10. COOBER PEDY HERE WE COME!

Leaving the Oodnadatta track behind, we decided to head across to Coober Pedy.  We have a rough idea of where we are headed, but are always willing to go wherever our interests lead, and underground houses and mines held a lot more lure than a pink pub in Oodnadatta.

We were still on the dirt, but i wasn't expecting this:

More green in the desert!!   But most of the time it was more like this...

and very occasionally this..

and we almost thought we had the road to ourselves!

Then the flat desert gave way to something a bit more interesting..

This is more like it, must be getting closer.

We arrived at Riba's our campsite, and they do things a little differently here.

The shade was really nice as it was pretty hot during the day.....if only it would also keep the flies out!  They were terrible and a head net was a must when walking outside.  Maybe we should have booked one of their underground rooms:

or we could have even camped underground!  They have heaps of spaces dug out for people to pitch a tent or just lay down their sleeping bags.  It's apparently the only one of its kind in the world.

It also had its amusing side and Barb, the host pointed out the amenities block and the little extra outside for when they are cleaning?

Ok I give in - what is it?

Oh I see!

There was also an internet room in this camp with free internet (albeit very slow)

I really like the thought that if they run out of spaces for campers, they just dig some more rooms.

Or no need for shelving or other furniture - just dig it out.  Like this oven...

You can see the smoke stains above, but it is now used as a book shelf.

As we drove into town we just had to take a pic of these trucks, both designed for pretty important uses!

We came across a lot of these signs while we were here as well.  Apparently it would be a very bad decision to go wandering around this place in the dark or not look where you walk 

Apparently there are literally thousands and thousands of holes!

The town itself is made up of regular type housing and shops buildings alongside underground ones. 

but we also came across this

and this ???

Apparently they are props left over from a film shot in the area.  The landscape appeals to film makers and several movies have been filmed in and around the area.

We traveled further afield and found the local Greek Authodox church, also dug into the hillside.

But a lot of places are not nearly so obvious and on the outskirts of town we took a shot of a typical residental street.

I promise you there are homes down there!!!

While we were here we took a tour down a mine.

Here's Dave getting some good shots!

It was very interesting hearing all the history of the mining in the area, and how it has developed over the years.  Even learned about explosives!

They were a bit like catacombs....wouldn't like to be stuck down there in the dark!

This is what a shaft looks like from below!

Before we left Coober Pedy, we were told that a visit to The Breakaways was a must.  So we headed on out.  To get there you go through an area called the moonscape. You can see why, and why it has become popular with film makers.

Then a bit further on there was this.

Around every bend.

Then back to Coober Pedy and we had one last stop to make before we left - to fill up

with ????

I kid you not!   They guarantee that it is the second best water in Australia, next to Tasmania. 

I'll let you know. 

9. GAMMON RANGES TO THE OODNADATTA TRACK

We traveled ever Northward from the Flinders Ranges to the Gammon Ranges...Home of Arkaroola and more Gorges to explore.  Our camp was in a place called Wetootla Gorge.  It was a lovely little National Park Camp and we as usual went to explore the  gorge.  I especially like the dry river beds.

I thought I would include a picture of something a little different for all those who 

don't get out of their comfort zone for fear of using anything less than a flushing loo.

Looks reasonably civilized, maybe they have septic out here???  Wrong again - it's a long drop!!

What will it be like inside????

 See....Still reasonably civilized!!!  You just open the lid and there's a deep deep hole!  The chimney at the back is to let the facility breathe, so it doesn't smell.  Admittedly this was a pretty new one but its better than nothing when you are in the bush.

We left the ranges and made our way to Leigh Creek.  Its a nice place but the town is dying as they have closed down the coal mine.  We were welcomed to the carvan park by Scotty and his dog Foxy Lady and had a good shady site.

But Leigh Creek was a place of mixed fortunes for us. Firstly we had the Truck 'keyed' at the shopping centre, purposely parked it away down the end as we still had the trailer attached.

The following day we ventured out to see Old Beltana Township but didn't quite make it.

This was the result of hitting an Emu!!!  I said they were the stupidest creatures !!  Two of them just launched out in front of us from the bushes, Dave managed to avoid them as they changed direction twice, and then one thought better and changed again - Bang!!!  Thank you 'ECB' your bull bar saved the day, otherwise i would have had an Emu in my face!!!

The following morning we noticed a fellow camper had a flat tyre, and being out miles from anywhere Dave offered a hand and plugged the tyre for him so he could get somewhere to have it fixed properly.  It must have given us good Karma as when we again tried to go to Beltana, we had issues with our fuel filter and it ended up with a young guy stopping to help us and he towed us 6K with his cattle truck to Beltana station where he was from, so he could use his big compressor to get the fuel pumped up and we could continue.  Thank you big time Towa!  (that was his name - truly)

Beltana Station was worth the visit and we recommend it by the way!

As we have been travelling, it has been pretty obvious that we are in desert country, that is until you come across a site like this.  It just seems so out of place out here!

A lot of strange things have appeared on the side of the roads - check this out!

Not sure of the significance of him but he was big!

We disturbed this guy while he was having lunch - check out the look !

Eagle with ATTITUDE!

Some times just the sight of a road sign can make us smile - especially after days in the dirt!

but we generally find ourselves back in the dirt again ....this is the Oodnadatta track!

You sometimes wonder why people do the things they do??  A sculpture park,way out in the middle of nowhere, free access and massive statements........but what?

There were some strange ones.....and some quirky ones.

Then finally, another landmark spot on our journey.

Its huge and its White!!!!

Our camp for tonight is at William Creek, at a campsite run by the pub. Not a bad one and its comforting to know that here in the outback, no expense is spared on state of the art safety equipment.

But hey - this is the bush and with our nightime vista - who can complain.......

8. A FEW DAYS IN THE RANGES

Decided that we wanted to spend some more time exploring the Flinders Ranges so we booked into a station stay.  Quite an impressive roadside sign greeted us at the entrance to the property.

They must have an affinity with the wedge tailed eagle as this sculpture was just outside near our campsite

Most of the places that we stay have a camp kitchen, mainly to cater for tent people and people like us without full kitchen facilities.  We carry everything we need but a good camp kitchen is quite welcome now and again, especially if it is very hot or there are lots of flies outside! This was a pretty good one. Not only all the usual stuff inside but there were tables outside as well as bbq and fire pit.

We went for a few tours round the ranges from there, through the gorges and checked out Wilpena Pound. Discovered another interesting ruin along the way

I am falling in love with the floors in these ruins.  All the slate here was of course used to construct these buildings and the old slate floors have really stood the test of time. They still look really good today. I would love to have a house with floors like these!

The wildlife was a bit thin on the ground through the ranges, probably because it was pretty warm, and they have lots of places to hide, but I did manage to just get a quick picture of this little black faced wallaby.

Just near our Station camp was a hill called Stokes Lookout. We went up there to watch the sunset one night and found ourselves among several others with the same idea.....you can see why.

and as it got later, the view got even better

and later...

and i will sign off this episode with the dyeing embers..................