The return trip

There wasn't anything eventful on the return trip to Sydney. The scariest thing we did was a night drive from Coober Pedy to Broken Hill. All you see is black and whatever the lights manage to illuminate. I had a close call almost running over what appears to be a dingo.

I did manage to take a wonderful shot of the Breakaways. The previous shot was in the mid-morning sun. This one was right on sunset! It truly is amazing how the light changes a whole landscape.

The Breakaways at sunset

Compare the shot to the mid-morning take

Towards Uluru

About 750 kms from Coober Pedy is our final destination, Uluru. Only a 7-8 hour drive until we see this wonder! We felt excitement as we departed Coober Pedy.

The great thing about road trips is that you can detour slightly while still be on track for time. We had just this opportunity on departure. I wanted to see the Break Aways which was only 32 kms North of  Coober Pedy.The locals advised that we can drive to the Break Aways using our car as it has not rained in the area for some time. If there was rain, we needed a 4WD since the road was made up of dirt.

The trip towards the Break Aways was bumpy and rough. The car shook and vibrated, but after 20 mins we were there. Kidneys and stomach were a touch in a knot and displaced.

It was just after 9:30 am, so we missed the early golden light on the Break Aways. Still will a tripod in hand and some nifty traditional photography techniques I captured the following.

Looking over the edge at the Break Aways

Break Aways from another lookout point

The half way point for this part of the trip was the border between South Australia (SA) and the Northern Territory (NT). There is a major rest stop that highlights the border. Unfortunately, the border point lacked character and someone ran off with each state's emblem!

A sad border crossing. We all prefer the border cafe one!

 
For the first time ever, I was able to take the car up to 130 kmph, which is the speed limit for the Stuart Highway, NT side. Sadly, if we made this trip 6 years earlier, the speed limit was as fast as your car can go! Overtaking was easy at this speed as the road trains can only travel 100 kmph.

On the way to Uluru we saw Mt Conner at a rest stop. The ground was red as red can be, we had indeed entered the red center of Australia.

Mt Conner in the background. Don't mistake it for Uluru

Coober Pedy

We left Broken Hill early for Coober Pedy with a long drive ahead we started early. In fact this section would require approximately 9.5 h of road travel! No time for a lunch stop on this part of the journey.

When we hoped into the car, the temperature was 3.0 degrees Celsius. There was ice on the roof of the car. Rugged up we departed.

Ice on the roof as we departed Broken Hill

As we drove away from Broken Hill the desert was covered in fog and there was an amazing hue in the sky. I couldn't resist and had to take a shot. The cold was terrible as I took the shot, road trains and cars that passed by and directed horrible penetrating cold burst of air towards you. But it was worth it as you can see.

A foggy desert morning.

With a border to cross and many kilometers; we drove and ate as we cruised to Coober Pedy. About 1.5 hours away from Broken Hill we reached the border between New South Wales (NSW) and South Australia (SA).

Sign outside the border cafe to mark the border.

The total length for this part of the journey was 970 kms, which is just beyond the range of the diesel Golf Wagen. The car was averaging between 5.7-6.1 L/100 kms (965-902 km  per tank). We could have made it on the one tank but it was not worth the risk as the Stuart Highway only had mobile phone coverage at Coober Pedy and Port Augusta. We refueled at a small place called Glendambo.

Diesel was $1.73 per litre at Glendambo, at the time Sydney prices were averaging about $1.51!

That is right only 30 humans on Glendambo

On the drive along the Stuart Highway there were many lookout points. This one is of a dried up lake with its salt bed exposed

We reached Coober Pedy just before sun down.

In the background are the opal mines. There were piles and piles of dirt around the mining areas

Welcome to Coober Pedy. The mining vehicle marks the entry to Coober Pedy

In Coober Pedy there are about 3000 people. Two thirds of the population live in what's called 'dug outs' which are underground, the rest lived above ground. They build their homes into the hillside like hobbits but without the green luscious fields. Coober Pedy was quite the opposite, it was arid, bare, flat and very dusty. We stayed in the Desert Cave Hotel and had a dug out room.

There was no sound between us and the neighbours. When the lights were off, you saw nothing! The temperature was constant but it smelt like chloride throughout the enclosure. There was an air hole which fanned fresh air into the rooms. Needless to say we had a very good sleep that night.

Some advice if you are claustrophobic, don't stay in a dug out.

We checked out the catacomb church which was a dug out church the night before departing Coober Pedy. Pretty neat place!

Indeed he does having made it this far

Inside the Catacomb church at Coober Pedy

Next day we start the trip to the rock!

The three stooges outback adventure

Over the next few entries I would like to share with you an amazing trip by three friends to the center of Australia. My friends are Gauchita and Sesilia who are also bloggers. All three of us have always wanted to explore our vast homeland, which people call Australia. We have heard and read about how amazing Uluru is and how it is a must do. Most people fly to Uluru, but that is only part of the experience. We wanted an adventure... We wanted a road trip!

So there we have it a Uruguayan, Vietnamese and Filipino travel party of Australians on an epic adventure to the outback.


The plan was break the trip into several distinct stages.

Stage 1 - Sydney to Dubbo
Stage 2 - Dubbo to Broken Hill
Stage 3 - Broken Hill to Coober Pedy
Stage 4 - Coober Pedy to Uluru

In total over 2500 kms would be required to get all of us to 'the rock'.

Map showing the planned waypoints for our adventure

Our rationale was to rotate the driving to avoid fatigue. Break the trip up to avoid night travel as in Australia a Kangaroo hit will disable your vehicle in an instant. The car of choice, was our Volkswagen Golf Wagen Turbo Diesel.

In preparation for this trip we took some precautions namely:

• Spare fuel (20 L of extra diesel) - in the outback the spacing of petrol stations can be problematic. Hence, extra fuel was carried just in case.
• Kangaroo whistle - as mentioned above, an accident with a kangaroo will disable your car. Our trip will be across lots and lots of 'Roo country'
• Tyre pump - in case we need to pump up a flat. This model bought can inflate a tyre in 10 mins and was compact enough to hide away
• Tyre puncture kit - was carried in case we needed to do a running repair
• Satellite phone - Australia's mobile coverage is impressive along the major roads, but there are hundreds of kms of road that are just black spots. A satellite phone is a must for any calls for help
• 20 L of water - this is very important when traveling to the outback
• Toilet paper and hand sanitizer lotion - need I say more
• Spare oil - was needed as VW diesels need a special grade of oil for the engine.

Roo whistle installed on the car prior to our trip