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!

Broken Hill

The vibe in Broken Hill was of excitement! After the sad state of Dubbo, this major town had character, life and a buzz about it that is difficult to describe. Like Cobar, they are proud of their mining heritage. There are statues about it everywhere around the town. The visitors center was built on top of a mining hill and overlooks the town. Very very cool!

We arrived just in time to check out the giant bench and checked out the sunset over the Broken Hill desert.

Feeling like a kid again on the giant bench

Sunset at Broken Hill's sculptures by the desert (the living desert reserve). I couldn't resist and ignored the exhibition to take this shot

Another sunset shot

On reflection, I wished we could have spent more time in the town.

Cobar

Cobar is a small country town in outback New South Wales (NSW). We quickly drove past this area but can immediately tell they took pride in their mining industry. It was evident throughout the town.

The sign entering Cobar

You can tell they are proud of their mining industry when the main lookout is of a mine!

The road down to the lower levels of the mine

Cobar mine

Depth, colour and geometry of a mine

One highway, two types of landscapes

It never ceases to amaze me how the scenery changes on Australia. Yes, in the outback things are try but they are still very different. Just look at the photo below.

Early on there were more trees with the dry vegetation on the road

Later on the scenery became increasingly flat and more dry with hardly any trees

Looking ahead

Are we there yet (Broken Hill)?

Ask any Sydneysider, driving the city is a stop, start and honk affair. Past Dubbo, things change and we finally meet clean open roads. As far as the horizon the road stretches on and on. The landscape becomes drier and more road kill is evident. You next turn may be hundreds of kms away!

Looking back at the road just traveled. Dubbo and Sydney had become a distant memory as we press onwards to the center of Australia

One of the funniest thing was found was that the first truly outback shire was named 'Bogan Shire'. A bogan in a contemporary sense is a Australian slang used to describe people who have limited education and of lower social economical class. Often these individuals hold socially simple/unacceptable and discriminatory points of view. It is a derogatory term. I guess the easiest explanation is that it means the same as 'red neck' for the Americans.

Bogan shire and Nyngan are lovely places with a funny name.

 
Immaturity aside 'Bogan Shire' the shire has the Bogan river flowing through it and the main town is Nyngan. I don't know why the shire is named as such. If any fellow bloggers know why please share.

The road ahead is straight, our next turn is in 566 kms!

Nyngan is the start of the outback for New South Wales (NSW). We finally saw some arid like environment on the drive.

You can see the dryness in this photo.

Disaster on the way to Dubbo

The journey out of Sydney to Dubbo required us to navigate the Blue Mountains. This area is a weekend favourite of mine and I know the roads out to these mountains well.

The three sisters is a main attraction to the Blue Mountains. This image is not from the road trip but an archive shot

Sunset at the Blue Mountains. This image is not from the road trip but an archive shot

It was a rather uneventful drive to Dubbo. All of us had seen the scenery a thousand times before. Above are some old photos of the region I have taken in the past.

Just past Lithgow we decided to take a trip to Bathurst to visit the race track. Aussies love a V8 race and Bathurst is the spiritual center for fuel junkies and speedstars. The race course is in fact a public road circuit. Once a year they hold races. The race track is called Mount Panorama.

We stopped the car on the track and I hoped out for some pictures. Now, to all the foreign readership, Aussies are opinionated buggers. A local at Bathurst was true to this fact. The fellow Australian was stupid enough to stop behind our parked car and waited to turn left! I motioned him through and then came the 'Opinion'.

The buggar said 'This is a public road and not a race track you know' as he drove by.

Rather confused, I yelled back 'Does it look like I am racing mate?' as he raced by; possibly to bury the grog for the next race. Yes, at the time I was setting up my tripod to take a photo. I was neither in my car, or lining it for a sprint around the circuit. Hell there are speed cameras on the course to stop people from menacing this 'public road'.

True fact, on a side note there was an limit imposed during the racing on how many beers you can bring in during a race. Know this, us Aussies bury our beer ahead of an event and get pissed drunk during it. Bless Mother earth for keeping the beer cold and safe.

As a local would believe, this is me racing down Mt Panorama. Can you feel the speed at 0 km/h and the engine roaring as I race down the track in my invisible car?

It is after this exchanged that I looked down and realised that I forgot a piece of my Panoramic Tripod!

%@$#$ 

Do we drive back to Sydney for the part? Or just press on...

In the end we pressed on and I had to buy a second tripod at the local camera store in Orange, New South Wales (NSW).

Dubbo itself was unremarkable. We stayed at a motel which smelt like damp carpet. Oh well, at least there is a bed, showers and a toilet for the next leg.

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