Cooper Pedy to Alice Springs


WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALLEN BARALLON

COOBER PEDY IS EVERYTHING WE HAD IMAGINED AND MORE – YOU HAVE TO SEE IT FOR YOURSELF!

It is really amazing the amount of dried up salt lakes we saw on our travel from Pimba near Woomera. We managed to walk on the firm salt bed and even tasted the product, yes it is real salt, and to what grade we are still not sure.

From a lookout at a rest stop North East of Woomera, with magnificent views of a large salt lake with an island in the middle resembling a pyramid, we were told by a local that we were seeing part of the Cadibarrawirracanna Lake.

In the mid afternoon, we arrived at the Stuart Range Caravan Park right at the entrance to Coober Pedy, where we booked in for two days with option of staying an extra day.

After setting up, we drove to the Information Centre, made some inquiries and collected as much info and brochures as we could find about the place, then proceeded to visit a couple of lookouts that gave us a greater aspect to the layout of the town.

Opal was discovered in Coober Pedy, back in 1915 when a gold prospecting party set up camp in the vicinity, they all went off to find fresh water leaving a young teenager by the name of Willy Hutchingson to watch the camp. He wandered off and not only found fresh water, but half a bag of opals.

Coober Pedy is everything we had imagined and more – you have to see it for yourself! Looking out towards the plains resembles scenes of when man first walked on the moon, often seen on television. Millions of little mounds originating from the digs spread all over the flat plains for possibly hundreds of kilometres.

From one of the lookouts, you get a 360 degree view, overlooking the town and surrounds, the town is much bigger than what you see from the lookout, as the majority of residents lives underground.

The following morning, although the temperature was in the low 30’s, as we headed off exploring, our first stop would be Fay’s House, an underground accommodation built by a lady named Faye back in 1961. She came to Cooper Pedy to open a coffee and takeaway shop, and soon after secured a dig not far from her business.

Through the heat and dust in the little spare time she had, single handedly set out digging her underground accommodation, securing some opal she uncovered along the way. Soon after some of her friends arrived to help her, she even hand dug and constructed a swimming pool.

Today visitors can have a guided tour and history of the place for $5 per person.

The “Old Timers Mine” is another place to visit, allow yourself a few hours as there are lots to see, the shop sells and displays not only local Opals but from other parts of Australia. Seniors for a fee of $12.50 gets an underground self guided explanatory tour, the Opal mining machine demonstration, and history of Coober Pedy, dating back to the 1915 first discovery.

Another place to visit is the “Underground Serbian Orthodox Church”, dug into the side of a hill, really a magnificent structure and entry is by donation.

Right near the town, a huge pile of mullock heaps are stacked, visitors are allowed to search through it to find bits of Opals, it’s called noodling,. We were assured that good opals have been found there, although our half hour spent noodling was far from fruitful.

Guided tours including the above sites are available for $65.00 per person, but by doing the tours ourselves, we managed to save $35.00 each, and did it at our own pace.

We did spend an extra day in Coober Pedy, visited the town’s first tree, built with scrap iron welded together, which stands on a hill overlooking the town. The grassless golf course is mainly played on at night with glowing golf balls. Players carry their own piece of turf to place on the ground for their fairway shots. Players are advised to carry extra golf balls, not for the cause of loosing, but because they’re often destroyed by the rocky fairways.

We visited other underground places - churches, hotels, bed and breakfast accommodation, restaurants, cafes and book shops.

We left before dawn the next morning, on our way to Ayers Rock “Uluru” we stopped at a rest stop, situated on a small hill north of Coober Pedy. We were told that from this venue, we would witness one of the best sunrise over Coober Pedy. As the sun broke over the horizon, we soon realised what the locals meant, it was just unbelievable scenery and colours.

We stopped at Marla approx 230 kilometres away for morning tea, and refuelled.

The Stuart Highway is in excellent condition, with great views most of the way, by early afternoon we arrived at the border, stopped for lunch at a free  24 hour Rest Area. After checking our map and plenty of daylight left, we decided to press on to Curtin Spring, another 240km away.

We arrived at Curtin Spring well before dusk, with plenty of sites available we picked an area away from the main road, where a few other caravans were set up for the night.

Curtin Spring is a free camp, adjacent to the roadhouse, where emus and dingos roams freely amongst the guest, facilities includes showers and toilets. Hot showers comes at a small cost, powered sites are available at $15.00 per van. Many travellers choose to leave their vans at Curtin Spring, and do day trips to the Rock and The Olgas - a return trip of 200km.

The next morning it started to rain heavily, we decided to head for the Resort Caravan Park at Ayers Rock, powered site was $32.00 per couple per day. We got a rare sight of the Rock whilst wet.

Fuel from the Resort Road House was very expensive, due to transport costs we were told, unleaded fuel was $2.36, and diesel at $2.56 per litre at the time.
Entry fee to the park of $25.00 per person, was a concern to everyone I spoke with, especially the retirees. I personally believe that a concession should be put in place for all Australians.

