Day three: Port Augusta to Coober Pedy, 560km
Day three was our shortest driving day, partly because there weren't really any other big towns to stop in between Port Augusta and Uluru, but mostly because I really wanted to see Coober Pedy after reading about it in Mark Dapin's book of travels around weird spots in Australia. The drive was really easy, all along 110km/h roads which were well maintained.
The only thing that had really changed was that we drove into the road train zone, and they became an increasingly frequent sight as we drove north. At one point we came across an oversized road train with a disassembled house on its back which was so wide it didn't fit in one lane. It drove along with a police car in front of it, going the wrong way in the opposite direction. By the time I realised what was happening I had to slow down very quickly and pull off the road, or I would have had a head on collision with the police car!
As we drove further north, the desert became more barren and the sand more intensely red. We passed several salt lakes which glistened a shiny white in the distance. At the first lake we thought it was freshwater that was just illuminated by the sun, but at the second lake it was quite obvious it was all salt. It must be so frustrating to those lost and thirsty that the only water they can see is undrinkable!
Random salt lake by the side of the highway
It was really too early for a stop but since we had such a cruisy day we decided to make the detour to Woomera, about 200km north of Port Augusta. There we went to the most amazing missile park right in the centre of town, a collection of missiles, rockets and planes from the era when there was very active testing and military exercises in the Woomera region. The collaboration between the Australian and British armies saw a busy period in Woomera, which quietened down in the 70s and eventually the town was open to the public in the 80s. Now the area is still occupied by the military, which has a huge “Prohibited Area” to do whatever it wants in, but there is little testing or military activity in the region. The relics from the bygone era stand in a park like forgotten toys, but they were pretty impressive.
Missile park, Woomera
We stopped in a place called Bon Bon for lunch, complete with a huge shelter, rainwater tank, enviro toilet and a solar powered emergency phone. I was very impressed by the whole set out in the middle of nowhere. Here we saw a psychedelic cloud which I thought looked like a man on fire running away somewhere.
Cloud at Bon Bon
It was pretty remote road from Bon Bon to Coober Pedy, and we stopped for petrol at the Glendambo roadhouse, which was a "town" consisting of pretty much just the roadhouse.
Sign outside Glendambo
Before we knew it, we were in Coober Pedy, a mining town famous for producing 90% of the world's opals. Coober Pedy is full of dugout buildings, and about 2000 of the 3500 residents live underground. Apparently dugout buildings keep cool in summer and warm in winter, an ideal setting in the desert. It was rather surreal walking into our underground motel room, coz the walls literally look like they’ve been dug out like a cave. It had a slightly musty but not unpleasant smell of being underground, but the temperature was just right - neither the artificial cold of air conditioning nor the roasting 40 degrees outside.
Underground church
This is one of the underground churches we went to. It was very simple, with a few wooden benches and a slightly wonky cross made from tree branches. Sitting in the cool, deserted church, I thought perhaps once upon a time, all churches were like this, just a simple place for worship without the sophisticated sculptures and stained glass and all the other things we associate with churches.
The highlight of our day was a huge sandstorm, which strangely reminded me of the sandstorm we had in Sydney in 2009 when everything was coated in red dust. The wind was so strong it felt like it was lifting us away, and the sand swirled into everything. I knew you shouldn't take photos in this sort of weather, but I couldn't resist - even as the lens came out of the camera, it was grinding with the sand getting in between the layers of the lens!
The sandstorm was followed by our first huge downpour, perhaps a premonition of what was to come in the territory. We were the only people at the kangaroo orphanage, where I fed a 6 month old joey whose mother had been killed in a road accident. Holding the joey in my arms was just like holding a baby – it had such a soft warm body and huge doeful eyes that looked at me intensely. I'll never forget that almost human-like expression which was so simple and innocent. It was about 2kg and just starting to hop around, still quite wonky on its feet and occasionally almost falling over. I was amazed by its natural instincts to dive into a pouch too, and as soon as a soft bag is provided it jumps straight in headfirst then turns around and looks out, just as if it was in its mother's pouch. The kangaroo orphanage was run by a couple who also ran an art gallery, and they took turns getting up at night to feed the joeys. They aim to get all the joeys back into the wild, though they had a few that became too domesticated and had to stay. They even had an incubator donated by the local hospital when they bought a more up-to-date one, with which they were hoping to keep more joeys alive in the future! It was an incredible place to visit.
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