Now
that I’ve passed through SA, I think it should be called ‘the State of
Superlatives’, as it was full of ‘the largest, most isolated, oldest, biggest
etc’, and it sure was impressive. So much to see here, and amazing. As soon as
we crossed the border from NSW, the tedious, flat landscape started to get more
interesting. A few mountain ranges started to appear here and there, and there were a few turns in the
road! Still flat and huge expanses, but like driving through a painting. Early
SA was an indication of what was to come, and it was gorgeous.
The
Flinders Ranges
Considered
one of Australia’s oldest (there’s the first one!) landscapes, our first
glimpse of the Flinders looked a little like a stegosaurus’s back, with its
jagged, angled peaks. So many layers of colour and tone. Just stunning.
Melrose
This
was our first stop after Broken Hill, and what a gorgeous little place it was.
Immaculately kept, it is the oldest ‘town’ (now hamlet, at a push), in The
Flinders, dating back to the 1840’s when it was a copper mining town. Again, an
innovative little community, that seems to have its creativity at the forefront
of the businesses there. The ‘North Star Hotel’ is a great example of this,
where they’ve converted old trucks into accommodation – so clever…
This truck
actually did crash into a tree when it was still operating. They’ve just moved
it, and positioned it to look like that’s what happened here, on site.
Inside the
‘green truck’.
and
inside ‘the North Star Hotel’ – very cool!
And I
fell in love with the old brewery! Want to do it up and live in it – like a
castle!! Fires the imagination it does!
A
couple of other old buildings in Melrose…
blacksmith’s
not
sure what this was.
Alligator
Gorge
Just
up the road from Melrose, is where Elliot and I did our first hike. It was
beautiful. Part of the Flinders Ranges, and very tranquil.
Through
“the Narrows’
‘The
Terraces’ (formed naturally by a river)
Trees
growing horizontally out of the rocks, as it’s a source of soil that gets
trapped in the cracks. Think this might be a Sugar Gum.
And
saw a couple of pairs of this gorgeous bird – a Scarlet Robin I think.
Kanyaka
Homestead
These ruins were amazing,
and beautifully restored. Gave you a taste of what life may have been like on a
very large sheep station back in the 1870’s/80’s, before it was abandoned due
to drought. This was our first taste of how bad the flies are in this part of
the world. They thrive in dry heat, and were ballistic!!! Anyway, the
homestead, a little eerie, but wonderful anyway…
The
map shows how many rooms there were, just in the main building. The Homestead
was so big and prosperous in its day, it also served as the post office.
The
Homestead from afar
see
plan/map above to see what these rooms may have been.
The
old shearing sheds in ‘the Woolshed’.
Wilpena
Pound
This
was our next stop, and was fabulous too. Had our first night of a slight
sprinkle of rain! It was also our first night of having campfires under a
blanket of stars, plus very hungry kangaroos/wallabies, who loved paper so much, they’d
often just go into the toilet cubicles and drag the toilet paper out, eating it
on the way. They ate all of someone’s magazines they’d left out, and two of my
large cardboard boxes I was using for storage!! I suppose they are tree
derivatives!
Anyway,
Wilpena Pound is a huge crater rim, and due to having only one narrow channel
to access the bowl, was considered by sheep farmers to be a natural holding
‘pound’ for their flocks; hence the name. Again, beautiful scenery, and history
too. The pioneering folks back then sure had it tough, but I guess, they were
lured by the whiff of fortune from mining or farming, and made their choices
accordingly.
Wilpena
Pound is something like 8kms across and 15kms long.
the
old homestead in the Pound.
On
to Marree
It was
mother’s day when we headed off to our next stop. We travelled to Blinham, then
Parachilna via our first dirt road (did my first ‘creek crossing!!’ – very
exciting!), and nearly ran out of petrol in the middle of nowhere L.
Had
lunch in the very funky ‘Prairie Hotel’, which was great, but think that place
must have the highest population of flies in the world!! Swarms of them!!
The
hotel is about the only thing that exists in Parachilna. So remote!
