The Outback

The road to Broken Hill was our first taste of what it may be like in the outback and others have likened it to being like the Nullabar Plane only less interesting. (they may well be right!). Once we hit the road there were no signs of civilization except a few more campers on the road, no petrol stops etc here. One thing we have especially liked about Australia is the way they look after their drivers. They provide all sorts of stops and free camps with water toilets and rubbish bins. This is to encourage drivers to take a break and avoid fatigue. We have stayed in many of these stopover camps and met many interesting people - mainly people like ourselves taking a bit of a break from the real world. We did meet another couple from NZ and they cooked damper bread for us over the fire one night. We have been surprised how we are allowed to light fire almost everywhere we have been, so different than in NZ. Along this Highway many of the stops even have wood provided to light them with. One thing we have not liked is the amount of litter that people throw out of their cars along these desolate highways, especially the plastic bottles which in time will become a real blot on the landscape.

After we left Broken Hill we did our biggest drive of 460km in 1 day to Port Augusta. We camped the night there in a proper camp so we could catch up on washing etc before hitting the road north where we were not expecting to stay in many caravan parks for several days ahead. Port Augusta was the last place we were in any real cell phone coverage for several weeks as we both are on Vodaphone and Telstra put in and own the towers through the middle. This has not been too much of a hassle to us. Internet coverage has also been a bit hit and miss here in the outback. At Port Augusta we hit the Stuart Highway which is 2700kms of tar sealed road all the way to Darwin. This Highway must be a life saver to anyone who lives in NT.

It took us 2 days to travel up to Coober Pedy calling in at Woomera along the way. This is the rocket testing range from the 1950's where they also tested the atomic bombs. It must have been such an isolated area in the 50's that they could have tested whatever they wanted and no one would have been any the wiser. Diesel has started to get progressively dearer around the country as it started at $1.65 and now is up to $2.35 in some of the more isolated spots. Coober Pedy is not the sort of spot I would want to spend a weeks holiday at although it has some sort of charm. As its mainly underground its hard to gauge how big it actually is. It seemed to be quite rundown, and there was a big Aborigine protest on and lots of dogs running lose everywhere.

Another 2 days on the road saw us at the turn off to Uluru and a 500 km round trip to see the sunset at "the Rock" Personally I found this to be a bit disappointing and very commercial. I can see whilst it might hold some spiritual significance to Aborigines it was not my experience. I have found it to be far more spiritual to out in the out back sitting under those great big skies watching the stars, especially on a couple of nights when we have been all on our own.

We then carried on to Alice Springs where we were greeted with a blast of cold weather. This sent us off to the caravan park to plug into the electric and heater. I went off to the shops to buy some comfort food in the way of chocolate - the first I have bought since being here. Next day it was a bit warmer and we went off to see the Ghan leaving on its way to Adelaide. We noticed some really cheap fares advertised and decided if we could get some we would take an overnight ride up to Katherine and catch it on its return 2 days later. Also Allen wanted to get the radiator hoses looked at on the van. These had to be replaced at a cost of $350.00. We managed to get 2 tickets on the Ghan on Monday evening so we booked the van in at the garage who said we could leave it there till Thursday and they were only around the corner from the station so it all worked out quite well. The trip up to Katherine was 2500 km return and Allen was happy not to have to drive them. He has done all the driving except once when I drove around the Snowy Mountains after we left Canberra. We ran into a mob of sheep and that was the end of my driving. I can see Allen is happier to drive than let me get behind the wheel, but now at least he knows I can if I have to.

We left Alice and drove up Tennants Creek and then on to the Three Ways Road house which ended our 1700km trek up the Stuart Highway. Today I am typing this in the middle of nowhere virtually, as we have decided to make our own bush camp for the day and night off the Barkley Highway (route 66) on the way from the Three Ways Road House to Mount Isa. Its 31 degrees according to our thermometer and the flies are out in full force. I have started to perfect the great Australian Wave as we have hit this warmer weather. I don't think the flies are anywhere near as bad as they can get but they are very unwelcome At least they disappear at sunset. Tomorrow we will be back in Queensland and we are going to stay in Mount Isa for couple of days to stock up on food and water etc as that is the only sizable town we have to pass through, and we still have another 1300 km to go till we hit the East Coast and Townsville before we head up to Cairns.
Apparently Mount Isa is the largest City in the world as it covers some 41000 hectares but only has a population of 7500.

It’s been a very interesting 2 months especially the last 3 weeks which have been spent in NT. The color red will always have a different meaning from now on. Every other state we have been in could be likened to other places we have lived in but this place is vastly different. Just the wide open spaces and the sheer amount of driving between places is something you have to experience to know what its like. We have enjoyed the experience immensely out here in the outback, but it has made us reconsider our plans some what in regards to the amount of driving we have to do to get anywhere. We are now reconsidering our options as far as going up to Darwin, Broome, Perth etc. We want to spend some more time along the East Coast from Cairns to below Sydney and maybe Tasmania which we could do at a far more leisurely pace than if we try to fit in all the rest of the travel. Time to sign off now as the sun is going over the yard arm , the flies are disappearing and the four xxxx is crying out to be opened.