Red hot and dusty ...

This is going to be a long one folks, so if I were you I'd go and make a cup of tea / coffee / hot chocolate. Myself, I've got a whiskey as it's a cool evening here in Alice Springs sitting in the back of the troopy writing up the last 2 weeks of adventures. So off you go. I'll wait.

...

Since the last entry we've headed north from Port Augusta up the Stuart highway. Originally we planned to go straight to Coober Pedy, but a last minute change of plans saw us take the Oodnadatta Track instead. This is a gravel highway running for some 600 & something kilometres along the route of the old Ghan railway. We joined it about a third of the way up. Ten minutes onto the gravel and I had 2 road trains (lorries with 2-4 trailers for the poms) pass me by, trailing clouds of dust in their wake. It was an interesting experience, but not as bad as we'd been told. Along the track itself we got to stop at numerous sites of old railway sidings restored and maintained to show the history of the old Ghan. We particularly liked two sites with ruins of complete settlements, the remains of outposts for workers building the railway and supporting the farm stations set up by enterprising, and probably mad, settlers. We passed along the western fringe of Lake Eyre, the largest salt lake in Australia, and probably the world. It is rarely full, but when it does fill birds from 3000km's away know, and migrate there to breed. Although we could only see a small bit it was impressive. I wondered how many fish n chip suppers it would do for ... We finished up in William Creek, population 10, and enjoyed a cheeky cold beer or 3 in the William Creek Hotel and chat to a guy doing the track on a trike! I also performed my first mechanical repair, replacing 3 bolts which had rattled themselves free. The next day saw more of the same, arriving in Oodnadatta some 200kms later. The town itself was quiet strange, where the locals didn't make us feel very welcome. Most of the people in the campsite said the same thing, so we stayed within the tin fence and enjoyed a camp fire instead.

The following day we made our way across the Moon plains, so named because it looks like the moon and was used for Mad Max 3 and many other post apocalyptic movies, to Coober Pedy. We also found out our tourist visas had been granted, so we could complete all of our trip :) Coober Pedy itself is a strange town. Mining equipment litters the place, mounds of pink dirt dot the landscape and 65% of the buildings are underground. This last part is due to the stifling summer heat and duststorms the locals endure so they can mine for opals. 93% of the worlds opal comes from Oz, and of that 85% is from Coober Pedy. We thought it appropriate that we should stay at the towns only underground campsite, pitching our tent in an area carved out underneath a hill. It was quite pleasant to be out of the wind though, and it was warmer at night. We took it easy in Coober for a couple of days, going out to see the Breakaways range, and region of gibber rock & flat topped ridges, formed by millions of years of erosion of the old seabed, from a sea that used to cover most of Australias interior. It resulted in a gorgeous range of colours in the rocks, yellows, reds & oranges making the landscape very picturesque, and at the same time very rugged and remote. We also crossed the Dog fence, a single fence that stretches some 6,800 kms from the coast in South Australia all the way across the interior to the Queensland coast. Its primary purpose is to keep dingoes out of the southern pastoral lands.

The next day saw our longest drive yet, 640kms of highway across the border into the Northern Territory to Curtin Springs, the last roadhouse before Uluru. The next day we headed into Uluru National Park and checked out Kata Tjuta (The Olgas), a series of rocky lumps that once formed a single outcrop larger that Uluru itself. We walked through part of the series, giving us fantastic views from inside and out of the formation. We returned to the Yulara resort just outside the park to set up camp before returning to Uluru to watch the sunset. We were lucky enough to have clear skies and saw the rock appear to slowly change colour as the sun went down. It was pretty special, and I took a ridiculous number of photos, as did most people there. The following morning was Beccys birthday. We got up before sunrise to go and watch sunrise at the rock, which is basically the same spectacle as sunset but in reverse. We enjoyed coffee and birthday mudcake while watching it though, something I don't think many people have done. After a quick breakfast we set out on the base walk around Uluru. The rock itself is pretty incredible up close, very imposing. We were disappointed though with frequent signs telling us not to photograph certain parts as they were sacred, but failing to tell us why they were, or their significance in Aboriginal history and culture. Having said that we enjoyed the walk immensely. After that it was onto Kings Canyon for the night. The following day we did the Kings Canyon rim walk, which takes you up and along the edge of Kings Canyon, an impressive canyon (surprise) to the north of Uluru. It features stark, sheer cliffs and secluded areas of plant & wildlife, with one area named the Garden of Eden due to the abundance of plants & animals that time seems to have forgotten out there in the middle of the arid desert. Having exerted ourselves we the walk we took the opportunity to enjoy a camel burger at a local camel station, recommended to us by beccys parents. It was a truly fantastic burger, so if you're passing Kings Creek station, stop and have one. Chips aren't much cop though.

After Kings Canyon we headed out along the Merinee Loop road, another gravel road that took us up into the Western MacDonnell Ranges, - a line of ridges that spans Central Australia. The road itself was a delightful mix of fist sized rock and corrugations that rattled us around quite well. We stopped to camp at one of the many gorges that occur in the region and enjoyed a very remote bush camping experience for the first time. We had been hoping to see the stars really well, but the moon is nearly full phase so it was quite bright. Still, a nice campfire made it very enjoyable. We meandered along the ranges the following day, stopping at a few of the gorges along the way to go and enjoy the rugged scenery and take a break from doing long distances. Each spot had a series of short walks, so we could explore and take photos without having to embark on anything too strenuous. We finally rolled into Alice Springs in the late afternoon which brings me to where I am now, finishing my whiskey and typing this.

We have seen some of the real Australia in the last two weeks. The sheer vastness & remoteness of some of the places out here are hard to convey, at least for me. Everyone should do this, especially all of my aussie mates reading this right now. It really does give you a different perspective on what makes up Australia, it's not all golden beaches, surfing and Harrold Bishop ;) Go check out a small selection of the 200+ photos I took here.

matt.

posted by Matt, Friday, July 07, 2006.