The Red Centre - Part 3

Day 19, 6th May – Sunrise and Sunset (4826km – 4910km)

The alarm went off promptly at 6:00am and Alice and I sprang out of bed as if we were twenty year olds. It was soooo cold that we nearly went back to bed however we persevered and were on the road just after 6:30am. We have decided to view the sunrise at Talinguru Nyakunytjaku which means place to look from the sand dune. When we arrived it seemed as if everyone who was visiting Uluru was at the viewing platform. I managed to elbow my way through the horde and found a spot which gave us a good view of the sunrise as well as Uluru and the Olgas. With the sun starting to climb the crowd started to disperse towards the line of coaches and cars that lined the edge of the desert landscape. We both needed to thaw out so it was back to the Triton for an anti-clockwise drive around the rock. Surprise, surprise as we were driving back to camp we spotted a young Dingo crossing the road before disappearing into the Spinifex.

We had good intentions of heading back out to the rock for some more walking and a sunset. Alas, camp laziness overtook us and we ended up slothing around the van. I did however find the energy to roast some rolled Kangaroo which turned out to be quite tasty and tender. It was a great meal to finish our stay at Uluru.

Day 20, 7th May – Uluru to Agnes Creek, S.A. (4910km – 5321km)

We are in no hurry to depart this morning as we are only travelling a little over 400km to a free camp site at Agnes Creek in South Australia. I topped up the fuel with an additional 20 litres as the cost here for diesel is $1.98 a litre. We had a short break at Mt Ebenezer where the coffee was hot strong and expensive. Alice and Sue had a good look at the aboriginal art work which was reasonably priced and of average to good quality. Once again I have cut it a little too fine with the fuel. At about 30km from Erldunda where the fuel is a mere $1.78 a litre the low fuel light started its evil orange glow. After my effort coming into the Alice I was confident that there would be a sufficient quantity left in the tank to get us to our destination. I must have judged it a little too fine as the tank took 66 litres.

At Kulgera which is either the first or last town in the Northern Territory depending on the direction you are travelling we stopped for some last photo shots. Another 93km and we pulled into a large camping area which bordered Agnes Creek. Instead of water the creek was flowing with bright red sand. After setting up camp the boys scoured the course of the creek in search of firewood. We managed to get enough fuel for a rip roaring fire later in the evening. Before dinner I decided to do some exercise which isn’t that easy when you are wearing a fly net. As I was deep into a stretch and drawing a deep breath I managed to swallow one of the little buggers. Yuk! When the sun dropped the flies disappeared and we all settled in around the fire and listened to music under a beautiful starry night. Macca the master chef whipped up some jaffles with a chili mince filling. A great way to end a day of driving.

Day 21, 8th May – Agnes Creek to Coober Pedy (5321km – 5652km)

There is no hurry to get on the road this morning as it is only a mere 316km to Coober Pedy the opal capital of the world. Our first stop was at Marla which is the end point of the Oodnadatta Track. The penultimate stop on our journey south was the very dusty Cadney Park Homestead. This is the gateway to the Painted Desert but all we wanted was a hot cup of coffee. No success here as all they had was instant. Around 1:00pm we arrived at Coober Pedy and decided to have some lunch before heading to Riba’s underground camping and Caravan Park. The caravan park is 5km south of town on the road to William Creek.

Our two nights of accommodation and an evening mine tour set us back $80. Our gravel site is drive-through and has a shade cloth cover. We have power to run the heater during the cold nights but there is no water supply. We all made another trip into town for various supplies and a quick recon of the various sites. After getting some cheap fuel at $1.42 a litre we checked out the Big Winch which sits on the highest point of Coober Pedy. There was a little store next to the Winch which was owned by an oriental gentleman from Hong Kong. He was trying his best to sell Eddie and Alice some raw opals but they managed to refrain from parting with any big money. Alice did spend $3 on a few rocks for her collection. Our last stop was the Celebrations liquor store where we decided to buy some beer and wine. I must look pretty young as the store manager would not sell me anything as I did not have any identification. Damn that wallet that I left in Brisbane. Fortunately, Alice was able to purchase some supplies on my behalf.

At 7:00pm Rick the owner took us on a tour of his mine. There were fourteen of us and he gave us a good explanation of how the opal is formed, the different types and how it is mined. More importantly he gave us a good idea on the process they use in working out where to stake a claim. Apparently all you need is a little luck and the ability to use a wire water diviner. He gave us a demonstration and gave us all an opportunity to test out our skills. Eddie was up first and after his effort he could have replaced Russell Crowe as the lead in the Water Diviner. We all had a go and managed to get the rods to cross over. It is amazing that you can actually feel the pull and vibration of those rods.

