07.10.2018 | Australia, Travel

The crazy opal mining town Coober Pedy and a big salt sea

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Hey, my loves ❤️! After exploring Alice Springs, the MacDonnell Ranges, the Uluru, Olgas and Kings Canyon, we were extremely excited what the next chapter on our trip further south has to offer. Back on the Stuart Highway, at the filling station Erldunda Roadhouse and the emu farm, we drove further south through the Australian outback.

Next fuel stop Marla and crossing the border

To reach the next filling station, we had to cross the border between the Northern Territory and South Australia. On the one hand, I was a little sad to leave the special Northern Territory, on the other hand, the new state felt like a next exciting step. It is not allowed to bring fruits and vegetables across the border, police controls can cause heavy fines. Therefore we ate fastly all our supplies. The actual border is very unspectacular and only visible because of a monument. We didn´t have a control at this time.  On our way to Marla, we passed the typical outback, we even passed the end of the Great Victoria Desert. Partly I had the feeling the bushes got bigger and we found the typical sparse trees standing in the red sand, in contrast to the Victoria Desert, where we didn´t see vegetation. On our way to the next bigger town Coober Pedy two nice policemen stopped me in the middle of nowhere and I had to blow in a tube. Because I had a 0,0, the two men were extremely nice to us and asked about our travel plans. They waved us when we drove away. I think they don´t see a lot of people in the middle of the outback passing by ;).

Coober Pedy – the Opal-Mine-Town

We were absolutely surprised and amazed by the town of Coober Pedy, we reached in the afternoon. After all the hiking around Uluru, Olgas and Kings Canyon we have seen a lot of the outback. However, Coober Pedy looks like another world 😉 and fascinates in a very special way. Already in front of the city, we saw thousands of big sand hills of the opal mines – one big hilly desert landscape. The city feels like a movie set from another century. In the dusk, we strolled through Coober Pedy´s streets and stopped at a UFO-mockup for the movie “Pitch Black”, one of the many movies made in Coober Pedy because of the unique landscape. We also discovered a kangaroo-rescue-station, offering feeding times for tourists on the next day. A bigger supermarket is located in the middle of Coober Pedy.

The History of  Coober Pedy

Overnight stay in Coober Pedy

We stayed at the camping area “Oasis” and paid 32 Dollars the night without power. A lot of chilled people stayed at this camping area. Although the place is tiny, it was very nice and quiet. The standard in Coober Pedy is a little bit different but at this camping area, the sanitary facilities were completely new and modern.

Sights in Coober Pedy

We spend the complete next day exploring Coober Pedy. At first, we drove to the viewpoint “The Big Winch“, from the highest point we had a view over the whole city, all the houses bored into the hillsides and the opal mines around the city. Afterward, we visited the “Omoona” Museum. We learned everything about Australia´s underground history, the Aborigines and the opal mining. The normal circular route through the museum is free of charge. In no case, you should miss the feeding in the Kangaroo Rescue Station in the morning and in the afternoon. The art shop belongs to Tommy Crow, at the back of the house Josephine looks after her rescue center. At first, Tommy Crow showed us how to play the didgeridoo and told us, that he showed his art all over the world, he just came back from a speech in China. At 12 o´clock Josephine told us everything about the injured kangaroos by car accidents. The people find them, bring them to her and she cares for the little Joeys. Alongside we fed the kangaroos and in the end, she showed us a little 4,5-month-old Joey baby-kangaroo. We built a circle around the Joey and then the Joey hopped out of the pillow bag and started to say hello to everyone one after the other. The little Joey was extremely fascinated by my long hair :). Sadly all the kangaroos were orphans, brought to the Rescue Center after they were saved by humans from the pouches of their dad mothers on the streets. The rescue of the little Joeys is a little bit complicated and many people don´t know about that. Especially on the Stuart Highway, we saw a lot of dead kangaroos. Josephine told me it is really good and helpful to look inside the pouches for Joeys. But there are a few steps you should follow:

