Coober Pedy Woomera Wilmington Broken Hill

The Friday evening tour to the Breakaways was very enjoyable.  It's always good to be taken somewhere by those who know the area.  We saw more of the amazing stark scenery around C P.

We left Coober Pedy on Saturday morning, having purchased a souvenir opal or two.  Nothing very dramatic unfortunately.  The scenery is stark, with a lot of the area no trees, but because of a good season of rain there is a ground coverage of many plants, some now in flower.  It's interesting though to see such areas and then a few minutes later we drove through areas with more mulga type trees (shrub size).  The scenery does change from time to time and is very interesting.  South Australia does have a lot of arid area.

We stopped at Lake Hart rest area/lookout and took photos and then walked down a track to the lake which did have water in it.  It is a salt lake, very salty, with crystals drying on the sand.  It was rather like walking down to the sea.  We did have to walk across the Trans Australia Railway line to get to the lake!!  I said to Roger as we walked across that we don't often (never actually) walk across a major railway line.  We had just walked across when there was a train hoot/whistle and there was a train rounding the corner.  It was a very long goods train with lots of containers.  It could have been bound for Perth, or at that stage Darwin.  That was close.

Standing at Lake Hart on the salt.  There was evidence that there had been some salt mining here in the past.

Some paper daisies near Lake Hart.  Typical of some of the flowers we've seen along the way.

The Trans Australian railway line.  The train should be in the background further along the edge of the lake on next picture.

We stayed the night at Womera.  The whole area around here is arid zone, no trees, but lots of ground cover plants, salt bush and other that have come because of recent rains.  The town has larger trees, no doubt planted in the 1950's when it was a rocket testing area, etc.  At present the town is used by the Defence Department, and was very quiet on Saturday afternoon.  We saw in the distance the now old  and out of use Detention Centre.  However we could not drive along that road, as there is a guarded gate.  This also leads to North Woomera where there is an airfield and other things?  The photo is  taken the next morning a little way south of Woomera, looking towards Island Lagoon, another salt lake.  We continued south to Port Augusta and enjoyed a picnic lunch beside the top of  Spencer Gulf which was just at the back of the town centre.  We continued on then, taking an extra loop to follow the Pichi Richi railway to Quorn.  There had been a steam train run that morning.  We however joined a tour of the sheds, which are maintained by a lot of enthusiastic volunteers.

The coffee Pot carriage, which includes first class, second class and engine all in one!

The paymasters car, which runs on rails, used to pay the station staff along the railway in the area.  A 1930's Morris body with a early Holden 6 cylinder engine with a Holden 3 speed gearbox.  This part of the rail was once the Ghan railway and also part of the Trans Australia line.

We are now in Broken Hill.  After the workshop tour we drove to the town of Wilmington and spent the night at Beautiful Valley Caravan Park.  It was wet most of the time.  We've spent today travelling on, with a Coffee and Cake stop at Peterborough, and lunch at a rest area just north of Yunta.

Moonscape near Coober Pedy

At about 4.15 we set off in the Oasis Caravan Park tour bus to see the Breakaways (range/hills that have broken away from the range in the ancient past).  These are in different colours like coloured sands.  They are of soft sandstone.  We started the tour with a ride through the local mining area.  There were many heaps of discarded crushed up stone, with warnings that no one must walk through the area as there are also many shafts that are unprotected. We seemed to be driving close to them!  (The area around the town itself is now not available for mining and there is an area where anyone can 'noodle' for free in old mullock heaps).

The tour took us to several lookouts over these mountains, some looking like animals - a turtle, 2 dogs, a camel, and more.  We were told that this area is like the 'painted hills/desert' which is further north from here and really has to be flown over to be seen properly.

The Painted Plain

The landscape away from Coober Pedy is mostly flat, no trees, and not even many plants.  As we drove away from the Breakaways to Moon Plains we were in gibber country (just stones).  These areas have been used for filming some crazy Australian movies, including 'Mad Max', 'Priscilla Queen of the Desert.  We stopped for a muffin and tea/coffee at Moon Plains as the sun was setting and saw slices of gypsum or silica (like mica) lying all over the area and the soil was soft and crunchy.  There was also petrified wood, which probably was in the past from large trees.  Quite amazing.  It's a wonder we were allowed to walk around even in a small area.  The tour also took us to the dog (or dingo) fence which runs north of C P.  We watched the sunset too. 