Leaving the Resort Caravan Park after our stay, on our way to Kings Canyon, we refuelled at Curtis Spring at the cost of $2.06 per litre. We stopped on several occasions, admiring the scenery and constant changes in landscape, wild brumbies in their natural habitat, eagles scavenging on road kills from the previous night, and the occasional wild camels and dingoes.

We arrived at the Kings Canyon Resort and Caravan Park early that afternoon, and booked a powered a site, for two nights, also costing $32.00 per couple per day. The place was well patronised with both caravans, and campers, but not over crowded, the facilities were plentiful and clean, from our site, we had a good view of the canyon, and took some great photos of the changing colours at sunset.

Dusk arrived with peaceful serenity that one could only witness in the outback, broken by the occasional howling dingoes roaming the camp grounds.

Early the next morning, we left the resort and did the 10 km drive to Kings Canyon, ready for the six or so kilometres loop walk.

The 100 metre climb to the top is very steep and tiring, no wonder it is called the Heart break Hill, or some call it the Heart Attack Hill. Once there you soon forget the climb whilst admiring the breathtaking views, colours, and the rock formations, makes it all worthwhile.

Although exhausted that night we spent hours downloading the photos on our computer, and talking about the breathtaking experience.

The next morning we headed for Alice Spring approximately six hours away. There we wanted to visit several gorges, the old telegraph station, and as many other attractions Alice has to offer.

Alice Spring has many Caravan Parks, but we chose the Big 4 Macdonald Range Caravan Park, situated about four and a half kilometres south of Alice. It’s far enough away from the town and traffic noises, excellent amenities, shaded sites, three swimming pools, and famous for its free Sunday Pancake Breakfast.

We made it our base for four days, at a cost with our big 4 member discount of just over thirty dollars per couple per day.

On our first day we headed to the Larapinda drive on the West Macdonald Ranges.

Turning onto Larapinda Drive, the wow factor sets in, scenery of the Macdonald Ranges changes dramatically, it’s like entering into another world. On every bend the landscape changes colour; even the ghost Gum trees with its pure white trunk and branches with shiny green leaves, using the mountain range as a backing, as one would see in a painting.

Ormison Gorge Eighteen kilometres out of town, is a renowned place for the black footed wallabies, we were not so lucky this time.

Stanley Chasm approximately fifty kilometres from Alice Spring was somehow disappointing, as being the only gorge where a fee of $9.00 per person applied; the place was looking very rundown.

We stopped at Ellery Creek Big Hole, and watched a few tourists enjoying a dip in the extremely cold water.

Our next stop was Ormison Gorge, with a Visitors centre and a permanent waterhole. This gorge has a great walk, although not for the faint hearted. It has some steep climbs and runs along the fringe of the mountain, taking you to a breathtaking beautiful gorge with sheer red walls and eventually down along the creek bed back to the visitors centre.

Alice Springs has lots of history to offer; to see everything one would need to spend at least a couple of weeks.

Todd Mall market is open every second Sundays from 9.00am till 1.00pm.
The Alice Springs Reptile Centre is a must see, you can get close to lizards, snakes, goannas even Terry the crocodile.

At Alice Springs school of the Air Visitor Centre experience the world’s largest classroom, linking children in remote Central Australia to participate in school classes.

Enjoy a free half hour workshop learning the didgeridoo at the internationally acclaimed Sounds of Starlight Theatre.

And of course the old telegraph station one of twelve stations along the overland telegraph line, established in 1872 relaying messages between Darwin and Adelaide. The preserved original stone buildings are furnished with furniture dating back to 1900. Visitors can enjoy a barbeque or a picnic at the park. The well preserved cemetery is only a short walk away, the nearby hill serves as a lookout over the station, and it is a well worth climb.

For those interested in Transport, the National Transport Hall of Fame, houses Australia’s largest truck museum including the Old Ghan train and tea room, the original road trains, all restored to pristine condition.

MUST SEES

  • Fay’s Underground Home – Old Water Tank Road, Coober Pedy
  • Uluru National Park - $25 Entry
  • Ormiston Gorge – spectacular geology, abundant wildlife and swimming holesFREEBIES
  • Coober Pedy Lookout
  • Go noodling at the Jewell Box in Coober Pedy
  • See Coober Pedy’s first tree
  • Do the Kings Canyon walk
  • Sunday Pancake Breakfast at the Macdonnell Ranges Big 4
  • Didgeridoo workshop at Sounds of Starlight Theatre, Alice SpringsFREE CAMPING

Curtin Springs East Rest Area
27km east of Curtin Springs, NT
GPS Coordinates: 25 15 57 S 131 58 43 E

WHERE TO STAY

Stuart Range Caravan Park
Hutchison St, Coober Pedy
(08) 86725179

King’s Canyon Holiday Park
Luritja Road, Watarrka National Park
(08) 89567442

BIG4 MacDonnell Range Holiday Park
Palm Place, Alice Springs
1800 808 373