Day 22, 9th May – Around Coober Pedy (5652km – 5796km)

A nice bacon and egg breakfast and we or should I say Alice and Sue were ready to tackle the downtown opal stores of Coober Pedy. Eddie and I took our places on the suffering seat while the girls browsed their way through the beautiful products that were on offer. Sue eventually emerged with a beautiful gold opal ring which looks stupendous. Alice decided to try a couple of other shops before making a decision on what to purchase. She eventually ended up with a pair of silver earrings set with a triplet opal.

We met up with Macca and Lyn at the Old Timers Mine which was hand dug in 1916. The tour which we undertook is self-guided and it meanders through a couple of display galleries which showcased old and new mining tools, and precious seams of opal. With my hard hat on I must have looked like a dead ringer for Bob the Builder. There were also two underground homes which highlighted how life was in the 1920’s and 1970’s. Afterwards Macca and Alice tried their hands at ‘noodling’. This is a process of searching through heaps of discarded mullock for pieces of opal missed by miners. The majority of opal in these heaps is known as potch which has no intrinsic value however it does look nice when it is wet. Alice managed to find a few stones to add to her rock collection and Macca found a few with one of them having some nice colours.

There are a number of underground churches and we took time to visit the Anglican Catacomb Church, St Peter and Paul Catholic Church and the Serbian Orthodox Church. We were particularly taken with the Catacomb Church and with its beautiful alcoves and a simple wooden cross it had a good feel to it. It would have been good to attend a service here. The Serbian church is a work in progress and with stained glass windows, sculptures and carved vaulted ceilings is a beautiful place of worship.

Prior to our return to camp I had to endure another round of the suffering seat as Alice made another selection of opal jewelry. With her selections made we headed back to Riba’s to bring in the washing and a small rest break.

Late in the afternoon us boys decided to take a road trip for some secret men’s business out to the Breakaways Reserve which lies 32km north of Coober Pedy. It consists of colourful low hills which have broken away from the Stuart Range. There are two lookout points which highlight the open spaces of Moon Plain and the colourful environment. Our drive took us past the locally named “Castle” or “Salt and Pepper” which is an outcrop of rock which has been used in a number of films such as Mad Max and advertisements. The 70km round trip back to Coober Pedy takes you east along the hills to the dog fence. This 2m high wire barrier stretches for over 5,300km across three States. The fence has been designed to protect the sheep country from the Dingo. It was a great drive and if you are ever in Coober Pedy don’t miss it.

Tonight we are going downtown for dinner and have booked a table at the popular John’s Pizza Bar.

For an entrée we indulged ourselves with their signature dish and ordered the family size ‘Coat of Arms’ pizza. Kangaroo, Emu with some beef camembert cheese in a cranberry sauce made this one delicious meal .We were so full that Eddie and I shared our main meal with the girls. On the other hand the glutinous Macca ordered a family sized meatlovers pizza to share with Lyn. At the end of the night he waddled out of the restaurant. The meal and the company was a great way to finish the day.

Day 23, 10th May – Coober Pedy to Port Augusta (5796km – 6338km)

Today we have a drive of over 500km so we were all up early and on the road by 8:15am. The one thing I did notice on this section of the road trip was the road kill. There was a large feral cat, beef cattle and kangaroos dotting the bitumen and feeding the birds of prey. Nothing seems to go to waste out here. After about 200km we took a rest break at the Bon Bon rest area. The wind was howling through here so we hid inside the van. The others stopped for some fuel and a sausage roll at Glendambo.

We bypassed this stop and kept heading south towards Pimba which is 366km from Coober pedy. Just prior to Pimba we stopped for a photo opportunity of Lake Hart which is one of several salt lakes in the area. Pimba lies at the junction for travellers heading to Woomera and Roxby Downs. It is also the junction of the Ghan and the Indian Pacific trains. We stopped at Spud’s Roadhouse for lunch and a top up of diesel fuel. No orange lights for me on this section of the journey. The steak sandwich we had at Spud’s was the best and the cheapest so far on this trip.

After our break it was south for another 170km to Port Augusta. Along the way we started to see a few mobs of emus (love a good collective noun), more salt lakes and a freight train heading south long the Ghan. Around 3:00pm we pulled into the Big 4 caravan park and I was thankful that Eddie had rung ahead and booked our sites. There were no vacancies left as they are doing some works at the park which has reduced the number of sites available. There were 21 television channels available but more importantly we had Optus coverage which enabled Alice to ring her mum for mother’s day and for Telissa to contact her.

Day 24, 11th May – Port Augusta to Tumby Bay (6338km – 6655km)

It is a sad morning as the others are heading north to Broken Hill to continue their journey home. It has been a pleasure travelling with Eddie, Sue, Macca and Lyn and we will miss their company. Alice and I are having a late start as we only have about three hundred kilometers of travel to the south along the Eyre Peninsula. Prior to setting off we headed into downtown Port Augusta for some last minute shopping. We bought a couple of bath mats and a blanket just in case we start to feel the cold. The area is quite rustic as they have managed to retain some of their heritage buildings. To soak in some of this ambience we settled into an appealing café for some scones and a coffee.

