I’ve now reached the point where I really have to start making some progress in getting back to Perth. One interesting thing about visiting Uluru and The Olga’s was a little short cut from there to Perth. It’s known as “The Gun Barrel Highway”. The problem with it is that it’s all dirt. Not only does it require a 4 wheel drive, it also requires that you have a special permit to use it. And on some stretches of the road I’ve been told that you are not allowed to travel along it unless you are part of a 4 wheel drive convoy. Hmmm…. sounds exciting!
So instead, I’ve found myself having to travel hundreds (if not thousands) of kilometers out of the way to make it back to Perth on sealed (paved) roads in my little two-wheel drive car. This paved route takes me down to Adelaide first (to the south east) and then back west across the Nullabor Plain to Perth.
I’ve already had to backtrack 100’s of kilometers to get out to the main “Stuart Highway” from Uluru and Kings Canyon today. I’m hoping to make it to Adelaide for a few days of battery recharging by tomorrow, but I’ve had to make an evening stop in Coober Pedy for the night.
Coober Pedy turned out to be really cool. It is famous for opal mining and has a lot of dwellings in former mines to give locals refuge from the summer heat and cold winter nights. Even the churches, shops, hotels, and hostels (where I’m typing this entry) have made use of the leftover mine shafts. I was even able to find an underground camp site, so I pitched my tent in a mine shaft for the evening. The camp site included a free tour of a former mine.
The tour was conducted by an eccentric mine owner. Eccentricity seems to be standard in these family tour operations I come across. I guess that’s part of what you’re paying for. It was mostly interesting information about how they go about finding where the opals are and what procedure they use to get to them (part voodoo).
A movie titled Pobby and Dingan was due to begin filming in the same deserted mine the week after I was there. It won’t be the first. The town was littered with artifacts from other famous movies that were filmed in the area, including Mad Max.
The best part about sleeping underground was that I didn’t have to worry about insects or the cold night because the temperature underground always stays the same. The worst part about it was a family of four who set up next to me and snored all night. Oh well. They were very nice, actually. Did the tour with me.
The stars in Coober Pedy were probably the best I’ve seen around Australia, probably due to its very dry desert environment. The Milky Way has been a regular feature in the skies for me over the past three weeks.
