When it was time to depart the Flinders Ranges, we decided to take the slightly longer, but easier sealed route north to Blinman. We knew we’d be hitting the dirt soon enough, so why tempt fate. We had to take on the Oodnadatta Track to reach Coober Pedy.
Reaching the Track
Ironically, it was just after we left the seal at Blinman we had our first technical gremlin since Derby. The brake controller started playing up. The feeling of the brakes not quite being there on the dirt was unsettling to say the least. We pulled over and by this time the controller was flashing like a disco. A frantic hunt through the manuals and it was figured out it was in limp mode.
Fortunately we still had brakes, but they were no longer proportional. They wanted to be all on or nothing. It wasn’t great and nothing we tried would fix it. To be on be the safe side, we journeyed a little bit slower to compensate.
Oodnadatta Track
We were lucky, following some recent rain the track has just (within a couple of days) re-opened to 4WDs and heavy vehicles. We stopped at the historic William Creek for our last look at civilisation (sort of) before we went on towards Coober Pedy.
As far as dirt roads went, the Oodnadatta Track was in pretty good shape. Thankfully, we were able to keep a decent pace. They had closed the track quickly when the rains came so the damage (in the early sections) was pretty minor. The track was dry but you could still see the water by the roadside.
We knew there wasn’t much between the Flinders Ranges and Coober Pedy. We passed the southern most section of Lake Eyre South and stopped to camp at Coward Springs. Lake Eyre was well off into the distance, but it’s an important piece of Australia to visit. You could just see the water off in the distance. Even though it wasn’t Lake Eyre proper it was still vast. We still want to return one day, when it’s in full flood and see it in all its glory.
Coward Springs was a little oasis. It’s a small, very basic campground at the site of the old railway station. It had wood fired hot water, a spring-fed spa and some historical buildings to explore. It also had a brilliant sunset. Most surprisingly, it had other kids. There were two other families in the campground and the kids found some playmates for the evening. Both Hannah and her new friend decided falling from high trees would be a great outcome in the middle of nowhere. Fortunately, besides some cuts, bumps and bruises, dented pride was the worst injury.
Heading into Coober Pedy, it become more obvious why the road had been closed. Somebody had either been stuck on the track or attempted to make the crossing despite the closure signs. They had chewed out half the road with deep ruts. You could even see where they had to dig themselves out occasionally. It didn’t slow us too badly but it forced things to one lane for sections. But we sure were glad not to have thick mud to contend with.
Coober Pedy
We knew Coober Pedy would be a unique place to visit and it certainly was. Our booking was for three nights and we went about filling them up with whatever was on offer. We hit the highlights; an underground mine tour, the underground Church, the Breakaways, a drive around town, an underground house, bought some opal, an art gallery and the kangaroo hospital. It was a pretty busy few days, but it’s a long way to come back if you miss something.
The underground mine, house and church were all curious places. Worth a visit and interesting enough. However, the best experiences were the Breakaways, the art gallery and the kangaroo hospital.
Breakaways
The Breakaways were one of the big highlights of Coober Pedy. A short drive out of town into a moonscape of different colours hills and formations. It was funny, at the start it was a little disappointing, a few formations and plains viewed from a distance. But as we got deeper into the park and the sun began to set the place came alive.
The colours between the sunset and the formations were just beautiful. You were able to get out and walk and explore some of the formations. We climbed to the top and took in the views. In the end, we found an incredible vantage point, pulled up and stayed put to watch the sunset show. All our thoughts of it being rather “meh” were soon forgotten. Honestly, the pictures are the best way to describe the place.
Art Gallery
The whole trip we knew we wanted to buy some indigenous art. We had stopped in a few galleries and found a number of beautiful pieces. However, the eternal conflict between price, quality and size had never quite been resolved. This was until Coober Pedy.
We walked into the gallery and bumped straight into the artist in residence, Tommy Crowe. We had a huge range of pieces to choose from, and Tommy talked us through what his art, the story and the significance of the various pieces. The chance to talk with an acclaimed indigenous artist was special in itself, but Tommy was just an interesting guy to talk to. He didn’t even try to sell art to us, but we pretty much knew we’d be buying. His work was beautiful.
A couple of pieces really grabbed our attention. Budget constraints be damned, we had to decide between two large canvasses. In the end we went for the emu in the Milky Way. It seemed fitting as we’d never so many emus than on this trip and with so many nights with clear skies full of stars it was a very relevant piece. Best of all, he offered to sign the back and took a photo with us all. Not an experience that you get with most art purchases.
Kangaroo Hospital
One of the most unique experiences on the entire trip was to visit the kangaroo hospital. It is a very popular stop in Coober Pedy, but rather unexpected. It turned out this place was very famous, but very low key. An unassuming patio behind the art gallery hosted a couple of hours of kangaroo time. We got to Hand feed kangaroos wasabi peas (who knew), hear about the rescue program and cuddle a little joey.
Everyone loved the experience, it’s not often you are able to interact with the animals this close, especially getting to see the joeys being fed and held.
The end of Coober Pedy also meant the end of South Australia. It was time to return to Territory and finish off the places we missed on our first visit.