As we keep burning up the red centre toward our first major goal being Uluru we pulled over to a lookout to find an amazing sight of a lake. Like aliens had been there, at the lookout past the fence line was a strange assortment of rock piles. As we had a little time on our hands we decided that it was only fair to build one of these rock piles ourselves to add to the illusion of aliens..
After our engineering degrees were complete, we made it another 200 odd kilometers along the road to find ourselves at Agnus Creek. Here you may as well of said throw us in a TV 4×4 show. The sunset along the desert country horizon while we cooked damper in a camp oven on the open fire was spectacular and ever so relaxing. Once we were satisfied with a serving of crisp yet fluffy damper (with butter and golden syrup of coarse) we made our way to bed knowing in only a couple of days Uluru would be before our eyes…
As we left the small roadhouse of Pimba we found ourselves back on the Stuart Hwy and into a minefield of rubble piles and scattered “Blowers” (Machines to “blow” out the soil from the holes of the miners). Not too far from these sights was the town of Coober Pedy. Many would call it a ghost town as 70% of the population is housed underground. We soon discovered the reason for this is the unbearable heat, desert like conditions and thousands of flies!!
Here we went on a private tour around Faye’s Underground Dugout she once called home. This was a quaint little house and a good example of what life would have been back in the day, when she had first helped with the establishment of the town and hand dug (with two other girlfriends) her home. Note the indoor living room swimming pool! They also took us down Faye’s mine for part of the tour and showed and explained how opal mining worked and even pieces of opal that were still in the walls of the mine!
We then found a local campground where we were able to set up camp and reminisce on the days events..
Interesting Road Trip Viewing:
On the way back out on the main drag we came across the beautiful site by the name of The Breakaways. This “backdrop” shot was used in a few commercials and even made an appearance in Mad Max III.
After slipping away from the Murray we delved into a spot by the name of Bowmans Park. Here we were able to do some small walks to the lookout and through an old abandoned homestead. Then we gathered some wood and crank up a fire to get a stew going. After a few hours of sitting in the coals, it came up a treat. We also bumped in an old spider mate who seemed to be hiding in our chairs!
After a one night stay here we made it over to Port Augusta to restock before heading north. We quickly discovered that Port Augusta was home to the NQR. Very humble and willing to help but just a little off centre. This wasn’t just our view as afew days later after bumping into a couple from Adelaide, they confirmed this.
Once we had a bit of a culture shock we disappeared straight up the Stuart Hwy toward Uluru. Being so far away still, we stopped at a Roadhouse by the name of Pimba where we stumbled into a minute portion of the Grey Army. Here we set up camp and quickly jumped on the roof rack with some nibblies and our beers to watch the sun set over the caravans and into the desolate distance.
Waking up to another tough sight of the Murray at a little town by the name of Cadell as all we can hear are birds in the background. Unfortunately we didn’t always have this view as an uninvited house boat dropped in on our front door yesterday arvo whilst there was plenty of other landings for it to do so. As you can see Nays view of the Murray was not the same after this.
Just to add to the dramas, as Mark was grabbing some dinner out of the camper he heard what sounded like rain land on the roof of the box. Stepping outside he quickly realised that there were clear skies. Abit puzzled he then heard some “clunking” noises on the roof of the car. Then shining his torch in the tree, Mark saw the culprit, a possum up in the highest branch of the above tree had decided to take a toilet stop! After putting two and two together, the possum had clearly gone for a number 1 and 2 toilet break..
Nevertheless the house boat departed early morning and skies cleared to allow us a great spot for breakfast and to ponder where our next stop will be..
On the Road!!
So after abit of delay with a weeks worth of setting up we finally hit the road on Friday and have cruised along into South Australia where we found a beautiful spot beside a lake. We had acouple of short stay overs along the way at Koorooya State Park and the Murray at Buxton’s Bend. Keep posted for our updates along the way and see what adventures we come accross as we continue along the road to the Northern Territory!!
Travelling around Australia moite!