On Moon Plains

There were 2 couples on the tour who are on a 1 week trip by plane around Australia.  They had left Morewell Vic this morning and had flown over Lake Eyre, and spending the night in CP.  Tomorrow they fly to Ayers Rock, and Alice Springs, then next day to Kununurra!  We also chatted to another couple who are on their way home to Adelaide having spent 3 or 4 months in Kununurrra.  They have been going there for 6 or more years as volunteers helping to run an aboriginal art shop in the town.  I remember seeing them in that shop when I bought a couple of pieces of aboriginal print fabric.  (I later found a good shop in Alice with lots of aboriginal designed fabric).

Coober Pedy

We left Kings Creek Station Tuesday morning 7th Sept.  It was tempting to stay longer, being such a pleasant place to stay in the out back.  Generous sites, and things to do, or not as we felt.  However we decided to move on, after a walk around the camping area, and a look at the camels.  We found out that it was a working camel station, where presumably they catch camels and also breed some - there were a couple of young ones in the yard.  They are recently received an order for 2000 camels to be shipped somewhere(?).

The weather was cloudy and we could see storms in the distance as we drove south and east towards Erldunda on the Stuart Hightway.  We ate some lunch there, after buying a bit of junk food from the roadhouse (not our usual practice).  We were running down on fresh supplies in order not to take any into South Aust, as that is the requirement in case of fruit fly and other problems.  We drove on the Kulgera about 20ks from the border and stopped there, rather early, on a bleak and windy rainy afternoon.

Wednesday we continued driving south, and into South Australia.  There are no towns, just rest areas and several roadhouses on the road.  We made good time and continued on to Coober Pedy, the only town before Port Augusta.  So we are staying here for 2 days, 3 nights.  It's been good to rest from driving too far.  We took the town tour offered from this caravan park on Wednesday morning and received information and sites around town, hearing about mining, seeing an underground church, the golf course, mining areas, noodling area (where we can look in the mullock heaps for opal) and a museum/old mine and (of course) opal shop.  We ate out at a local Pizza Restaurant, which was very popular.  We were warned in the late afternoon at the caravan park that we could expect 90 k hour winds, with a change coming through.  It was raining heavily several times in the late afternoon, evening.  However the wind did not get to the predicted level, and we slept well, and everything stayed intact.

Underground Catacombe Anglican Church

Old mining winch

We drove ourselves around in the afternoon to see more for ourselves, and this time looked at a couple of other underground churches - the Anglican 'Catacomb' church, the Revival Church.  (Today we saw inside the Catholic church too). 

This morning we've walked the length of the main street and looked at opals and art, found a place to have coffee, and also been to the information centre to use the internet access, to manage some of our emails.  The emails were rather clogged and not responding on our computer, in spite of the fact that we do get the Optus connection here.  We've listed to do another tour at 4 this afternoon to see the Breakaways, outside town.

Ayers Rock/ Uluru and The Olgas/Kata Tjuta – Sunday 5 September

The weather was fine.  I jumped out of bed and decided to pull some clothes on and walk up the nearby lookout/sandhill in the camping area and watch the sunrise.  It was rather cold, and I could have stayed in bed half an hour longer.  However it was an enjoyable event, and time to chat to a few other people.  It was possible to see Ayers Rock and also the Olgas from this point.  The resort/township of Yalara is about 20 ks north of the Rock and around 40 k east of the Olgas.

After breakfast we set off for the Rock, showing our entry cards at the entry point.  These had cost $25 each for a 3 day pass the evening before.  The cultural centre was the first place to visit, a very elaborate place with illustrations and stories from the Aboriginal dreamtime relating to Uluru (Ayers Rock).  We then went to the car park at the foot of the point where people start the climb.  We’d both done this already in 1987, and were not feeling that it was necessary to try again, but it was interesting to watch and remember that we had done it before. 

Water running off Rock after rain

The situation is that the walk is still open, except on windy or wet days, or if the cultural owners deem it closed for mourning.  However we are requested in the information not to climb the rock, but rather walk around it or part thereof instead. It is a challenge and lots of people are still climbing up the chain and across to the centre.  Coming down is equally difficult.  We enjoyed a couple of short walks at the base, and also driving right around the rock, taking lots of photographs.

We returned to the caravan for lunch, and then set off again for the Olgas, where we did 2 walks, both moderate in classification.  The first was in a sort of gorge, between 2 of the formations, the second to the first lookout of the Valley of the Winds walk.  The rock here is different formation, conglomerate, yet in the distance looks the same and has the same red colour.  It was getting late by the finish of these walks, so we then saw the early stage of the sunset watch, and also stopped at another vantage point on the way back to ‘home’.  We stopped and had dinner at a restaurant in the shopping centre, before retiring tired again.

