Week 3: Part 2 Adeliade to Uluru

This morning I woke up nice and early to head to Adeliade airport to pick Judith up. It was a pretty simple pick up and we managed to find a place to dicuss the next 2 weeks of a trip to Uluru. We did some much needed shopping and preparing for our trip and began our road trip to Lochiel which is about halfway between Adeliade and Port Augusta.

Tuesday-

This morning we woke up very nice and early to prepare for our drive to Port Augusta and beyond for our campsite. We got to the Mount Remarkables for our first stop which is a national park with lots of hikes. We of course chose one of the longest hikes on a 46° day, but as we got up early we managed to get it done before the heat got too bad. It was called Alligstor Gorge and had a lot of flying, Wallaby's and Kangaroos. The path was very rocky and not signposted so we had to make it up as we went along. It was supposed to be about 9kms however after we had finished the Gorge and were heading down this very long path we soon realised it was going to be longer and it ended up being 10.6kms and by the end we were done!!

We then continued our drive to Port Augusta after the fun and stressful job of trying to get out of National Park. Unfortunately I have found most national parks very difficult In my vehicle due to its weight and the parks steep up roads.

In Port Augusta we went to the Tourist Information which had a history musuem. This was a great way to cool down but it was also incredibly informative about the Flinders Ranges and the history of the land between Port Augusta and Uluru. The land used to be an ocean and then tropical rainforest several million years ago, it was then completely covered in snow and ice. Before the heat turned into the desert it is today. We then learnt how explorers took out across the North and South of Australia to explore the places with water and ocean based on their beliefs, but of course they only found desert.

We then drove to our caravan park at Spuds Roadhouse in Pimba, a population of 40 permanent residents.

Such a hot night being around the 45° mark.

Wednesday- We began the day with preparing for our trip upto Coober Pedy. There wasn't much to see on the journey up so we just drove and only stopped for fuel and to swap drivers. When we arrived in Coober Pedy we went to the tourist information and then to our campsite where we signed up for two tours tomorrow, a day tour around the opal mines and a sunset tour in the breakaways.

In the afternoon we enjoyed being very relaxed in the pool.

Thursday-

To enjoy our only full day in Coober Pedy we began with our day tour around the town, starting at the underground churches, driving around the mines and then getting to the musuem where we learnt how opal is found and the stone is sanded and the difference between white opal which is worth nothing and colourful opal. We also learnt how Coober Pedy was found by a young boy who was 14 years old who found water and Opals whilst his dad was on a trip across the country to find water. The boy is known as the hero in Coober Pedy. In the musuem we also got to see some underground Opal mines and underground houses. After the musuem and buying some opal we headed out to the mines and saw lots of shafts. We also saw a gold course that didn't have any grass. We then finished at the Campsites motel with a full underground house that someone used to live and work in but now it's rented to tourists. It is so cool in those houses you understand why it was built the way it is.

We then got back to the campsite and relaxed by the pool before preparing for our evening tour in the breakaways, We started at the very famous Dingo Fence that was the longest in the world when first built. It has been rebuilt in some areas but there is still some original wood. We then saw some rocks from a million years ago, one called a tidal stone that showed the how the waves would have hit against it the years ago the area used to be under water. We then saw mountains known to look like camels, two dogs and an old man, a fish and an emu surrounded by chick's.

We then enjoyed a walk to learn some of the flora around the area. Before having a cup of tea, muffin and enjoying the sunset.

We then drove back at night and went to bed.

Friday:

This morning we are leaving Coober Pedy and are on our way to Uluru, 7 hour road trip!

We've made it to Uluru and did the short cave walk and saw a beautiful sunset and Lightening. On our way into Uluru national Park we were both breatherlised after Judith asked the Police Office having never done it before...

2,763 kms done this week! Means 5,097 kms in total! And more to come