Balladonia

Balladonia was the first pastoral station on the Nullarbor.

In 1879 brothers William Ponton (1836-1900) and Stephen Ponton (1835-1901) with partner John Sharp (d.1910) had been exploring north of Mt Ragged for some time. They were aware of a large rock known to the natives as Ballajuinya. In August they were on the edge of what was later to become known as the Nullarbor Plain when they came across the rock for which they had been searching for so long. They considered that it was like finding a diamond and for many years they referred to it as Diamond Rock. They built a homestead there in 1881.

The explorers/pioneers were upset when they became aware in 1896 that a bureaucrat in the Lands Office had corrupted the name to Balladonia. Further, there is no validity to the speculation that the name has a Spanish derivation.

The reports of the various trips, tours and travels on the Adventures website have a lot of information about place names – their naming and features – toponymy. More information.

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