After filling the tank with some fuel at the bargain price of $1.20 a litre it was off down the Eyre Highway to Whyalla and points beyond. Cowell is 106km south of Whyalla and is the home of a burgeoning oyster industry. We stopped for a rest break and were glad that we did. There are numerous heritage buildings including a fantastic looking pub that nearly tempted us to try a local brew. The caravan park is on the foreshore of Franklin Harbour and next to a very long jetty which would be ideal for fishing.

It is an overcast day which for us is an unusual event considering the past few weeks. To get a feel for the area we have decided to stop at all the beachside hamlets on our way south. Arno Bay was our next stop and you could best describe this place as a fishing village. Alice managed to take a few photographs of the beautiful wildflowers that were growing on the sand dunes. The road south takes you through thousands of acres of sheep farming country. In the distance you could see the blue waters of Spencer Gulf. Our penultimate stop was Port Neill which boasts an immaculate foreshore area and a waterfront golf course. There are plenty of picnic areas and of course there is a boat ramp to launch your tinny.

At around 3:30pm we arrived at Tumby Bay which will be our base for the next four days. Once we had paid we were off to our allocated space along the fence line. The problem was that it was near impossible to reverse the van into the available locations as directly opposite us there were two large motor-homes. I did give a good account of myself but decided that it would be extremely difficult to get the van out. Alice went back to reception and got us another site that was far better than the previous one. After setting up I went for a walk down to the foreshore and watched a few of the grey nomads fishing. Despite the wind that is howling across the caravan park this part of the bay appears to be sheltered from the wind and is quite calm. You can’t help but strike up a conversation with your neighbours and I soon had some advice on where the fish were biting and what terrible weather they had been experiencing for the last week. To round out the day I washed some of the red dust off the Triton and then enjoyed some of the other red which was a cheeky little shiraz from Penola Estate in the Coonawarra region.

Day 25, 12th May – Tumby Bay to Coffin Bay (6655km – 6890km)

We must have been tired from all the driving that we had done in the past few days as we did not arise from our slumber till 8:00am. Judging by the weather we may as well have stayed in bed as it is windy and overcast with intermittent rain squalls. In a nutshell the weather is disgusting. Nevertheless we did get up and feasted on a delicious omelet that Alice concocted from all our leftovers. Eventually, we may go for a short drive.

Just before lunch we jumped in the triton and headed south for 51km to Port Lincoln. The drive was quite relaxing even though we were being buffeted by strong SE winds. The last 10km basically followed the coast line and you could see the white sandy beaches of the various bays as well as the far off islands. I can understand why Port Lincoln was once considered for the right to be capital of South Australia as it boasts one of the largest protected natural harbours in the world. We followed the Esplanade and spotted a bronze statue of the famous racehorse ‘Maykbe Diva”.

After a bit of touring around we headed off to Coffin Bay which is an idyllic destination offering great beaches, national parks and fantastic seafood. We stopped at a lookout that overlooked the community and the nearby islands. We did the Esplanade thing once again and did a complete circuit of the area with a short drive into the national park. National parks in South Australia require an entry fee and in this case it was $10 for the vehicle. Given that it was getting late in the afternoon I decided to risk a free entry.

The park is rich in native wildlife including kangaroos, emus and many bird species but we didn’t see any of them. That also includes the park rangers. Camping is also available in the park and would be great in the warmer months. Alice was starting to get a little fangy so we stopped at the local store which does fish ’n’ chips. Just as we were about to enter the store two emus sauntered across the road to peck at some seeds under a tree near the jetty. It was amazing as they seemed to not have a care in the world. Their feathers were also a lot lighter than those who reside in the dryer climates. Back at the shop we ordered a serving of King George Whiting with chips. The food was delicious and we finished off ordering a dozen opened Coffin Bay oysters for later consumption. The coat of arms was complete when we spotted two kangaroos in someone’s backyard.

On the drive back towards Port Lincoln we saw over 100 Galahs in a field as well as some Port Lincoln Parrots. They are absolutely beautiful and you should google an image if you have never seen one. The drive back to Tumby Bay was quite relaxing and when we arrived we decided to take a

walk along the jetty. That was a bit of a mistake because the wind was howling and the wind chill factor made us cold to the bones. There were two lonesome guys on the jetty trying their luck at squid jigging. Business was slow but they had managed to get one of the inky buggers into the bucket. Back at the caravan park the oysters were slowly consumed by yours truly and washed down with a cold glass of champagne. The wind continues to howl so we are both rugging up prior to catching some zzzz’s.