Skylab, America’s first space station, blazed into the earth’s atmosphere and its remains crashed to earth on July 11, 1979, landing in a remote area of Australia known as the Nullarbor Plain.

The Nullarbor, which some Australians refer to as “Nullar-Boring,”  is a 400-mile wide dried limestone sea bed and contains neither trees nor hills.

Aside from being the burial place of a space ship, the semi-arid (like a desert but not quite) limestone feature holds two claims to fame:

• The longest stretch of straight railway tracks (478 km or 297 miles).
• And the longest piece of straight paved road (146.6 km or 91 miles). That’s a long way to drive without turning the steering wheel.

I found the area fascinating enough, however, to locate some of the action in my forthcoming Black Orchid Chronicle, Beware the Spider (which will be coming out on June 3).

My protagonist, nature photographer Sebastian Arnett, and two friends camp out in the Nullarbor’s baking sun (and freezing nights) awaiting the arrival of an aboriginal who might shed light on how Sebastian can rid himself of a demon.

Life, however, is never that simple or easy.

Watch for Beware the Spider, and enjoy the adventure.