20th April 2013

15^th April 2013

We used 26lt per hundred kilometres on the run from Pimba to Coober Pedy, by far the heaviest going so far and the dearest with fuel $1.77+ per litre.

Once settled in the caravan park at Coober Pedy we found the supermarket for essentials and found prices reasonable considering where we were, although milk is expensive.

While in the supermarket we ran into a couple we had parked next to overnight at Pimba, turns out they were in the same caravan park only three vans away from us and we had parked next to someone they had become friendly with from a previous stop. So the three groups enjoyed happy hour and some good laughs and as we are all heading in the same direction we have started travelling as a group.  (safety in numbers)

Yesterday after a very slow start, apparently it was Sunday anyway, we joined a guided bus tour in and around Coober Pedy. Pick up at the caravan park 1:15pm and got us back about 6:30pm right to our caravan, hot, bumpy and pestered by flies it was still the best monies worth we have encountered for a guided tour anywhere. As a lot of you would know quite a large percentage of buildings are actually constructed underground in Coober Pedy. In a lot of cases people have taken advantage of original mining activity to start a dwelling or building but in a many cases underground occupation is purpose built and now days has to comply with town planning approvals. Building underground isn’t carried out for economics as it is usually quite a costly exercise, the main reason is temperature control. We were told the temperature remains reasonably constant at between 22 and 24 degrees centigrade, summer or winter, winter the outside temp gets down around -5degrees and in summer up as high as 55C. We were given a running commentary as we were driven around the town, through opal fields, visiting an underground home, underground mine, underground church, underground museum, out of town to a vista called “The Breakaways”, that was once an inland sea and an area that has been used on several occasions for movie sets including one of the Mad Max movies “Thunderdome” with Tina Turner, there were others but I can’t remember the names. Back at the caravan park they have a woodfired pizza restaurant and as we had pre-ordered before our guided tour, we just had time for a quick happy hour before all shuffling over for the best pizza we have eaten in a long time.

Water is scarce out this way, Coober Pedy relies on a de-salination plant water source 25 kilometres out of town that produces good drinking water but you have to buy it. At the caravan park there is a dispenser were you can fill your tank 20c for 40 litres, we needed almost 200lts.

15^th April

Three caravans departed Coober Pedy heading up the Stuart Highway on our way to Uluru (Ayers Rock to the oldies). We only travelled 150kls to a large roadhouse called Cadney Station that has a caravan park alongside. The plan was from here the following day we would leave our vans at the roadhouse and drive out to the Painted Desert a 100kls out on the Oodnadatta Track a dirt road that was in surprisingly good condition. At the caravan park we were on power and bore water that tasted a bit soapy but the girls could get their washing done, however no phone, internet or TV so we watched a video that night.

The drive out to The Painted Desert was interesting and very scenic passing through various types of countryside ranging from flat barren plains covered in beds of shingle as far as the eye could see, to rolling hills, through dry creek beds, past rocky outcrops and colourful escarpments it was a photo shot at every turn. We called into Arckaringa cattle station not far from the Painted desert lookout, where a few cabins and a camping area is set up and a lovely young lady came bounding out of the homestead to greet us, quite excited about getting visitors. Turns out with her boyfriend they run the 24,000 square kilometre cattle station for a company and as a side-line she looks after the camping ground and does morning teas (Devonshire Teas), should passing travellers want it. On her suggestion we continued on the track to the lookout area only a few kls further out where we spent an hour or so admiring the scenery and taking heaps of photos all of us wearing hats with nets to keep the flies off our faces, they are so thick they get into your ears and nose and crawl in behind your glasses, little bush flies smaller than the sort you get when cooking food at home. These little blighters aren’t after food they just want moisture and salt I guess, but they drive you crazy. Locals say you never get used to them but you learn to put up with them (I don’t think so), apparently they go around May until at least the end of the year, I find that hard to believe also but it’s probably when it cools down. Let’s face it we were out all day never saw another sole so what were they doing before we came along and where were they hiding and geeze they can fly fast because when we got back to our caravans they arrived about 5 minutes later.

The scenery at the Painted Desert lookout was quite sensational, you are up on a high promontory and look out across what was obviously once an inland sea and looks as if the tide has just receded. Here and there rocky bluffs of many different colours rise up reminiscent of pictures we have seen of the Arizona Desert. In other areas hills and valleys like small gorges eroded away by time are splendid in contrasting colours of ochre.

After our fill of natural beauty we called Lauren at Arckaringa Station to let her know we were on our way back for what was now to be afternoon tea. Lauren greeted us at the homestead with her pinafore on straight from the kitchen and invited us to a shady spot under a Quandong tree where she had set a table with a beautiful lace table cloth and silver ware. Where upon we were served with tea and coffee the biggest fluffiest scones fresh out of the oven and still warm, home made quandong jam and fresh cream and to top it off Lauren sat down with us and chatted, absolutely delightful.

What the hell is a quandong? Some of you may well ask. Here is a little extract of information.

 The Quandong is a truly unique native Australian fruit. Found in the arid and semi-arid regions of all Australian mainland states , Quandong trees have been classified as belonging to the santalum genus of plants. Ideally adapted to arid environments, the Santalum Acuminatum species is known to be a semi-parasitic plant. Quandong trees can tolerate high soil salinity levels and often rely for their complete water requirements from the root systems of host plants. Across their native distribution range, Quandong trees typically grow 2 to 3 metres in height, with a dense leathery crown of leaves perhaps 2 metres wide.

Just so you know quandong is pronounced rightly or wrongly as quondong. Aboriginals gather the fruit for bush tucker, they separate the flesh of the fruit from the kernel to eat raw or dry it for later use as food and the kernel is used for making medicines for various ailments. Quandong leaves are crushed up and mixed with saliva to make an ointment for sores etc. and I believe a type of hair conditioner can be made from some part of the quandong.

When the fruit is ripe Lauren say’s she has to collect it quickly before the emu’s beat her to it apparently it’s quite a favourite of theirs. Lauren being ever enterprising collects the fruit and makes jam to sell to travellers like ourselves. Yes we bought a bottle, it’s really nice on toast.

From Cadney Station it took another two days to get to Ayers Rock caravan park Yulara, Uluru. It is hot but the flies are not so bad here thank goodness and was I whinging about paying $1.77 per litre for fuel, over the two days getting to Uluru we paid $1.96 and $1.99 per litre.