1. Is it save on the street?
2. Put on your safety vest, sterilize your hands, put on gloves of the first aid kit
3. Is the animal really dad? Control pulse and eyes, then pull the kangaroo away from the road
4. Is there a Joey? Also look near the two teats and at the bottom of the pouch. Grab the Joey.
5. If the Joey is very young it is fixed with the teats, that means you have to cut them off so that the mouth of the Joey will not be hurt.
6. The Joey could bite or scratch for fear, therefore wrap it up fastly into a pillow bag or towel, darkness calms it down.
7. Warmth and radio music calm the Joey down when you drive to the Rescue Station.
8. Only rescue an animal if you can immediately bring it to a rescue station. Otherwise, leave it for the next helping hand.
9. The Joeys can survive until 4 days in the pouch!!!

Next stop was Tommys Opal Mine. We got helmets and flashlights with UV-light to see the opals shining at the walls. We walked deeply inside the mine along massive underground rocks. They showed two movies in the caves. Tommy, an Italian guy and the owner of the mine, is searching for opal until today. The women at the counter were very friendly and taught us a lot of interesting stuff about opal mining. The whole city felt like a film set and it is the perfect spot for photography. An old bus looked pretty cool, as well as the old bakery, which looked like from another century, and under the welcome-monument, you can drive with your car. At this place, you can fill up the fresh drinking water as well. For those who have time left: You can visit all the underground buildings like restaurants, bars, hotels and churches (the most beautiful is the Serbian Orthodox church). Also, you can explore the “dingo fence” in the back of Coober Pedy. It is a fence from Queensland to South Australia, once across Australia, protecting the sheep from the dingos.

The temperature

Around the area Alice Springs and Uluru there were around 30-35 degrees in the shadow in the month may. In the morning and in the evening it could be a bit cold, however, we never needed a heater in the campervan. When the sun came out it became warmer and warmer. In Coober Pedy, we noticed a big temperature difference. Coober Pedy isn´t located in the Northern Territory, it is located further south in South Australia, about halfway between Uluru and Adelaide. Therefore it was colder in Coober Pedy around 25-30 degree in may.

The route to the Salt Sea

After we explored Coober Pedy we drove further south on the Stuart Highway. We stayed on a free rest area called “Gravel Pit, 36km north of Glendambo” (have a look at the app wikicamps). On the next morning, two extremely big kangaroos hopped across the street and Emus run beside our car. Very fast we reached “Lake Heart”, a massive white salt sea. There are a few salt seas in this area, this one is located directly at the Stuart Highway. The big white surface was really impressive as well as the transition from the red outback to the white salt. Luckily this is an area, where it is allowed to fly a drone :).

The last kilometers to civilization

After Lake Heart, we continued our journey passing Pimba and Port Augusta. The outback changed from deep red tones to orange/yellow tones and the vegetation increased. After we explored such a long time the calm outback, we felt a little bit overwhelmed in the first big city Port Augusta. At this point, you have to decide if you want to go to the Flinders Ranges or further south. From Port Augusta, you can drive a route up north directly in the middle of the Flinders Ranges. Unfortunately, we didn´t have the time and with a 4 wheeler, you can explore a lot more in the mountains. I heard the hilly landscape in the Flinders Ranges are absolutely breathtaking and I wish we decided to go there. But even if you decide to skip the Flinders Ranges National Park, you can take the mountain pass in the smaller Flinder Ranges on the direct way to Georgetown/Adelaide. The smooth hills looked absolutely amazing and reminded me of New Zealand. We drove through soft, smooth hills with lots of sheep and kangaroos (actually we saw many more than in the outback!). Most hills and fields are managed by farmers. We stayed on a gravel rest area next to the fields, which we found in the wikicamps app. The next day we continued our journey to Gawler and the Adelaide Hills. *** Dieser Artikel enthält Werbung, da Marken genannt werden.