Day 15

Friday, 28th September
Kings Canyon - Coober Pedy

Kings Canyon
Wallara
Mount Ebenezer
Erldunda
Marla
Cadney Park Roadhouse
Coober Pedy

Distance Traveled

Today - 866 km

Total - 5765 km

Blog

Today was a huge drive of over 800km.

We travelled south to Coober Pedy in South Australia.

The landscape continues to change all the way.

The scrubby red sand dunes of NT changed to very flat arid, treeless landscapes the further south we went.

The only towns we passed were just roadhouses. There were only a few of them.

Not much more than a fuel station with a few groceries and a place to camp out back. One even had a sign "Stop and buy some food or we'll both starve".

There were four road trains and most other travellers were tourists, a huge lot with rental vans and 4wds.

50km before Coober Pedy you could see the landscape riddled to the horizon in white dirt mounds from the opal miners.

A fascinating landscape.

There are lots of signs warning about falling in holes... "Do not walk backwards"

We were pulled up by the local cops for a breath test, so we asked recommendations and directions to an underground motel with 2 bedroom apartments.

Time to rest.

Fuel price at Kings Canyon won as the most expensive. 181 cents/litre (121 at home)

Stuarts Well. A lot of the roadhouses seem to have something strange and interesting.

More Northern Territory Outback. It is about to change once we cross into South Australia.

Out of Northern Territory and into South Australia

The Marla Roadhouse.

The Oonadatta road warning sign

Us on the Oonadatta Road

More Oonadatta Road warning signs

Here in the outback, every driver waves to each other. This is my wave.

Back on the road to Coober Pedy

The new South Australian Landscape

More landscape but with some greenery. There is civilisation somewhere out there.

It just goes on forever. Lots of sections without a single tree in sight

A distant town upon the landscape. The town is not much more than the roadhouse and a couple of buildings

Signs approaching Coober Pedy

The Horizon is full of Opal Mines around Coober Pedy

Some mines around Coober Pedy. There are thousands of them.

One of the Opal shops in Coober Pedy. That is a VW up on those legs. Lots of wierd things around this town.

A look around the centre of Coober Pedy. That is the Big Winch on the top of the hill

All the pipes sticking up mean that there are people living underneath.

Our underground motel room at Coober Pedy. It has wetrooms near the entrance for piping, and bedrooms down the back.
Very cool and quiet.