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Published: August 18th 2009
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Crocodile Harry's
Bras and knickers everywhere... not one for the kids unfortunately! Port Augusta
After a restful time in Hawker we headed down to Port Augusta to catch up with Rachel, a friend of ours who was returning from her own trip touring the centre and West Coast of Australia with her two kids, Britney and Ben.
I had been following their blog with interest, looking forward to experiencing the same places with our family and it was a great time to see both her and the children. Our kids were most excited because they have missed the company of other children to play with and they all got along like a house on fire. It gave us confidence to see the similarities in the way we have packed and Rachel gave us hints of places to go as well, which was great.
After saying goodbye the next day, we left to travel toward Coober Pedy. We stayed in a free rest stop that night which was half way between Woomera and Coober Pedy. It had been a big day and a stressful night and I vowed to make sure I organized tea at lunch time so the evening wasn’t like this again.
Coober Pedy
I think Grady underestimated how much he
Breakaways
The family at the Breakaways would enjoy his time at Coober Pedy. We stayed at the Stuart Caravan Park which is the most child-friendly in the area with its large playground and pool. It is also the cheapest at $38 a night for us. The temperature was around 27 degrees and It was a case of “spot the Victorians” when the kids stripped off for a swim only to find that in winter the pool isn’t open.
Chloe made friends with a little girl, and when I met her mum, I discovered they are long term travelers as well: up the centre and down the east coast. We soon made friends with her, her husband and their 5 children. They are stranded at the moment after driving their van over the Oodnadatta track from Leigh Creek to Coober Pedy. Their van breaks fell apart and are stranded in Coober Pedy waiting to see if they can be fixed. They have been there for 5 nights so far, just waiting. Not the ideal situation, that’s for sure - we feel awful for them.
Grady was chatting with Don, the cleaner of the caravan park and found out that he is with a group of men who
The big miner, coober pedy
Still on our hunt for "big" things... have rights to a mine and visit it every night to look for opals. After getting to know Grady, Don invited both he and the boys to come out with them that night as they searched for opals under a black light. Under the UV light, the opals glow and they are easier to find. Apparently it works with the opals in Coober Pedy and not in other areas such as Andamooka. They thoroughly enjoyed their time out and went a second night as well. Seth was really excited - I think for him it was like picking money up off the ground.
Richard, the owner of the mine, invited us to see the underground house of the previous owner: “Crocodile” Harry. Harry died some years ago but was such a friend to these men that they have kept his house the same as it was for tour groups to visit. His home was used in the movie, “Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome”. In my naivety I thought it would be a regular underground house, but it was obvious from viewing the house that Harry was quite the ladies’ man with underwear hanging from the ceiling and all manner of statues!
dishes on the border
Proof that Chloe is pulling her weight...with the flies. I found myself in quite the moral dilemma, wondering how I was going to explain this to my boys. Those who know me could imagine my quandary! Viewing the house is normally something only done by tours and I was grateful that Richard was kind enough to let us see into the life of someone who meant so much to him. Looking past the myriad of decorations, it still was interesting to see how people live underground, however I was glad to move on and view Harry’s underground mine. Richard told us how opals were mined before the use of machines and some stories of big finds.
On Richard’s recommendation, we left the house and mine with our new friends to visit the “Breakaways” which can only be described as a type of canyon with rock formations. The area is of significance to the local Aboriginal tribe and we had no idea something so beautiful was in the area. From here we drove to the “dog fence”: the longest fence in the world, structured to keep the dingoes from destroying the sheep in South Australia, Queensland and New South Wales. It is over 5,000kms long (shortened from its previous length
Harry's mine
Used in film "mad max: beyond thunderdome" of over 9,000kms long).
When we left Coober Pedy, Grady commented that he felt we had truly experienced Coober Pedy, rather than just passing through.
BORDER
It was an exciting moment the next day when we drove to the Northern Territory border; this was something we had both been looking forward to for a while. Our enthusiasm was lost on Chloe who wrote in her project book that there is “no pool, just a toilet and is a stupid place”. We met some retirees who offered us more advice on places to go, and also a couple we had been chatting to in Port Augusta.
ULURU
From the border we had a night in Curtin Springs at the roadhouse (another free stop). An emu roams freely around the camping area, to the delight of Cody - they are his favorite animal at the moment. The next day it was only a short drive to Yulara, the resort near Uluru, which is more like a township, with a shopping centre, medical centre, fuel stop and even a hairdresser.
We had not even put the legs of the van down when we were approached by a representative asking for our
Breakaways
Beau at the Breakaways reasons for being here, if we planned on climbing Uluru and if we would return if the rock was permanently closed for climbing. This set quite a mood for the day as both Grady and myself are in favor of the climb and the word around camp is that if Peter Garrett has his way, it will be closed by September.
Uluru is really impressive and because it is such an Australian icon, it was quite exciting to see, even after 18 years when I had last visited on a school trip. When we arrived, the rock was closed for climbing, even though there hardly seemed to be a breath of wind. We opted for the 10km walk around Uluru, which was quite the feat for the children! Upon our return, the climb was open so I rushed Grady and the boys up after a quick drink, as I was worried it would soon be closed! Beau, who had dragged his feet around the rock, shot up with a new burst of energy with Seth in hot pursuit. It was a real achievement for the boys and Grady to climb, especially since they had already walked 10kms. The challenge was
Dog fence
Shows a small section of the dog fence as mental as it was physical. They received some sound counsel from their father on the way up, who told them to continue on because when it was all over, they would not remember how they feel now, but will remember the achievement and how they feel at the top. I don’t imagine they will forget the experience and hopefully will draw on it at later times when facing a tedious challenge.
For the full Uluru experience, we finished with the view at sunset, watching the rock change to a deep red. It was a good way to end a very full day.
As I write it is pouring with rain, so the Olgas will wait until tomorrow. We have changed plans and decided to visit Kings Canyon after this for a couple of days until Alice Springs. I won’t look for work until we have spent a week exploring the Alice, and am looking forward to what awaits.
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CathyG
non-member comment
Ha ha ha
Never again will our mother think i'm a bad parent for making the little boys ride their bikes on marathon trips at a young age ... that uluru story has left me with no words ... you really are an Agg, Em!!! Brilliant!