Flinders Ranges to Coober Pedy Day 14 to 19

Wilpena Pound was great. Rugged mountain ranges, animals and some Aboriginal rock carvings. Kael and I climbed Mount Ohlssen Bagge, 7.5km of pretty steep climbing. Kael was his chatty self for the whole 4 hours.

Our exit from the Flinders was through Brachina Gorge. Ruined pastoral outstations give way to spectacular rock faces. The dirt road follows the course of the river as it cuts its way through layers of rock. It is a Geologist’s dream. Various layers of the earth’s crust have been exposed dated to 5 and 6 hundred million years. This is tough country. It has seen tough people pack up and leave. There are plenty of rocks to build a homestead but you can’t feed your sheep rocks for long.

After a pleasant night camping at amongst the ruins Farina Station we made a path for Coober Pedy along the Oodnadatta Track. Farina which sits at the beginning of the Strzeleckie Track, was once big enough to warrant its own cricket ground and send 40 odd men to both world wars.

Plenty of sheep still graze on the salt bush. Salt is often encrusted on the surface of the pastures. 

At one stage we had a dingo appear from the bushes and run alongside and in front of the car. 




We also stopped to watch Kael’s favourite Wedge tail Eagle as he picked at some kangaroo road kill. He has an insatiable hunger for wedgies.

The Oodnadatta track varies between smooth 80km/hr dirt to dash shattering 30km/hr corrugations. After lunch in a wild and windy William Creek our progress was halted 1km out of town on a particularly bumpy stretch. The Prado just died. No power. Nothing. 

The clouds that were carrying rain somewhere, decided to have an incontinent moment just as we ground to a halt. As I inspected the engine looking for a large switch turned “off”, a passing Territorian offered a tow back into town. He kindly dropped us at the camp ground where we decided to set up for the night. NRMA offered us a tow to Coober Pedy for repairs. As we set up, a couple of fellow travellers cast their eyes over the fuse box without success. Before the sun set, I decided to use my $9 Ebay multimeter to test the electrics. Much to my delight I discovered a broken circuit between the battery and fuse box. Happy Days. Even happier when I joined it back up and started the car up. Now I know how McGyver felt every episode. I’m not sure whether the 3 men who’d gathered around encouragingly were angels, but we were certainly looked after. Do angels have moustaches? 

William Creek reminded Lissa of her year in Bourke. Dry, dusty, flat. Corregated iron dongas. Salty bore water showers. It made us appreciate our next stop in Coober Pedy. 

The kids were relieved with the smooth road. The parents wooed by the new kitchen, bathroom and playground. 20 cents for 3 minutes of blanketing, hot water, priceless.

Today we toured the town. Underground hotels, churches and homes. Museums tell the story of Opal mining in the area beginning around WW1. Opals are one precious stone that you can dig up with a humble array of tools and plenty of sweat equity. Most of the opals are worthless. Huge piles of dirt all around the area testify to the continuing search. 

One home we toured was dug into the hillside by 3 women in the 1960’s. After 10 years with pick and shovel they had kitchen, lounge and bedrooms carved out like a rabbit warren. Worth the effort for a constant temperature around 25 degrees when Summer days reach 50 and Winter nights 0.

The kids were happy with a bit of “noodling” (rummaging through the rocks to find a few low grade opal deposits. 

The Breakaways to the north of Coober Pedy provide some spectacular views of a long since vanished inland sea. It is a painters dream, with sharp drops and stark colour contrast.

Back at the caravan park Naomi has made friends with a little boy Jamie. Kael continues to greet people like he is Mayor of the nomads. Eva is getting the hang of Uno, even though she can’t count.

750km and we hit Uluru. Bring on the big rock.