It was time to pack up and leave Uluru - we'd enjoyed our time although we'd packed a lot into our time there, so we were feeling a bit exhausted! The morning of departure was overcast and as we drove back towards the Stuart Hwy it actually rained - not really hard, but a constant drizzle. We had timed it well to fit in our ride and walk the previous two days... not to mention viewing the sunset. However, Uluru is meant to take on a whole different personality in the rain - with enough of it, there can be waterfalls cascading down it's massive walls.
We stopped at Erldunda again, had some lunch, before continuing onwards south. We debated whether or not to keep to our plan and free camp, or would we be better off with power and hot showers in cool wet weather. As we headed south, the weather became clearer, so free camp it was.
It was not long after we left Kulgera, the prophecy of it being the last pub in the NT was fulfilled as we came upon the NT/SA border. Of course, we had to stop and get some photos. It was a solemn wave goodbye first...
...then a walk along the border line and hello South Australia - our 5th state/territory for the trip.
Around 77 km south of the border is the Agnes Creek rest area - a good one, because you can get hundreds of metres off the road and in among the scrub and red sand... so we did and promptly gathered firewood and set ourselves up for the evening.
We were very curious about these nests all over the ground in this area - a perfectly rounded ring of sand, neatly lined with dead leaves from nearby bushes... we thought perhaps emu nests. It turns out, they are not birds at all - but ants... mulga ants. They build a levee to keep out the infrequent rains and line it with foliage from the mulga bush. Very clever and ingenious little ants!
Speaking of clever and ingenious - Gemma always the creative one, enjoyed making her own marks in the red sands.
Sunrise the next morning before continuing on our way...
Our first stop was at Marla - not just a roadhouse as we discovered. It is the end of the Oodnadatta Track and also a 'station' on the Ghan train trip... apparently they stop there for breakfast and I'm predicting optional camel rides, judging by the number of camel tracks in the scrub near the train track!
We ventured a few hundred metres along the Oodnadatta Track just because we could... and there was a geocached that also enticed us there... it was very rutted! The track that is, not the geocache. Love to drive the whole track one day - but hopefully the rest of it is in better condition.
There was one more roadhouse stop before we drove on to Coober Pedy, and that was Cadney Park. There were some road trains parked in the yard - these three looked particularly shiny and nice!
Coober Pedy - I have to admit that last time we were there I did not like it. I would have been happy to drive on by - but we wanted to show the kids another unique and interesting Australian town... and I'm glad we did as I left with a much more positive impression. Wouldn't want to live there, but I enjoyed this visit.
Weeks ago we installed a new satelitte dish on the caravan while at the Parkes dish, today as we entered Coober Pedy we replaced it with the iconic vehicle that blows all the dirt and dust out of opal mines, which is called, quite creatively, a blower.
Fifteen years ago, J and I stayed at Riba's in Coober Pedy... we stayed there again, and got exactly the same site, nicely nestled into our own little rocky amphitheatre.
On my evening walk, I did discover that Coober Pedy is unique in yet another way... apparently if your TV reception is not okay, you can get the kangaroo on your roof to adjust your antenna for you. Yes, this is a real, live kangaroo and I believe he owns his own franchise of Roo's Antennas.... Roo's Mowing is not so popular around these parts as grass does not exist.
We also did a mine tour at Riba's as it gave us a discount on our first night...
One way to find opals, apparently, is to use divining rods... which we had a go at on the tour and they did actually move / cross all by themselves when we walked past a seam of rock...
In town the next morning, we first visited Faye's place - a unique underground dugout home as it was completed by three women. This is Faye's cellar and living room / bar...
There are a few underground churches in Coober Pedy as well. We visited the catholic one, which is in the main street of town:
In town every second shop sells opals and jewellery - some fancier than others. A couple are obviously set up for the upmarket tour groups - very santitised and like a high street jeweler anywhere in the world. We enjoyed visiting Kostas Olympic Store - everything was dusty and messy. Goods were all over the place. Kosta was a Greek guy who had seen better days. You could barely understand him but most things he said ended in a chuckle, so we just laughed and nodded. A bit of a local character.
You could hardly call the town scenic... dusty, yes, different, yes... we found this 'space ship' in a dusty car park on the main street - apparently left over from a movie set.
I don't think this one is the state flower for anywhere...
Crocodile Harry was a local identity - until he died in 2006. Originally a crocodile hunter from up north, he moved to Coober Pedy, dug his own dug out a few km's from town and invited women from all over the world to visit... it appears he was a bit of a ladies man. Today his 'home' is open to the public... we visited.
As well as collecting autographs of his visitors, and some of their clothing... he apparently enjoyed playing the organ!
We also visited the Old Timers Mine in town which included a walk through mine tour, examples of some dugouts from way back in the early 1900's when opal was first discovered in the area as well as an assortment of other oddities about the life and times of Coober Pedy.
It is very handy having Gemma on hand for those geocaches that are placed up high... she climbed several metres to find this one...
As well as the old mine blower on the roof of the caravan, we installed a VW bug on the roof of the car... why? Well why not when you can park under it!
St Andrew's in Scotland is commonly known as the home of golf and lots of people make a pilgrimage to wander, maybe even play on it's hallowed greens. Apparently, Coober Pedy is the only golf course in the world that has reciprocal rights...I guess one day, the president of St Andrews might actually visit Coober Pedy and realise his what his esteemed club has signed up to...
One afternoon, in pursuit of four geocaches we went out on a dusty road about 8 km's to the Noodler's Camp.
We are so glad we did - it was an amazing experience. One of the caches warned of being 'watched by the rabbit'. It turns out, Rabbit (aka Peter) is an old minor who lives in a shack, one of several in a small community of noodlers. We met him and he ended up taking us on a tour of the camp and some of the local areas - told us some amazing stories and anecdotes of the area.
'Rabbit' invited us into his very humble home - I'm not going to publish photos of the inside out of respect to him. Basic is the word. He seems very happy with this lifestyle, but I think by his eagerness to show us around he does get a little lonely. Thanks for a great experience Rabbit!
A highlight of time spent in the Coober Pedy is not in Coober Pedy at all - it is the loop drive out to the 'Breakaways' - so named as they are a group of very colourful hills that are alleged to have 'broken away' from the main ridge of hills. On the way we came across the 'Dog Fence' - part of the 5614 km long fence - the longest in the world that keeps all the dingoes out of the south of Australia - a bold ambition to sustain the sheep industry.
The Breakaways, especially late in the afternoon and evening were simply stunning:
J brought along a platter of nibblies to enjoy as the sun set... how lovely!
Yesterday we left Coober Pedy, continuing on the Stuart Hwy in a southerly direction. We stopped at Woomera for the night. Woomera is a modern ghost town of sorts, a defence force base that was used extensively testing rockets and missiles and the occassional nuclear bomb. Although still used today, there are only 170 'permanent' residents.
On the way to Woomera we stopped in at Glendambo for lunch.
And then we enjoyed the bright vistas of Lake Hart - a salt lake.
The local park in Woomera does have a colourful collection of planes and rockets though... including the crashed remains of the rocket that put Australia's first satellite into space in 1967. We were the 4th country to put a satellite into space behind the USA, Russia and France.
Today we left the outback, drove through Port Augusta then turned left and over Horrocks Pass to Peterborough... more on that and the journey home, next time!
.jpg)
