Coober Pedy - Port Augusta

Fri 31 Aug – The wind and dust storm died down in the night so I cleaned the solar panel before heading east to the Urulu road/Stuart Highway corner at Erldunda where we fuelled up and had internet and cellphone so published the last blog. Turning right we drove south on the Stuart Highway to the border of the Northern Territory and South Australia. There was a carpark area on the border and we joined about 10 other campers and caravans for the night. We enjoyed a couple of hours around a communal camp fire.

Sat 1 Sept – The country of South Australia in this area was flat and the highway straight and smooth. The only sign of civilization was at Marla where we fuelled up again and continued on to a rest area for the night. As no one had arrived by 4:30pm, we felt a little uneasy so made the decision to continue on for another 50kms to Cadney Roadhouse camping for security. The bonus was that we could fill up with water, a scarce resource around here and usually you have to pay for it.

Sun 2 Sept – A slightly shorter trip today (150km) as we had covered 50kms of it yesterday. Our destination was the opal mining town of Coober Pedy. The last part of the trip was past the mines with their conical shaped piles of waste. We booked into a caravan park for the night and went for a walk around this unusual town. A large part of it is underground carved into the limestone. The reason for living underground is to avoid the high summer temperatures. We went into the Desert Cave Hotel and walked the underground parts. We will stay another night in this area and explore more tomorrow.

Mon 3 Sept – Over to the information centre to get some brochures for South Australia and then a walk around this strange town. We saw a couple of underground churches and when went into a tour of an underground house, originally built by three ladies. After lunch we had another tour thru a working opal mine. We were underground for about 1 ½ hours and experienced all the processes for get the opals, divining, the excavation machinery, the vacuum system for removing the rubble, and using ultraviolet light to find the seams. A great tour! We spent the night at a huge free camp just out of the town.

Tues 4 Sept – We continued south on the Stuart Highway and stopped for the night at a road side rest area with about 20 others. A cool breeze today but it warmed up in the afternoon and another great sunset.

Wed 5 Sept – Back on the road south to Woomera passing several salt lakes on the way. The Red Centre of Australia, millions of years ago was a huge inland sea stretching down from the Gulf of Carpentaria and ending in these inland salt lakes. All the landscape we have enjoyed on this trip was formed by this sea. Woomera (Aboriginal word for a spear thrower) is an Australian Airforce Base which was used by America and Great Britain to test missiles from around 1950 until 1980. They even launched satellites into orbit from this secret area. We visited the museum and walked around the rocket park with many examples of the various missiles. We camped at a free area beside “Spud’s” road house. In the early evening we walked to the road house and had roast lamb sitting chatting to another couple of travellers.

Thurs 6 Sept – Our last day on the Stuart Highway. We saw the sea for the first time since Yeppoon, 50 days ago. We are at Port Augusta at the head of the Spencer Gulf with Adelaide about 200kms south. We have decided not to visit Adelaide on this trip. We are camped in a Football Club grounds. In the afternoon we biked around this old town of Port Augusta set at the end of the Spenser Gulf. A bit run down but with character.

Fri 7 Sept – Drove off our site and into town for shopping. We arranged to get 2 new tyres fitted next week, bought a 10lt jerry can for diesel, went to a laundromat and bought food and wine. Back at the Football Club (AFL) we set about giving “Andy” an internal clean getting rid of all the red dust. The camp was full tonight.

Sat 8 Sept – We are going short trip into the Flinders Ranges and drove down the east side of Spencer Gulf to the Mount Remarkable National Park where we have booked two nights. We had a great site in the gum trees in the Mambray River Valley. The camp is full of wild life and we had a parade of the following thru our camp site, Kangaroos, Emus, Goannas (1m long), and the usual Kookaburras laughing and Galahs screeching. In the afternoon we went on a short walk thru the bush and out onto a ridge for views of the Southern Ocean. The bush is very different as there is obviously more rain here. The meadows were covered with lovely spring flowers.

Sun 9 Sept – After a late start and pancake breakfast we packed our sandwiches and went on a 9km walk up the Mambray Valley ending in a steep climb for great views. At the head of the valley we found a beautifully built hut constructed in 1870 by Mr Scarfe for his family, farming this area. The temperatures are mild, and we sat outside until the sun set.

Mon 10 Sept – We left the National Park and drove south to the coast at Port Germain, where the longest wooden wharf in Australia (1680m) stretched out to the deep water of the Spencer Gulf. We turned inland and up a windy gorge road where the country suddenly turned in to green pastures and yellow rape seed. This is the first time we have seen green pasture this trip!! We drove on to Melrose and stopped at the Showgrounds in a lovely park setting. We cycled back to the village of Melrose thru a farm track. In the evening we sat around a fire with some folks from Adelaide on their annual holiday.

Tues 11 Sept – The forecast today is for strong N/W winds followed by southerly rain. The winds were very strong as we headed into them for 60kms to another small town of Quorn in the Flinders Ranges. Laundry required, so we stopped in a camping ground. The town has some lovely old buildings and has been used for several Aussie Movies. The wind and the temperatures dropped, and we got a short burst of rain, the first this trip.

Wed 12 Sept – We drove back thru the Flinders Ranges on a great road to Port Augusta. We have really enjoyed our 4 day loop in the South Flinders Ranges. Last week we ordered 2 new tyres for “Andy”, got them fitted today and then drove S/W down the start of the Eyre Peninsula. We have decided to drive west across the Nullarbor Plains to Western Australia and fly home from Perth around the first week of November. Before setting out on this journey however, we will explore the Eyre Peninsula which will take 5 or 6 days. We have kept an extra tyre so spent some time attaching it onto the bike rack. We now think we are fully prepared for the long trip. We have stopped for the night at another AFL ground in Whyalla.