The Olgas at Sunset

 Monday 6 September

Today we have travelled to Kings Canyon, and are now enjoying a night at King’s Creek Station, about 30 ks from the Canyon.  We arrived at lunch time and after setting the van in place, were able to drive out to do the valley walk which is lovely, and takes about an hour.  The best walk is ‘the rim’ walk, but I think I’ve had enough walking challenges in the past 2 months.  It takes about 3 ½ hours, and is a steep climb and then exposed and near the edge of cliffs.  We stopped at Kathleen Springs, and found that to be a pleasant hour walking in a valley on a bitumen track between the escarpments to a lovely waterhole.

Within Kings Canyon

Now at 9.30 p.m., Roger is outside looking at the stars, and learning from a Dutch gentleman who is taking photographs of the stars with a special camera and computer program.  There is not much lighting here, so it’s a great place to look.

Alice Springs to Uluru 440kms

We left Alice Springs this morning and were surprised to see that the Todd River was running.  It is usually dry.  There was rain yesterday, some quite heavy, and there has been a lot of rain this year.  Much more than normal.

Looking at Todd River flowing through to Heavy Tree Gap.

The water is flowing across one of the causeways.

We climbed a sandhill on the way in to Yulara (township near Uluru/Ayres Rock) for our first look at this amazing monolith

This is one of the sunset pictures.  We joined the crowds waiting for the sun to set, just inside the National Park.

A rainy day in Alice!

Alice is having some more rain again.  This has been a frequent occurance here this year and is very unusual.  It's been showery all day on and off, sometimes heavy.  The concrete slab outside the caravan drains the water nicely to a pool right at the door!

However we've been out most of the time.  We first walked through the Botanic Gardens in light rain.

Roger enjoyed the visit to the Transport Hall of Fame, and a shorter one to the Old Ghan.  Lots of trucks and other transport to inspect.

 

Heavy Tree Gap

Transort Hall of Fame

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
  We finished with coffee and scones at the cafe, and then decided that we might as well see the Old Ghan Musuem.  I enjoyed afterwards seeing the Albert Namatjira Art Gallery and the Cultural Precinct.  There was a nice collection of Albert N's pictures and some of his sons as well.  The gallery also included a larger collection of Aboriginal Contempory paintings.  There were a couple of other galleries we stopped at on the way back into the town centre, to have late lunch.  Roger then had to wait while I looked at fabric in a great shop stocking lots of Aboriginal print fabrics.  It was sensible to buy some as well.  I didn't take as long as another lady whose husband was comparing travel notes with Roger.  We left her still choosing.

It's cooler tonight, and the heater has come out again.  The fan is packed away under the seat again.

Alice Springs - tours outside

On Wednesday we did our own West MacDonnell Ranges tour.  We drove in to most of the gorges and by the end of the day felt we were over gorges for the day!  It was a lovely day, bright and sunny, showing up the red of the ranges.  There are beautiful flowers in abundance, after lots of rain earlier this year.  In fact some rain has still been falling more recently.  There was water in creeks and rivers, just a little flowing here and there and good sized water holes.  We saw places like Ormiston Gorge, Glen Helen,Ellery Creek Big Hole, Serpentine, Standley Chasm, Simpsons Gap.  Each is off the main road 4 to 10 ks. and then a walk to the point itself.  So we were in and out of the car often.  It was good not to be towing the caravan.  In all that was about 300 kilometers for the day.  These are all beautiful places.  The drive is along the valley with the ranges either side.

Today (Thursday 2 Sept), we have joined a tour to Hermannsburg Historic Precinct and then on to Palm Valley. Formerly Hermannsberg Lutheran Mission, it was established in1877.  This area was the birthplace of Albert Namatjira and also was the home of his family - we were shown the little house where he lived and a gallery of many pictures by him and the larger Namatjira family.

This is a 4wd trip, after bitumen to Hermannsburg, we then followed the Finke River bed, crossing many times, driving through sand and rough stoney ground.  There were also some lovely sights to see here, and a couple of walks.  One walk along the Palm creek to see the Cycads, and then later an hour or so walking along the escarpment above Palm Valley and then down to return beside the creek.  This was hot work, as it was the middle of the day and not very covered.  These red cabbage palms are unique to this area only.  We could only look at them.  The path does not lead through them, where it may have been cooler.  After lunch we climbed to a lookout to see another amazing view from Kalangarra lookout.

We returned to the caravan park by about 6.30 (late because the bus was making a strange noise and the driver called for a replacement bus to pick us up - near town by then), and we had been the first to be picked up and the last off.  Tired again.