nullarbor Plain and takes around 3 days to drive across.