Then
onto Marree. Now, Marree was not on our itinerary, and it ended up being a
‘happy accident’. We pulled in to Marree for a break from driving, and it was
already a little late. So I was deliberating about whether or not to keep going
after my cuppa. SO glad we didn’t and stayed in Marree. And a valuable lesson
to be reminded of that you can’t judge a book by its cover. You see, Marree is
not particularly nice – a little ramshackle, ‘no horse town’ kinda place,
heaving with flies, but as it turned out, the locals were really friendly and
generous. The publican had only recently bought the hotel (again, the ‘hub’ of
the town) and moved there from Canberra.
And
the barman was from Essex, but had been educated at Harrow (extremely posh
school in England). He was an interesting fella. Anyway, we were made to feel
very at home, and were gently persuaded to take a scenic flight over Lake Eyre.
Again, this wouldn’t have happened if we hadn’t stayed there. The flight was
incredible. In an hour and a half, in a little 6 seater plane, we only flew
over about 1/6th of the Lake. Even with an aerial view, I couldn’t
get my head around the sheer scale of the place. I think it’s the biggest lake
in Australia (eventhough there was no water in it when we saw it), and about
the size of Holland. Even bigger than that though, is Anna Creek station – the
biggest property in the world (approximately the size of Belgium), which pretty
much dwarfs Lake Eyre. Collosal sizes, that is too hard to comprehend. Flying
over Lake Eyre was like looking at the surface of the moon, with the gleaming
white salt crust surface disappearing into the distance. Add this to your
bucket list!! Well worth it!
Strips
of green where water is/has been most recently
The
shore of Lake Eyre. Can't believe they graze cattle on this land.
There’s
no water in Lake Eyre at the moment. It was full about 3 years ago, and when
full is about 6 meters deep. It evaporates at about 2 metres per year, as it is
between two deserts.
William
Creek to Coober Pedy
This
was our next stop. We’d been travelling on dirt roads from Parachilna pretty
much, which is even more taxing driving, and it takes ages to get anywhere.
William Creek consisted of a hotel and campsite. That was it.
There’d
been a bit of rain a few days before, and the road had been closed, only
opening up to 4WDs the day after our overnight stay at William Creek. We
decided to take the chance, and headed off on the 160km drive to Coober Pedy.
Well, that drive took us nearly 5 and a half hours! We got bogged, and had to
be pulled out by 2 4WDs! Again, lucky – getting bogged was an experience, but
our rescuers (fellow travellers), were lovely people who we caught up with a
few times in Coober Pedy, and had one of the best pizzas we’ve ever had on our
last night in Coober Pedy. So happy all round!!
Passed
through ‘The Dog Fence’ on the way, the longest fence in the world at 5614kms,
built to keep dingoes out of southern flocks.
This is
what the land looked like the whole way, and what Anna Creek Station keep their
cattle on. No idea how they do it – it’s desert!
Bogged!
Coober
Pedy
Both Elliot and I loved
this place! So cool and quirky! Don’t think you’d find anywhere like it in the
world. It’s the largest opal mining location in the world, and, because it’s in
the desert, most of the houses and buildings are either underground, or carved
into the hills – called ‘dug outs’. We did a really interesting tour with the
guy who ran the campsite, and just loved the place. The thing that really
struck me was the golf course – 18 holes, with the ‘greens’ being some kind of
black ash. Tee offs were a patch of Astroturf, fairways were gravel strips, and
‘interesting features’ on the course were piles of dirt held up by layers of
old tyres! It was awesome!! We were told it’s the only club in the world that
is affiliated with St Andrews golf course in Scotland. I thought it’d be a
great idea to have a charity golf drive out there (pun comes in handy too!), as
it’s so unusual. I’d also like to see some of the golf pros give it a go. All
in all, an incredible place, and lots of fun.
The
Serbian Church (totally underground)
Someone’s
home – a ‘dug out’
Part
of the golf course
Elliot
pretending to tee off. The ‘green’ is the black patch in the middle of the
photo.
The ‘posh
part’ of Coober Pedy – apparently they get the best sunset views!
The
piles of dirt from opal mining. These were like ant hills as far as the eye
could see, in every direction.
The
living room in a dug out
Down
in an Opal mine.
Next,
off to the NT!!
