Балладония: Дорожный узел на окраине Nullarbor

Roadhouse community in Western Australia

Balladonia is a small roadhouse community located on the Eyre Highway in Western Australia. It is the first stop east of Norseman on the journey east across the Nullarbor Plain. Between Balladonia and Caiguna is a stretch of the highway which is one of the longest straight stretches of road in the world.

The name is an Aboriginal word meaning "big rock by itself". The area was settled by Europeans in 1879, and the original Balladonia homestead was built away from the present townsite. From 1897 to 1929, Balladonia was a telegraph station on the East West Telegraph, a telegraph line running from Perth to Adelaide telegraph line, due to a previous coastal line being shorted by salt spray from the Southern Ocean. The arid climate and lack of suitable water sources restricted the town's development. In July 1979, the area gained worldwide attention when the re entry of the Skylab space station left a trail of debris across the nearby countryside.

Balladonia Station is a pastoral lease, originally run as a sheep station, adjacent to Noondoonia Station to the north, and Nanambinia Station to the south of the Eyre Highway. The station was visited and written about in a newspaper in 1924, and the reflections on the conditions at that time included concern about rabbits. By the 1930s, the homestead of the station was notable for its substantial size and architecture. An earlier photograph in the 1890s reveals the stone walls in the vicinity of the homestead, and a possible earlier stage of the homestead building. During most of the twentieth century the station was a popular stopping place on the Eyre Highway. In 2012, the property was converted into a cattle station, and the old shearing shed was no longer used for its original purpose. In September 2019 the pastoral lease known as the Balladonia Aggregation, comprising four stations – Balladonia, Nanambinia, Woorlba, and Noondoonia – was sold. It had been advertised for , including all stock, comprising 5,300 head of cattle. In September 2021, the station was operated by John Croker.

The Balladonia roadhouse, located on the Eyre Highway, Its Balladonia Museum has a display of Skylab debris and newspaper clippings, as well as information and artefacts relating to Aboriginal heritage; European exploration and settlement; the history of the Royal Flying Doctor Service; the construction of the Eyre Highway; and local flora and fauna. Access via four wheel drive is possible to the start of the cliffs, believed to be the longest in the world, of the Great Australian Bight from Balladonia. There is the ruined shell of the telegraph station just to the east of Balladonia at the start of the "Ninety Mile Straight". However, it is signposted as being private property.

Balladonia experiences a semi arid climate (Köppen climate classification BSk).